With the acquisition in 2014 of an additional 14 original Homer Davenport cartoons, it soon became apparent that a means to display these incredible works of art, was problematic owing to their size, averaging 2 by 3 feet each.
Enter SCHS volunteer craftsman Larry Thomas, who designed and later built an ingenious “sliding cabinet” system allowing for large panels to slide in and out of a protective case. The double issues of premium display space in our tiny museum and ease of access was solved by this simple, yet clever approach.
Funding for this project came from the Fred W. Fields Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation in the amount of $1,200 was approved for SCHS by OCF’s board of directors on October 21, 2014.
This allowed for the construction of this custom built storage/display unit, built to protect and store art work in a museum-safe environment and allow for them to be more accessible to museum volunteers and the public.
Eight of the new cartoons were purchased and framed by a grant from the Homer Davenport Community Festival Foundation, and the other four were donated by Davenport’s great-grand daughter Leslie Gray.