Storytelling in 3D

The Museum of Boulder brings community lore to life

By Kastle Waserman

The art of storytelling utilizes narratives to convey experiences, ideas or information in a way that evokes emotion and creates a lasting impact on the audience. That’s exactly what the Museum of Boulder tries to do. The multi-level museum shines a spotlight on the stories of the various communities that comprise our inclusive home.

“When you look around, it’s about seeing everybody and recognizing that everyone has a story to tell,” said Christopher Taylor, executive director at the Museum of Boulder. “You never know what is going to happen. Every day is someone’s birthday, anniversary or special occasion. Every day, there is a story.” 

Taylor said it was the 2022 “Voces Vivas” exhibit—which showcased the experiences of the Latino community—that set the tone for the museum’s mission to communicate complex histories, cultural values and shared experiences through storytelling. 

The museum features multiple floors, showcasing both permanent and rotating exhibits. Ongoing is the Boulder Experience gallery, featuring interactive displays that cover the history of Boulder from the earliest days of Native American inhabitants through key periods of cultural, scientific and economic change. Visitors can view clothes worn by hippies in the 1960s, see bikes used by local cycling stars and explore canisters from food innovators, among other exhibits. 

In the Playzeum, curiosity, play and experimentation are encouraged to allow young visitors to nurture cognitive skill development and become the change-makers of the future. In the Google Garage maker space, tinkering is encouraged to explore technology or art through revolving activities.

The Lodge area features a meeting and event space for exhibit-related programming and smaller exhibits, such as the recent tribute to McGuckin Hardware.

The main gallery hosts rotating exhibits that feature items from the archives, which are housed off-site in Gunbarrel. Volunteers and interns assist curator Elizabeth Nosek in researching, filing and meticulously orchestrating the preservation of more than 45,000 historic items in the carefully organized, temperature-controlled warehouse.

Items include kitchen appliances, sports equipment, furniture, household items and a costume collection that was designated as a National Treasure by the White House Commission and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (in this case, costume refers to historical clothing). 

Nosek says she’s always looking to Boulderites to donate more items. “We want to make sure the collection reflects the entire Boulder community. We are currently looking for items from the Jewish, LatinX and LGBTQ communities.” She added that she is also seeking a football, a microwave and distinctive China plates. 

While the items and displays build the narratives of the city, Taylor says it’s not up to the museum to tell the stories, but to let the communities tell them for themselves. He credits Emily Zinn, director of education, for building networks, reaching out and establishing those relationships.

Both Taylor and Nosek emphasized that the museum presents exhibits in a manner that allows viewers to form their own interpretations and opinions. For instance, the summer exhibit, “Bending the Arc,” began with telling the story of Clela Rorex, a county clerk who issued the first same-sex marriage license in the U.S. in 1975. “We were calling it ‘the Clela Show,’ but we realized there was so much more than two men’s right to get married,” Taylor says. “There were lesbian rights, the HIV crisis and healthcare issues. We had to unpack the whole story.”

Taylor adds that it’s also essential to present all sides, citing that they had the letters Ms. Rorex received in response to issuing same-sex marriage licenses. “Some are positive and high praise, some are extremely negative. We put both,” he says. “We can’t say what is right or wrong, but both are there.”

It can take months to put together an exhibit, and the museum staff strives to take the time needed to research, connect with community members and let the stories unfold. 

Indeed, they spent much of 2025 preparing for the upcoming exhibit, “Boulder Eats,” which opens on November 14. The exhibit aims to showcase food traditions, ethnic variations, and family and holiday traditions, with a special emphasis on Boulder’s restaurants, farms and kitchens. 

“You can’t unite under anything if you can’t unite over food!” Taylor says. “You break bread, and it brings people together.”

And there will be plenty of opportunities to experience a “taste” of the exhibit through cooking classes, demonstrations, workshops and more.

The staff hope that the museum will be a place where both visitors and residents will want to come. 

“We want locals to feel it’s a place they can bring out-of-town guests if they want to know about Boulder,” Taylor says. “This is where our pride lives.”

The Museum of Boulder is located at 2205 Broadway. “Boulder Eats” runs from November 14, 2025, to July 26, 2026. For more information on the museum and how to donate, please visit museumofboulder.org