“Museums can be such
stuffy, elitist places.
I think all the museums
in Stark County are making
headway in changing that.”
Even as a girl, Alex Nicholis knew she wanted to work in a museum.
“Being one-on-one with all these objects that tell these incredible stories — it’s fascinating to me,” she says, eyes sparkling.
As curator of the Massillon Museum for four years, Nicholis has gotten her wish. Fact is, much of her time is spent in the vast third-floor storeroom that houses the museum’s permanent collection.
Here can be found Victorian wedding gowns, vintage Massillon tiger memorabilia, antique medical equipment, musical instruments, animal bones, books, pottery, toys. You name it.
“It’s often just me by myself working up there,” she says. “There’s a very romantic sense of isolation. I’ve never once been scared.”
She chuckles at the cinematic scenario she is describing. “This is turning into a Tim Burton movie!”
An Akron native, Nicholis is young (29), fresh and energetic, qualities most welcome in the museum world. “Museums can be such stuffy, elitist places,” she says. “I think all the museums in Stark County are making headway in changing that.”
She takes pride in the Massillon Museum’s ongoing series of Studio M exhibits, which spotlight an eclectic range of area artists.
“They’ve infused the museum with a new vitality,” she says. “What’s great is that people are coming to us constantly to collaborate on projects. It forces you to think outside the box.” She buys paintings and photography from local artists “whenever I can.”
Nicholis’ very first assignment at the Massillon Museum was photocopying football player photos to be cut up for confetti at the opening of “Sacred Turf,” a Tigers football restrospective. “I was overwhelmed with the opportunity,” she recalls.
That was seven years ago, when she was a museum intern while attending Kent State University as an art history major. She went on to get her master’s in art history from Case Western Reserve University, in a joint program with the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Her father, Nick Nicholis, was lead singer for the Bizarros, a seminal Akron punk band of the late ’70s. “Then I was born, and he turned into a responsible guy,” she chuckles. “He had a huge influence on me. He loved the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol.”
Nicholis’ boyfriend, Josh Coon, sings in an Akron band called Dolly Trauma. “There’s a theme of singers running through my life,” she says. “Music and art are big.” Her favorite painter is Miro. The Dada movement is her favorite period — “I love trying to explain it to people,” she says.
With spirit, Nicholis tell about the hectic, last-minute preparations for the opening of the museum’s ambitious 75th-anniversary exhibition, “Eclectic.Everyday.Elegant.,” on view through Sept. 14.
“We were here until 2 a.m. getting ready for it,” she says. “But there was this amazing sense of accomplishment, a high. Something very magical happens here.”
