This wall has been blank since the Christmas trees came down in January. And, frankly, it’s been bugging me. Every time I walked down the hallway, it was a reminder that my project of redoing the signs to tell the story of the Saxon Immigration was still unfinished.

Part of the problem is that while a lot of my ideas are starting to come together, I want the plans for the entire hallway to be set before I start on any part of it—just in case I change my mind about something later. So that blank wall just sat there, taunting me.

Then inspiration hit. No, not the kind of inspiration that lets me announce that the whole project is finished (although I really have been making good strides in that direction), but inspiration about what to do with that annoyingly blank wall in the meantime.

Several months ago, I received an email from a woman in St. Robert, Missouri, who was trying to find a permanent home for a set of woodblock prints that her father-in-law made in 1939 commemorating both the 100th anniversary of the immigration and his graduation from seminary. At the time, I was only in the beginning stages of planning changes to the hallway, but when she described them, I immediately started imagining ways they could become part of the exhibit. When I told her we would love to have them, she was overjoyed—almost to the point of tears—that they would have a place where others could continue to see and appreciate them.

Earlier this week, I finally decided how I wanted to frame the prints. Then, just this morning, I realized something else: they would make the perfect temporary installation while the rest of the exhibit continues to come together.

So today, for the first time in months, that wall is no longer blank. Instead of reminding me of what still isn’t finished, it now reminds me that this project is moving forward—sometimes in unexpected ways.

Until next week! Denise Hellwege, Director