The Route 66 town of Pontiac, Ill., may acquire yet another museum — one dedicated to the art of gilding, or placing a thin coat of gold on objects, reported the Bloomington Pantagraph.
The nonprofit Society of Gilders is considering establishing the museum. Urban J. Billmeier was one of the gilders who gave a pitch to the city council:
Billmeier said the society is hoping to find a place where it can to open a small museum to showcase its collection and house an annual convention and possibly classrooms for seminars.
“We have members who are on the East Coast and members on the West Coast,” Billmeier said. “One of the things that attracted us to Pontiac was the fact that it is centrally located.”
The society, which has about 300 members, is making use of temporary space in the International Walldog Mural Museum to promote the society and build interest in the craft.
According to the Pontiac Daily Leader:
The ISOG, which formed in 1986, has examples of work and items for sale currently at the Walldog Museum, but the group is looking for a much bigger space, maybe up to 20-by-60 feet, to house The Swift Collection.
Billmeier explained the Swift Company was a gold leaf producer and in the late 1800s used hand-hammered methods to produce gold-leaf, papery thin sheets of gold used to enhance all types of art works, wood workings, sculptures and signs.
“Even when they switched to machines to process the thin sheets, they left the old ‘beating stations’ alone. The company later closed and we were given these old stations and other tools and items of the trade. We are looking for a place where this equipment can be set up and displayed intact. We have approached several places that were interested, but only wanted certain pieces or could not accommodate the entire display,” he said.
Pontiac already hosts the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum, the Pontiac Oakland Automotive Museum, Livingston County War Museum, and the previously mentioned Walldog Museum.
This video shows a basic way to gild architectural details in your home:
https://youtu.be/ea9cr_UN3ro