Editor's Note: Former NCA Member Jim Miller recently visited an exhibit of Disney costumes and kindly shared these photos and description. Thank you, Jim!
The Sanderson Sisters. Jack Sparrow. Cinderella. Cruella De Vil. Belle, The Beast and Gaston. Yep, they're all here at the Birmingham Museum of Art (www.artsbma.org). While attending the Main Street Now national conference recently in Birmingham, AL, I visited the incredible exhibit, Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume, onsite until August 18. The exhibit is simply beautiful, gasp-inducing and just fascinating to see these cultural icons up close and personal. I continued to be wowed by fabrics, styles, techniques and just how small our celebrities are! (Especially Bette Davis and her 1978 Return from Witch Mountain costume - tiny!)
Highlights for me? There are many. While I'm not a Disney fanatic, I do love theatre, so costumes from multiple versions of Cinderella (including dresses, shoes and tiaras), Into the Woods, Captain Hook and Peter Pan were simply cool to see in person. Even the everyday clothing worn by Nicolas Cage as Ben Gates in National Treasure is both fun and functional.
The full museum, cafe and funky retail store is free; the exhibit is $30 to view with a ticket and reservation required - and worth every penny. I say make your way to Birmingham before August 18 for this great exhibit and so much American history steeped in that community.