Two key players leaving Elmhurst History Museum

Two of the driving forces behind the Elmhurst History Museum are moving on, leaving at least a temporary void at an institution that in recent years has earned a reputation for its innovative and sometimes quirky exhibits.

Director Brian Bergheger, who has been with the museum since 1988, is retiring in October.

"The museum is going to continue on and find great success in the future," Bergheger said. "I'm confident of that. There's no doubt that the curator of collections position is particularly important at the museum and it will continue to play a big role in the success of the museum."

The museum's current curator is Lance Tawzer, the man behind many of those colorful and interactive exhibits.

But Tawzer also is preparing to leave Elmhurst for a job at another museum in DuPage County.

"I have mixed emotions about having that much institutional knowledge walk out the door in one calendar year," Tawzer said. "But people have noticed how we've raised the cache of the museum … they're not going to have too much trouble finding quality people."

The museum, 120 E. Park Ave., draws roughly 15,000 people a year, including students visiting its one-room Churchville Schoolhouse at 3N784 Church Road in Bensenville. Tawzer said its summertime exhibits are geared to attract broader audiences, connecting with everything from jazz ("Elmhurst Jazz: A Celebration of an American Art Form") to jelly beans ("Sweet Home Chicago: The History of America's Candy Capital.")

"I use the term 'vehicles,'" Tawzer said. "How am I going to deliver this message? Is it best in 250 words on a wall?"

It usually takes about a year to put an exhibit together.

"I have to look at the story and then figure out the delivery method for each of these within my own constraints and my own capabilities," he said.

That process can include making gadgets that play clips coming out of old TVs or 8-track players. In the current "Disco Demolition" exhibit, visitors can hear the voice of radio personality Steve Dahl coming out of a clock radio, just as they did in the 1970s.

"I gut them and put a media player in them, put a Bluetooth speaker in and put an arcade button on top," Tawzer said. "People learn in different ways. The whole idea of having a static exhibit with artifacts under glass and panels on a wall just ain't cutting it."

Grabbing an audience's attention is something Tawzer, 52, has a lot of experience with. He grew up in Wheaton and later attended Elmhurst College. He joined bands, including Material Issue and The Lupins, which had a song on the "Dumb and Dumber" soundtrack. RCA sent him a gold record. Residuals? "Not life-changing," he said with a laugh.

He was not only a guitarist, but also the band's go-to graphics guy, creating T-shirts, album covers and posters. After the band broke up, he parlayed his design skills into an ad agency job in Villa Park, followed by work in Michigan as a museum graphic designer.

His first big project was an exhibit for Chicago's Field Museum, where Tawzer said, "I realized I really enjoyed doing something creative that had this important aspect to it."

His work as a museum graphics designer later took him to Virginia, Ohio, Georgia and Kentucky before he accepted the curator position at the Elmhurst History Museum in 2008. He's hard-pressed to name a favorite exhibit out of the more than 30 he's curated, but a few were particularly memorable: the exhibit on baseball star Roberto Clemente; the music series "Shutter to Think," showcasing the works of famed photographer Paul Natkin; and "Toys in the Hood," about the area's toy-making legacy.

"I've held Roberto Clemente's bat in my hand. I have held Louis Armstrong's trumpet in my hand - wearing gloves," Tawzer said. "There's a lot of hair (standing) on the back of your neck moments. I've been blessed to help tell these stories."

Tawzer said it's just sheer coincidence that he and the director are leaving this year. He said he's proud of work that makes people reminisce and sometimes continue their own research.

"I like to think that I'm like any other museum goer. I'm interested, so you should be too," Tawzer said. "And I'm always really pleased when people come in and say 'I really enjoyed that.'

"But, in the end, we're here to engage them. Hopefully, the person who takes over for me will have that same passion to bring relevant, important and digestible stories to our community."

If you go

What: Elmhurst History Museum

Where: 120 E. Park Ave.

Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays, Tuesdays through Fridays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; closed Mondays and some holidays

Cost: Free admission; nominal fees for tours and select programs

Info: (630) 833-1457or elmhursthistory.org