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A Head of its Time – Going at Sea

As some people may have heard, we recently opened a new exhibition…in our bathrooms! It’s called A Head of its Time and features a brief history on going at sea with the tag line of “You have to go…to see”. And of course it can be found in all of the public restrooms in the museum, on the walls, stalls and even above urinals. This was the brainchild of the Museum’s late President John Hightower who came up with the idea as a joke. Others realized the potential of such an exhibition and our VP Anna Holloway took charge of making this into a reality. The artwork for the panels was done by Walt Taylor, political cartoonist for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

Introductory panel in the bathroom

Below are some of the images and facts found in this exhibition.

While this might seem like a really strange exhibition to create, I think it is wonderful! It is one way we are trying to make the Museum more fun for our visitors, while still being able to teach and entertain them, and most definitely in a place one wouldn’t expect. It’s also gets us to think about a subject we probably ordinarily wouldn’t.

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