Higgins Armory Museum, CMCVB Forge Artful Partnership

Worcester, MA – A partnership between the Higgins Armory Museum and the Central Mass. Convention and Visitors Bureau (CMCVB) artfully combines the opening of the museum’s newest exhibition, Beyond Belief: The Curious Collection of Professor Rufus Excalibur Bell, while also boosting cultural tourism in Worcester. The collaboration focuses on the opening of Beyond Belief, an exhibition featuring dragons, fairies and a myriad of mythological creatures collected by the Higgins’ imaginary Curator of Curiosities Professor Rufus Excalibur Bell.  The exhibit’s opening reception, Thursday, June 18, from 5:30 – 8 pm at the Higgins, 100 Barber Ave., included: complimentary hors d’oeuvres from 86 Winter American Bistro, Struck Catering, Wachusett Village Inn, Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center, Salem Cross Inn, and Unos Chicago Grille from the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley Mall; a cash bar; as well as exhibit tours and a silent auction.

“This is a winning partnership for the Convention and Visitors Bureau,” says Karen Matt, tourism, public relations and marketing manager for CMCVB. “This reception offers visitors, the business community, and our tourism partners an opportunity to not only preview the fantastic Beyond Belief exhibition but learn more about this unique Worcester institution.” Higgins Executive Director Nikki Andersen says, “Our partnership with the CMCVB is a great way to showcase Beyond Belief and connect visitors eager for cultural excursions with all that the Higgins offers.”

Visitors to Beyond Belief viewed dragons, fairies, and myriad of fantastical creatures that Professor Bell “discovered” during his world-wide treks.  The 70 mythological creatures, artifacts and specimens come alive through the talents of Somerville, Mass., artist Hilary Scott.  Scott’s creations are displayed in a recreation of Bell’s Edwardian study and the museum space where they are unpacked and identified. Beyond Belief, which opens to the public on Saturday, June 20, continues through 2011; accompanying programming will run throughout the year.

Cultural tourism connects visitors with an area’s arts, heritage or natural resources and is the fastest growing sector of the travel industry.  According to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, tourists in Massachusetts generate about $11 billion in spending annually. Cultural tourists spend $62 more per day and $200 more per trip than other travelers. Those statistics, combined with visitors seeking more affordable, “close-to-home” destinations, “could be a benefit for us and other cultural attractions in Worcester,” says Andersen.

Beyond Belief in the News

• Myths & legends beyond belief: Higgins offers fanciful interactive exhibit, June 10, 2009, Worcester Telegram & Gazette