They recently opened the “Bethel Woods Center for the Arts” in Bethel, NY.  It is located on what some consider to be sacred ground; the ground where the legendary “Woodstock” music festival took place almost 40 years ago.  For this post I’m going to focus on “The Museum.”   There are also several pavilions for concerts, beautiful grounds, and other events taking place at the center throughout the year, but since we went up to visit the museum, The Museum is this week’s “Monday Crack.”

First of all I didn’t quite know what to expect.  A museum that’s job was to capture and encapsulate an experience such as Woodstock; I thought it would be close to impossible for it to really work.  To tell the story of an event that changed and defined a generation, what an awesome task.  I wouldn’t have wanted it on my own hands.  You had to know that every person who was going to walk through the door was going to come in having preconceived ideas, judgments, and opinions.  I knew I did.  I was ready to enjoy, but I was just as ready to be critical.

I have to say I was more then pleasantly surprised.  They did a really terrific job of explaining history and events, while making it informative and more importantly contextual.  That’s what I kept saying to my date.  “They really gave this a context.”  Through the use of text panels chronicling the times, artifacts from the period, interactive displays, and films, they brought that experience and time in history to life.  You didn’t have to be there and live through those years to “get” what took place, how it happened and why.

The story is told through personal stories and profiles, interspersed with the music of the festival, and the historical events that were happening in the world, not just the U.S.A. during those years leading up to the famed festival.  It highlights the political, social, and cultural transformations that were shaping our lives and the lives of our brothers, sisters, parents, and neighbors, and it tells the story from all sides, demonstrating the tension and conflicts that all families were facing.  The museum is not only a lot of fun but it is a very good educational tool.  And I believe part of the mission of its founders was to keep alive and pass along some of the ethos that represented that late 60’s era, with peace, respect, consideration, as well as a continued connection to our planet topping the list.

For myself the highlight of the museum were the films, and seeing so much young raw talent.  It was also the “hippy” bus as it was really true to life.  But what I loved most like I said earlier is that somehow the creators really created a platform with context from which we all could collectively jump into and view an historical event that took place during an historical troubling time in our countries history.

For information about the Bethel Woods Museum go to the link below by either clicking on it or cutting and pasting it into your browser.

http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/museum.aspx