Immel Circus Conservation Starts

Volunteers have begun cleaning and conserving the Immel Circus at the Massillon Museum.  The popular exhibition is a 100-square foot miniature replica of a complete circus.  The circus gallery will be closed during the process.

The late Dr. Robert M. Immel started working on his circus in 1946, when he returned from the service.  He began his life-long hobby by carving circus wagons with his dentist tools, just as he started his practice.  He moved from wagons to figures and completed the carvings over a period of nearly 50 years.  The circus is comprised of 36 elephants, 186 horses, 102 assorted animals, 91 wagons, 7 tents, and 2207 people—a total of 2620 pieces, each with a story.  That number is expected to increase as workers add trees and other scenery to the inventory.

Volunteers committed to working on the conservation project include: Kara Firestone, Don Liebermann, Deb Altimus, Bobbie Muhlbach (Dr. Immel’s daughter), and Bonnie Barton, along with interns Hannah Sues, Kelly Eggleston and Jessica Shoemaker.  The project is supervised by curator Alexandra Nicholis, and Cristina Savu, senior Museum Studies major at Walsh University, is the project lead.  She has started a blog about the project online that will document progress on this project.  

The newly conserved circus will be unveiled on May 19, 2010, National Circus Day, to coincide with the opening of a traveling exhibition, "Sawdust and Spectacle: Under the Big Top in Small Town America. " Independent Conservator out of Cleveland Heights, Larry Sisson, advised and trained Savu and volunteers about how to approach this project and what tools to use.  It is anticipated that the project will take a total of two months.  

Efforts are being made to examine options for a way to creatively and aesthetically enclose the circus completely, to avoid future damage from light and dust.  “Fortunately, the main conservation issue is dust.  Therefore, only cosmetic alterations are necessary, most of which can be made with small brushes and cotton swabs,” reports Alexandra Nicholis.

To learn more about the Immel Circus and the Massillon Museum, visit massillonmuseum.org, or call 330-833-4061 to talk to a staff member.