Crazy for Kaleidoscopes!

By Cathy DeDe

Judith Mysliborski, a retired Albany dermatologist who lives in Voorheesville near Albany can’t remember when she started collecting kaleidoscopes, but she recalls the first one she ever had.

“As a kid,” she says, “I had one of those paper ones. I had this little plastic blue toy box, and I remember some of the toys that were in there. That was one.”

Dr. Mysliborski’s old toy is long gone, but her delight in the simple toy remains. So much so that over a lifetime she has collected more than 200 kaleidoscopes.

The collection ranges from more of those simple paper tubes picked up at a five-and-dime store to artist-commissioned pieces worth thousands of dollars — including a standing kaleidoscope as big as a grown-up, and another whose elements include real jewels!

A few years ago, thinking about her estate, Dr. Mysliborski considered: Where should her beloved kaleidoscopes land?

“I knew I wanted to leave the collection to a museum for children,” she says. She found the World Awareness Children’s Museum here in Glens Falls. Within about a year they’ve struck up what they expect to be a lasting relationship.

That begins in earnest next month.

For the first time ever, Dr. Mysliborski will lend her collection for an exhibition that WACM will open to the public on Thursday, Sept. 18. To prepare, the museum on Warren Street closes for two weeks beginning on Labor Day, to reset and stage the show.

“It’s incredible,” says WACM’s  new director Heather Hickland. “It’s our first chance to do some kind of museum-wide exhibition.

“One thing we’re so excited is that kaleidoscopes appeal to everyone, of every age. It’s an opportunity for us to have more multi-generational experiences at the museum.”

The exhibition is also meant to be hands-on, Dr. Mysliborski insists. “I’d rather see the kaleidoscopes used and engaged, versus to have them sitting somewhere safe and not enjoyed.”

Only the rarest of specimens will be off-limits. (Mrs. Hickland notes that, for safety, some will be behind glass, to be taken out for play during guided tours.)

The museum is also commissioning Ed Ostberg of Design Function in Queensbury to build a unique, seven-foot-tall walk-in kaleidoscope for the show.

What is it about this toy?

“The concept is simple,” Dr. Mysliborski says. “You have mirrors reflecting an image with enough light. You have the mirrors, the light source, the chamber that houses the mirror system, and the chamber with the objects you’re looking at.”

It’s the chamber, and the viewing objects, that afford opportunity for unique artistry, she said. “It’s so fascinating. Artists keep coming up with new and different and clever ideas, as long as I’ve been collecting them.”

“I can’t tell you which one was my first,” Dr. Mysliborski said, “but I’m sure I bought it because I was looking into it, seeing beauty and art and having fun. That’s what kaleidoscopes are all about. Even with the same one, there are an infinite number of things to be seen. They’re all so unique. That was probably 25 years ago.”

She says, “The world of dermatology, it’s all about looking and seeing. What I like about kaleidoscopes, it’s all about seeing. Sometimes you just need a pause. I’d pick up one of my kaleidoscopes and look at it, even just for 20 seconds. It’s like taking a little trip.”

Some of her favorites?

• Five-foot-plus-tall kaleidoscope commissioned from artist Will Smith of Sedona. You stand and look down into an eye piece; water flows over glass globes to create the patterns.

• A turned wood, battery-powered piece by Adirondack artist John Domster is lighted from within, so it works in the dark. “I keep it by my bedside,” Dr. Mysliborski said.

• Wooden kaleidoscope fixed up with an atomizer and colored feathers in the viewing chamber. Squeeze the bulb and puffs of air float the feathers around to create patterns.

• Glass-chambered piece that views down onto an embossed brass plate set on a music box: Wind up the box, and the plate spins to create patterns — or add small items to the plate for new effects.

• Several teleidoscopes, open-lensed pieces that afford views of the outside world, itself fractured into patterns.

Kaleidoscopes! Mirrored Views of the World runs from September 18 to December 31 at the World Awareness Children’s Museum at 89 Warren Street, just east of downtown Glens Falls.
Tours will be offered on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays  at 10:30 a.m., 1 and 4 p.m., and Sundays at 1 and 4 p.m.
Additional programming is to include children’s art, culture  and science activities on Saturdays at 11 a.m.
Programs for teens and adults are also in the works. Call for schedule.
Museum admission: $5 for ages 3-up.
Info: 793-2773.

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