MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — Next week, the Wisconsin Maritime Museum is set to open a new gallery honoring fishing families.
- Video shows a look inside the Wisconsin Maritime Museum's new exhibit
- Set to open on January 17, the exhibit takes us on a journey from lake to dinner table
- The displays are based on work done by Wisconsin photographers Tom Kutchera and Jim Legault
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
The Lakeshore is home to many industries, but fishing may be the most historic. At the Wisconsin Maritime Museum a soon-to-open exhibit takes a dive into our and the families that feed us.
"We all have a fish story,” museum director Kevin Cullen said.
That includes some who fish for a living. So, it's fitting "from lake to plate" is the title for the new gallery at the museum. Cullen is the co-currator of the exhibit.
"The history here is what we eat and the imagery captures the people being those fish,” Cullen said.
It's the work of two Wisconsin photographers, Tom Kutchera and Jim Legault.
In an immersive exhibit that takes us through the full process, from catch to dinner service. But, Cullen says that the focus is the families and the people who get the work done.
"You're out there in all kinds of weather year around to bring the food that sustains us,” Cullen said. “The identity of fishing in Wisconsin is still part of those families traditions."
During my sneak peek, I saw a familiar sight. The men of Susie Q's fishing boat in Two Rivers. A vessel NBC 26's Preston Stober reported on in May of last year as they reeled in white fish for our dinners.
"That's what museums should be about right, telling stories about our community,” said Cullen. “About the past and the present and how those things are interwound."
The exhibit opens on Friday, January 17.
"The goal is to make sure this industry survives and thrives for generations to come,” added Cullen.
The gallery here at the museum will be on display all the way until October.
More info can be found here.
