The rotating exhibits for 2022 will follow an exciting new concept: a whole series depicting the theme of 200 years of immigration and cultural diversity in Sunnyvale. Laura Babcock and Janice Havey, the masterminds behind the rotations, have a new idea in mind: instead of having three or four exhibits with distinctly different themes, changing each one out completely after three months, 2022 will have a series of interconnected displays.
Starting with the original inhabitants of the area, the native Ohlone, the series will explore different waves of immigration from the 1700s on: from the Spanish and their missions, the Chinese workers attracted by the railroad construction, Europeans like the Murphys and Americans from other parts of the expanding U.S. and Mexico, to the more recent immigrants from all over the world seeking jobs in the technology industry.
From the first set-up showcasing the history of the Ohlone, Spanish, and the Murphys, artifacts will gradually be removed and changed out for items representing the next wave of immigration, thus condensing the original display and keeping the exhibit in flux. This will eventually create a timeline from the ancient times to today. In the last few months of 2022 the whole panorama of different cultural and ethnic influences that shaped our city will be on view.