Exhibits, drawings, and robots to flood city museum for the next six weeks

The tomorrow of yesterday arrives to Moses Lake the day after tomorrow.

The exhibits "Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of The American Future," and "Monumental Change: Meeting Our Past, Looking Towards Our Future" open Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Moses Lake Museum and Art Center.

Terry Mulkey, the director of the MAC said the museum applied two years ago to have the chance of having the first exhibit, originally from the Smithsonian Institution, come to the Columbia Basin.

Mulkey said that while "Monumental Change," an exhibit put together by the MAC, will focus on technological developments. "Yesterday's Tomorrows" will give people the chance to look at today through past predictions of what today was going to be like.

"Robots in every house," he said, smiling, "but not in a grandiose way. It's the future that did not materialize."

These two exhibits will run until mid-June. On May 29, a third exhibit will open at the MAC, bringing, Mulkey said, a different perspective to the topic.

Graciela Iturbiade, a renowned Mexican photographer will exhibit her work under the title of "Enlaces/Intersections. 'Enlaces' is the Spanish word for 'bonds.'

Mulkey said the trio of exhibits form a good combination to bring to the community.

"The Smithsonian exhibit tends to be (about) one-culture, an idea of what 'our' world is going to be like," he said. "There is a nice juxtaposition of attitudes with Iturbiade coming here."

Such juxtaposition, or placement of different elements side by side, will take place, Mulkey said, by contrasting the humanistic qualities of Iturbiade's photography, with the futuristic qualities of "Yesterday's Tomorrows."

The work of Iturbiade, who will arrive at the MAC to the beat of local Tejano band "Sue-o," will try to reflect the similarities between the changes in today's society thanks to the computer, and the changes to society brought about by the inception of photography a century ago.

Mulkey said that the Smithsonian's exhibit and Iturbiade's work are a small part of a string of projects taking place at the MAC, starting on May 8.

"The Soap Lake School District will bring students to demonstrate robotics and a model of a hydrogen car," Mulkey said. "The Grant County Public Utility District will put out their model of a zero-energy home."

Another highlight will be the presence of Washington State University professor of electronic media and culture Helen Burgess, who will offer a lecture at 11 a.m., on the opening day of the Smithsonian exhibit, titled "Electronic Media and Culture: Imagining The Future."

Other activities will include a future-themed "Chalk on the Block" day during the Spring Festival on the morning of May 29, and an hour of "Story Time" at the Moses Lake Public Library on May 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m, titled "Nature Looks Towards The Future."

"We are excited to have these exhibits," he said. "They will work off each other."