By Teresa Brummett
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD – From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, Philip and Mary Kathryn traveled the world, visiting hundreds of countries.
During those travels the collected all types of cultural items. They brought back art from China, the Yucatan Peninsula, Papua, New Guinea, and more. Most date to the 19th and early 20th centuries.
After Mary Kathryn Trutter died in 1977, Philip Trutter, a Springfield architect, decided to take art classes at Lincoln Land. He then decided to create a museum.
The Trutters donated the couple’s collection to the college after he died in 2000, creating the Trutter Center.
The Trutter Center has about 750 pieces in its collection. About 43 pieces are miniatures. This led Janet Semanik, development specialist for the Trutter Center, to come up with the sixth exhibit that the Trutter Center has held: “Small World” Near and Far.
This show, which lasts until May 2016, not only displays the work from around the world, but it includes work from Lincoln Land faculty.
Visitors to the museum will see more than just miniatures. Painting and drawings from famous artists such as Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali are among those works hanging on the walls.
Other artifacts include a wedding head dress from Uzbekistan. It shows the detail and craftsmanship of it. Visitors can see brass, ivory, jade, pottery and more from the Trutters’ collection.
Also on display are some of Philip Trutter’s creations.
Mary Kathryn Trutter loved puzzles, so Philip Trutter decided to make puzzles for her.
He would take a photograph of something himself or just use a colorful magazine page. Using his architectural tools, he would create her a masterpiece of a puzzle.
But he didn’t make it too easy for himself. He would add in all types of animals into the pieces of the puzzle.
His wife, who he called “Kitty”or “Kat,” would be the inspiration for the pieces shaped like cats. Because he always made sure there was at least one cat piece in each puzzle he designed.
Beyond puzzles, he also painted. Visitors can see a huge painting Trutter himself painted for the art class he took here at Lincoln Land. The painting had hung on his own walls in his home for years along with the decorated décor above it. It’s a take on an emperor standing outside his palace.
The Trutters not only donated their art collection. They also gave the money to build and keep up the Trutter Center.
Furthermore, the Trutters set up a scholarship fund. Oddly enough, this fund is not set up for the art students but for the medical students.
The Trutter Center is more than just a museum. It also hosts many events, from self-defense and yoga classes to recitals, musical events and fundraisers.
Most people will never get the chance to travel the world and see as much as the Philip and Mary Kathryn Trutter and their twin daughters, Carolyn and Marylyn, but the Trutters brought a small piece of that world back to Lincoln Land.
The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Teresa Brummett can be reached at [email protected].