New Exhibit at Tehachapi Museum

For March First Friday the Tehachapi Museum will open a new exhibit on the Fickert Family in its Tehachapi Families Case. Two other recent exhibits will continue. Dr. Terry Warsaw's collection of marbles, including ancient pottery, stone and minerals, early German glass, and more contemporary American glass will be on exhibit, along with information on how to play marble games. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, he loved playing marbles; as he grew a little older, he switched to collecting. His large collection includes both vintage and modern machine made marbles, and many books about marbles. His favorites are the handmade marbles.

The other recent exhibit showcases pottery made by Hazel Kanstein, wife of Lew Kanstein, a former mayor and co-owner of the BeeKay Theatre. Hazel Davis came to Tehachapi as a schoolteacher sometime in the late teens or early 1920s. She met and married Lewis Kanstein, known as Lew, who came to Tehachapi just before World War I to work for the Tehachapi Fruit and Land Company and later worked for Kern County as the agriculture inspector for this area. At their home on Green Street, Hazel operated a nursery and sold her pottery.

The slab-constructed pottery, in muted earth tones with artistically created embellishment of naturalistic designs, has a timeless quality that spans several centuries and could easily be contemporary. It is owned by Sally Lange Liebel Errecart, a lifetime resident of Tehachapi who was born and lived next door to the Kansteins, just a block down from the Museum. Some of the pottery now belongs to her daughter Carlyn Liebel Grantham. It was brought back to Tehachapi especially for this exhibit.

Join us from 5 to 8 p.m. on the First Friday of each month for appetizers and wine at 310 S. Green St., a short walk from the many downtown galleries and shops that participate in First Friday. Regular Museum hours are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 4 p.m.