Curating Garden Instead of Museum Exhibits

Maureen Harding of Iowa City has hung up her curator hat from the Hebert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum in West Branch, but she can't help continuing to work on exhibits. Only this time, it's the extensive garden she's created at her Iowa City home. (See today's Ramblin' in The Gazette.)

As we walk among leaves left over from last fall -- "I've got to get those raked" -- in her beautifully terraced garden, Maureen "Mo" Harding can't help but think back to the last 20 years or so when spring meant the unveiling of a new exhibit at the museum.

"I offered," she says. "If they need help, give me a call. They can't be doing that bad. They haven't called."

Which is to say that it's business as usual -- somewhat -- at the museum as preparations are under way to unveil artifacts from Iowa-born President Hoover's closet for this spring. But library-museum director Tim Walch says, "We miss Mo."

That's definitely expected after someone who has been around almost 33 years, up and leaves. But, it wasn't without warning -- planning for each exhibit begins about five years out. 

“We would work together with the topic and sketch it out," Tim says. "From there I'd trust her to go out and find what we needed for the exhibits.”

He called Mo “Fantastically creative," and "Interesting" with "A good sense of humor." And he says working on each exhibit, from planning to opening, was like earning a master's degree because of the all the study and hard work required.

"Every year," Tim says, "she'd say, 'I'm too deeply involved in this. I'm never doing this again.” But, then she would.

Mo, herself, admits the work was rather taxing. After all, while many museums borrow exhibits from other museums, the Hoover library-museum prided itself in assembling its own unique exhibits. And, if it borrowed an exhibit, it always made sure to tie Hoover into it in some way.

"It's much more difficult to borrow things these days than it used to be," Mo says. "And sometimes you have to pay a fee."

At 56, Maureen decided to take a cue from her father who retired as soon as he could -- age 55 -- from the U.S. Post Office. "He loved retirement. I thought I'd try it."

So the garden is now Mo's focus. And she just completed her ninth miniature fairy house to put into it for additional spiritual help.

Soon, after the leaves are raked, the flowers from the more than half a dozens varieties of ground cover will emerge. The small Japanese maples will sprout leaves. The ferns and hostas will grow tall and, even in retirement, all will be right in this curator's world.