The WMODA Treasure Hunt

Treasure seekers were out in force on Saturday, June 5 for our WMODA Treasure Hunt to launch Museum Week 2021, the worldwide festival for culture on social media. Thank you to our volunteer videographers, Lloyd Goradesky and Dave Rosenthal, for filming and promoting the event on Facebook Live.

Tiny Treasures

Visitors enjoyed searching for miniature ceramics hidden around the museum and watching them being made on the potter’s wheel by master craftsman, Alex Meiklejohn. Having found all the tiny treasures on the pirate’s map, visitors redeemed rewards with a specially designed scratch card from a pot of prizes at the end of the rainbow in our Hot Glass Gallery.

Diamonds are Forever

A dazzling array of diamond jewelry was brought in for Michael Rousso to review and he talked about the 4 C’s of diamonds – carat, color, clarity, and cut. Michael will be back with more of his diamond expertise in the Fall as he helps to transform WMODA from a “Hidden Gem” to the “Diamond of Dania Beach”!

Treasure or Trash?

Family heirlooms and exciting flea market finds were among the treasured possessions shown to Linda Saft, an accredited appraiser of decorative arts. Linda gave lots of great information and verbal approximations of value for a wide range of pieces throughout the day. Some were museum quality and she assured us there was no trash!

Trash to Treasure

Betsy Alexis recycles discarded materials into whimsical jewelry, and she displayed some of her inspirational thrift shop finds. Her extravagant rings sourced from grandma’s button box were a huge hit with treasure seekers. Betsy also combs beaches looking for interesting shells and feathers, which she incorporates into her necklaces and earrings sold at the WMODA shop.

1000 Mermaids & ORA

Stacy Brown from the 1000 Mermaids Project and Shelby Thomas from Ocean Rescue Alliance had the latest news about the installation of the Dania Beach artificial coral reef and sculpture garden. An unveiling ceremony for the first modules was held at Dania Beach Pier and plans are in place for the deployment on July 15, weather permitting.

Hot Glass Treasures

Diane and Mauro Gennaretti from Italianissimo had a pop-up shop displaying their beautiful glass jewelry from Murano. Chelsea Rousso displayed her latest wearable glass outfits and signed up lots of visitors for our next Creative Glass workshop planned for August. Many of the aspiring artists are from the Moringa Garden Club who started their group visit with an introduction by Louise Irvine. The end of the rainbow was symbolized by Anne Orvieto’s rainbow designs in our Hot Glass Gallery. Next Saturday, June 12, you will find a beautiful mermaid at the end of the rainbow.

Thank you to all the staff and volunteers at WMODA for making this Museum Week event such a success.