Decoys from former Ward Museum collection headed to Pocomoke

DELMARVA – It’s been almost two years since the public has been able to see the artwork from the former Ward Museum in Salisbury, now Salisbury University has announced a new partnership that will change that. SU’s Museum of Eastern Shore Culture is loaning some historic decoys to the Delmarva Discovery Museum in Pocomoke.

While the MESC plans to open a brick and mortar in Downtown Salisbury, the artwork has remained shuttered since the old museum was closed following a failure of the HVAC system in 2022. Curator Raye-Valion Gilette says they have a history of sharing the collection at places like the Waterfowl Festival.

“Our intent always has been to share it with as many people as possible. I think that’s one of the benefits of having you know, the exhibits that we will be doing here, is that we are a smaller space, obviously smaller than the location on Schumaker Pond and because of that I think it’s an exciting opportunity for us to rotate the exhibits quicker,” says Gilette.

Gilette says the Delmarva Discovery Museum provides an ideal opportunity for a partnership.

“There is such a rich cultural history here, you know, that goes beyond, not that it’s not important, but that goes beyond the crab cake. You know with indigenous communities and communities that have moved here and called this area home, you know from far and wide and different countries, all of those pieces create a cultural landscape which I find fascinating and I think that’s reflected at Delmarva Discovery Museum,” explains Gilette.

The display will be opened at a reception on April 19th. Officials expect the new MESC building to open this Summer. They are setting everything up inside the old Powell Building on the Downtown Plaza. Gilette says they plan to rotate the pieces in the new museum in hopes to constantly have something new to see.

“We have worked with a company to create a custom portable wall system so that we can move our exhibits around depending on the content. It was very important for this space to be very flexible,” explains Gilette.

For more information on the MESC click here.