'Celebration' is coming to Cleveland

The exhibit, through nine galleries, tells the story of the popular woman.
By JOHN BENSON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Over the past two decades, there have been several moments in history so shocking that we always remember where we were when we first heard the news.
Naturally, Sept. 11 stands out as the most important, but perhaps a close second is the sudden and tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales in August of 1997. To celebrate her life, Diana's family has created the critically acclaimed exhibition "Diana, A Celebration," which makes its Cleveland debut appearing Feb. 23 through June 10 at the Western Reserve Historical Society.
"As you can imagine, Princess Diana is probably one of the most iconic, best-loved public figures of the 20th century, and even 10 years after her unfortunate death, there's still a fascination," said Western Reserve Historical Society Director of Marketing and Communications Rita Kueber.
"The galleries reflect that fascination, so the topics include everything from childhood, her early career as a kindergarten teacher, the launching into public life, her family history all the way into the clothes she wore, her wedding gown, and then her work as an advocate for charities, including AIDS, children in Third World countries and the unregulated use of landmines."
Costume collection
She added, "The reason it's coming to the Western Reserve Historical Society is because we have an extensive costume collection. We have 30,000 pieces of articles of clothing and accessories that kind of go from the 1790s to the present day. And because at least two of the galleries are dedicated to Diana's sense of style and fashion, and presenting some of the clothes from the world's best-known designers, that kind of fits with a portion of our mission."
Kueber said something else that allowed the Western Reserve Historical Society to attract "Diana, A Celebration" was the fact it's the only facility in Northeast Ohio with enough space to house the 10,000-square-foot exhibition. The traveling display tells the story of Diana through nine galleries: "Tiara;" "The Spencer Women;" "Childhood;" "Engagement;" "Royal Wedding;" "Charity;" "Tribute;" "Style" and "Condolence."
Among the 150 items on display will be Diana's famous 1981 wedding dress, including its 25-foot train, along with 28 other designer gowns from the likes of Versace, Dior and Chanel. Other galleries feature two diamond tiaras, family jewels, home movies, childhood photos, personal letters and paintings from Diana's ancestral home.
The exhibit ends with a tribute to her passing that includes the original hand-edited text of Charles Spencer's moving tribute to his sister that he delivered at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey and the musical score and handwritten lyrics of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin composition dedicated to Diana and adapted from "Candle in the Wind."
Popular display
So far "Diana, A Celebration" has attracted crowds wherever it went, including exhibitions in Toronto, Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, Houston and Dayton. Kueber said statistics show the exhibit naturally attracts multigenerations of women. However, she hopes men look behind the surface fashion show and decide to see a different story of inspiration.
"I think most men have the same kind of fascination with public figures as women do," Kueber said. "Lady Diana Spencer really had a life of great privilege, but she chose to leverage her celebrity to have the world focus on charitable efforts. ... So there's a certain amount of heroism in that, and I think that men would find that admirable."
She quickly laughed and said, "Also, the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum still has a bunch of antique cars to see."