The Wallace Theater and Levelland Middle School students are hosting a pop-up museum and dinner at Studebaker Events Tuesday, May 23, at 6 p.m. with guest speaker South Plains College professor Abel Rios.
The exhibit is open to the public May 17 through May 26, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Executive Director of the Wallace Theater, Alycyn Keeling said the Jesus Vera’s National History Day class at Levelland Middle School began partnering with the Wallace theater three years ago to create pop-up museums for the community.
“The Pop-Up Museum was a great idea from Cathie McMahan, who was teaching the National History Day class at the time,” Keeling said. “She always looked for opportunities to engage her students with the community and opportunities to be able to practice their presentations for their National History Day competition.”
Keeling said the title of the exhibit is “Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy” with a display on loan from. Humanities Texas, an organization with traveling exhibits to support teaching, classrooms, and create lifelong learning.
“What we love about the Pop-Up Museum is the collaboration from the educational institutions in our community,” Keeling said. “From the students at Levelland Middle School to getting to work with history professors at South Plains College to provide a little extra history and cultural opportunities for the community here in Levelland and Hockley County.”
Levelland sixth-grader Eli Luna’s group explored the history of the King Ranch and the contribution made by Vaquero’s.
“Richard King started the King Ranch by recruiting Vaquero’s to his homeland,” Luna said. “I think the big the difference in the King Ranch is how right now it’s huge but then at first it was like nothing at all.” Cerys Lewis, a Levelland eighthgrader, helped design and write her group project which researched how Vaquero’s influenced rodeos.
“We’re doing the impact Vaquero’s had on the rodeo industry and how their traditions carried on throughout it and like the way they did things,” Lewis said. “One of the major groups of Vaquero’s that did rodeos performed for Queen Victoria.”
Levelland sixth-grader MJ Niederhauser’s group discussed the similarities and differences between past and modern Vaquero’s.
“I thought it was interesting how similar they actually were,” Niederhauser said. “It’s two very different time periods with very different technology and yet they still do a lot of the same things, and it didn’t change much other than the way they do it.”
Community members are encouraged to visit the pop-up museum Monday-Friday 11:00am to 2:00pm at the Brasch Mitchell Building through May 26th or attend the dinner May 23rd. Tickets are on sale for $15 and can be purchased online at www.WallaceTheater.com/events or call 806-523-8773.
“I want to encourage the community to take just a few minutes to come down to see the student’s work and Humanities Texas exhibit. It’s always great to learn a little something new. Each one of the exhibits from the students has a different perspective on ranching, from the King Ranch to a barbed wire exhibit. I would challenge everyone to find something to find something that they didn’t know before and expanded their knowledge of the ranching industry and the heritage of the Vaquero Cowboys in Texas.”