These are a few of my Favorite Things

by Melanie Hasbrook

Kimberly Flook, Olana Historic Site Manager

Photo by Andy Wainwright

I never really grasped the scope of 80,000+ objects until I stood in a room during self-guided touring at Olana. I had worked at Olana for over three years, giving tours and moving through these spaces almost daily, yet, as I stood there, my eye caught pieces that I had never really seen before.

I have my favorites (the monkey skull in the curio cabinet), and I know our greatest hits (El Khasne, Petra) like the back of my hand, but I began to really appreciate the other pieces in the collection, realizing that each brought much more to the story than just acting as background or adding atmosphere.

With this new appreciation in mind, we are launching a series of themed highlight handouts, giving the staff and friends of Olana a chance to bring these objects to the forefront. As part of our 50th anniversary celebration, every three months in 2016-17, we will present a new theme and list of objects to help our guests discover the treasures of Olana.