Museum Making International News

Catalina Island Museum Making International News

It may be surprising to some, but Avalon’s own Catalina Island Museum has been making international news lately.

“The Los Angeles Times printed a large article with several photographs about our summer exhibitions of Pattie Boyd photographs of the Beatles and the life of Marilyn Monroe on the island,” Michael De Marsche, Executive Director of the Museum recently stated. “And the phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

“We knew that there might be some real interest in the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe, but one just doesn’t understand the intensity of that interest until it happens,” De Marsche says. “Since the article, we’ve had articles published up and down the West Coast. The Seattle Times and the San Francisco Examiner published large articles on the shows. USA Today featured us in their section about news in California. MSNBC published the article on their website, and several newspapers in the East printed stories, including a newspaper in Cape Cod and another in Orlando, Florida. All of this is extremely gratifying. It really gets the word out about what we’re trying to do here. And it helps with bringing visitors to Catalina Island.”
But according to De Marsche, the real surprise was yet to happen.

“The morning following the release of the Times’ article, I was contacted by a media group representing news agencies in Great Britain. They wanted photographs and stories for both Pattie Boyd and Marilyn Monroe immediately for release in the UK. Of course, they were thrilled about the exhibition on The Beatles. I’ve worked in museums for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Thank goodness we were prepared. But it still made for a hectic week.”

The opening celebration for Yesterday and Today: The Beatles and Eric Clapton as Photographed by Pattie Boyd will take place on Saturday, May 7th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The exhibition runs through July 31. Tickets to the opening are free for museum members and $5.00 for the general public.

Pattie Boyd will make a special appearance at the Catalina Island Museum on July 2 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. She will be signing her best-selling book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me. Tickets for this event are free for members and $10.00 for the general public.

Before She was Marilyn: Marilyn Monroe on Catalina Island opens at the museum on August 6 and runs through October 31.

The Catalina Island Museum is located on the ground floor of Avalon’s historic Casino, and is open 7 days a week, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information, the museum may be reached by phone at 310-510-4650 or at its website: www.CatalinaMuseum.org.