'Tales told from the empty chair' | The Islander

CHAIRS OF EVERY SIZE AND USE are on display through the winter at the Syracuse Museum, most on loan from residents.
Photo by Sue Warren| The Islander

BY SUE WARREN
Islander Columnist

SYRACUSE -? If you think about it, we all spend a lot of time seated.

We sit to drive our cars; we sit around a table to enjoy a meal and conversation with family and friends or to play card or board games; we relax in a comfy chair to watch a favorite television show; we put up with uncomfortable bleacher seats to cheer our team.

We sit in church pews; we sit at computers; we lounge outside to soak up the sun?s rays in a deck chair; we bring folding lawn chairs to outdoor events like fireworks displays or open-air concerts just so we?re comfortable; we squeeze into tight seats on airplanes to get somewhere.

And recently, at a political convention, a famous Hollywood actor and director showed us just how powerful the symbol of an empty chair could be when he used one as a stage prop for his remarks.

An empty chair. Like the walls in our houses, oh, the stories they could tell. Starting this month and running through the winter, the Syracuse Museum and Cultural Center is presenting an exhibit on chairs, ?Tales Told from the Empty Chair,? and they?re all empty with stories to share or imagine.

Thanks to many generous local residents who have loaned the museum chairs and culling from our own holdings, the staff has assembled a fascinating exhibit of chairs, both old and newer, to remind visitors of the function of chairs and how much of a role they play in our lives as necessary pieces of furniture.

There are rocking chairs, upholstered chairs, and a variety of wooden side chairs on display.

Some are comfortable, like padded Victorian armchairs, and some are utilitarian, like the folding wooden chair commonly used in churches and schools for large functions.

We have treasured chairs that came across the plains with early pioneer families and chairs that made the trip in modern moving vans.

All could tell stories: of the soldier returning home from World War II to start a family and furnish a house, with affordable, sturdy dining room chairs ? what he could manage on a modest salary; of the wooden kitchen chair, pulled out from the table by rough hands that had held a plow steady all afternoon; of the toddler who was sitting at the table and learning to feed himself off his high chair tray.

More stories can be coaxed from elegant fabric-covered chairs that would have graced a fancy parlor; or from the rocking chair with the hand-caned seat, worn smooth from countless hours of being used on the front porch; or even of a time of illness shared by the pink lady?s bedside commode.

More than one chair has probably rocked a baby to sleep in its mother?s arms and more than one chair probably heard bedtime stories read by a parent to a young child.

Scaled down versions of chairs for children would have been a luxury, and the museum has several examples as part of the exhibit. There?s one lovely Chippendale upholstered chair just the right size for a proper young lady to sit in and feel all grown up. There are also old-fashioned wooden Sunday School chairs, as well as an old school desk set.

The examples are not limited to ?people? chairs; if you were a young girl, you needed miniature chairs for your dolls. Several items of doll furniture that will interest the little girls who visit are part of the exhibit. There?s pint-sized high chairs and doll rockers.

Plan to stop by the museum and enjoy the new chair exhibit. The Syracuse Museum and Cultural Center?s hours are Tuesdays-Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment by calling 801-825-3633. It is on 1700 South (Antelope Drive) just before 2000 West in Syracuse.

Source: http://www.utahislander.com/2012/10/19/tales-told-from-the-empty-chair/

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