The Renton History Museum will close its showing of the Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit, Key Ingredients: America by Food, on May 9.
According to museum director Elizabeth Stewart, the free show has been a huge success, doubling the attendance at the museum on Mill Avenue South. The museum takes donations.
“It has really been good,” Stewart said of the show.
During Key Ingredients, the museum has had twice as many visitors as usual, including numerous tour groups, she said.
To complement Key Ingredients, the museum unveiled Sustaining A City, an exhibit about food in Renton. Together the two exhibits showcase the ways in which food brings people together.
The theme behind the exhibits is to show how food “brings people together,” she said.
This is the only showing of Key Ingredients in the Seattle area, and the Renton History Museum’s first Smithsonian exhibit in 15 years.
Key Ingredients draws on Smithsonian artifacts, photographs, and illustrations to explore 300 years of American culinary traditions. The exhibit explores American agriculture, local food traditions, innovations in food preservation, production, and transportation, as well as food celebrations such as food festivals, picnics, and Thanksgiving dinners.
Exhibit Events
- “An Afternoon with Greg Atkinson,” May 7, 4:30 p.m., Carco Theatre. Local chef and cookbook author Greg Atkinson and West Coast regional cuisine. Admission $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors. Sponsored by Renton History Museum.
- Local Food Year-Round: Simple Methods for Preserving Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, presented by WSU King County Extension. May 13, 6-8 p.m., Renton Technical College.
The museum has also offered a spring program series about food at Carco Theatre. The final program in the series takes place on May 7 when local cookbook chef and author Greg Atkinson comes to Carco Theatre to explore the unique cuisine of the Pacific Northwest.
Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The museum is located at 235 Mill Avenue South. The exhibit is made possible by the Museum on Main Street project, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils, and local museums. To learn more about the exhibits, go to http://rentonwa.gov/living/default.aspx?id=1220.
