Right in the heart of Lompoc’s downtown, on the corner of South H Street and East Cypress, is the historic Carnegie Library building, which is home to the Lompoc Museum. The fluted Roman pillars and classical façade signified the city’s main repository of information, its library, for the better part of the 20th century. Completed in 1911, the library was converted into the Lompoc Museum in 1969 after a larger library was built uptown. The museum has showcased a vast array of artifacts, exhibits, and art ever since.
The building includes the main first story and a large basement, both of which are packed with a variety of exhibits. The upstairs portion of the Lompoc Museum includes exclusively Native American artifacts. The museum was founded after longtime Lompoc teacher and principal Clarence “Pop” Ruth donated his extensive collection of Native American artifacts to the city of Lompoc. The nonprofit organization that is the museum began to showcase the collection, but has expanded to include more and more as space will allow, explained museum director Lisa Renken.
“As an archaeologist, the collection is my love,” she said. “But we are focused on updating all of the exhibits.”
The Lompoc Museum is currently planning a redesign of the layout and level of interaction in the exhibits, Renken explained. The artifacts take center stage, of course, but updating the arrangement, lighting, and exhibit supplements will help showcase them more effectively.
Currently, the exhibits upstairs display a wide array of local Chumash relics, as well as Native American artifacts from across the rest of the country. A large cabinet includes several drawers of arrowheads, knives, and other small stone tools and blades that can be gawked at for hours. A variety of basketry, mortars, and other tools line the walls, while clothing, weapons, and other regalia are showcased in the center cases.
The downstairs portion of the Lompoc Museum is just as vast as the upstairs. The focus lands on Lompoc’s early city history and some of the natural history of the region. Beautifully preserved fossils, including a 7-million-year-old dolphin skeleton, showcase the rich ecological heritage that helped make the valley lucrative to many early residents.
Many of the tools, products, and papers used by these early businesses are on display, including blacksmith and carriage equipment, flower industry artifacts, and barbershop trappings like a shoeshine chair. Many of these items are on loan from the Lompoc Valley Historical Society. An interactive exhibition by the Historical Society called the Lompoc Oral History Project includes a digital interactive display that allows visitors to listen to interviews with Lompoc residents about their experiences growing up in the city in the early 1900s.
The downstairs also includes the Centeno Gallery, which showcases the work of local artists. Currently showing is the exhibit Things That Make Me Smile by painter Carol Oliveira. The show is viewable through Jan. 11 before a new exhibit takes the space.
A few volunteers are always on hand to provide information and guide visitors through the Lompoc Museum’s exhibits. These dedicated docents provide historical context, tell interesting anecdotes, and help dig into the meat of an exhibit. This makes the Lompoc Museum a truly wonderful place to visit whether alone or with friends. The wealth of information is a fantastic attraction to any one with an appetite for curiosity.
Enjoy the museum
The Lompoc Museum showcases historical artifacts and exhibits as well as the art show Things That Make Me Smile, showing through Jan. 11 at the museum, 200 S. H St., Lompoc. The museum is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. More info: 736-3888 or lompocmuseum@gmail.com.
Arts Editor Joe Payne can spend hours in a great museum. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 1-8, 2015.