A special exhibition at Hosmer Gallery, featuring rarely seen art and artifacts from the library’s extensive special collections, will be on view through January. On display will be works that are visually fascinating not only as historical documentation but also as graphic art and as tangible artifacts of Northampton’s past.  A curated selection of photographs, prints, letters, diaries, paintings, posters, and objects of historical significance from the 18th to the 20th centuries will be on view. Some have never been on display before and as a group they shed insight on the lives of the area’s residents and the artists and collectors who documented and preserved our past.

Recently acquired materials which will be exhibited for the first time include photographs of Pioneer Valley Ballet’s early productions in the 1980s, donated by artist Maurine Sutter; photos from the Smith Vocational School archives; and art created for the annual “Show Us Your Bra” auctions benefiting the Breast Form Fund between 1994 and 2010. Some of the oldest items to be on display are photographs of Northampton’s Civil War veterans, broadsides from the mid-1800s, and Sioux beadwork given to Calvin Coolidge during his presidency.

Also included are images by Robert Emrick, Walter Corbin, the Howes Brothers, Daily Hampshire Gazette, and the people of Northampton who participated in the Midnight to Midnight project last year.

Gallery Hours: Monday 9-9 ; Tuesday 1-5 ; Wednesday 9-9 ; Thursday 1-5 ; Friday & Saturday 9-5 ; closed Sundays and holidays.