MUZEO PRESENTS CLARK SILVA’S LEGEND: 200 YEARS OF SLEEPY HOLLOW SEPTEMBER 11 - OCTOBER 31, 2021

A festive exhibition of art and artifacts from 200 years of publishing, film adaptations, and collectable memorabilia inspired by the ghostly tale of the headless horseman.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2021 - From September 11 - October 31, 2021, MUZEO will host an all-new exhibition in its Main Gallery “LEGEND: 200 Years of Sleepy Hollow.” The exhibition explores the origins of the classic short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and the lasting legacy of one of America’s first pop culture icons, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. Art and artifacts on display include ephemera from 200 years of publishing, film adaptations, and collectable memorabilia as well as contemporary works by local artists celebrating the ghostly tale.

The exhibition is organized and curated by local illustrator and graphic designer Clark Silva, a Museum Studies Certificate Candidate of California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) and is supported by CSUF’s College of the Arts and Begovich Gallery.

The exhibition is bolstered by complementary family-friendly programs including craft workshops, demonstrations with local artists featured in our Museum Store, a series of Instagram Lives interviews with the curator, and closing with free public event on October 31.

About the Exhibition

The exhibition features 50 works, including antique books of Washington Irving’s writings, film posters, collectable figures, pop culture ephemera, and more. Concept art for Walt Disney’s The Headless Horseman and Ichabod Crane by Mary Blair (Gouache on board, 1949), on loan from the Hilbert Collection, will be on view. An area in the gallery will host work by contemporary artists such as Michelle Prebich, Xavier Ortiz, Brett Ferrin, Natalie Hyland, and Devin Forst. The signature image for the show was created by local Anaheim artist Hayden Evans, whose work is also featured in the exhibition. Prints of contemporary works are available for purchase in the MUZEO store, with all proceeds going directly to the artists.

The exhibition was originally scheduled for September 2020 in CSUF’s Leo Freedman Gallery. Due to COVID-19 closures, the exhibition at CSUF was postponed and ultimately moved to MUZEO.  

The show occupies about one third of the 5,000 square foot Main Gallery space while volunteers from the Toy Train Operators Society construct the intricate displays of MUZEO’s annual tradition, MUZEO Express: Holiday Model Trains. MUZEO’s Executive Director, Katie Adams Farrell, elected to bisect the gallery so that a portion of it could remain open during the three-month period required for installation of MUZEO Express.

About his show, Silva says: "I have always loved Halloween, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been an intrinsic part of the celebration for me.  As a contemporary symbol of the holiday in America, I wanted to analyze the history of the story, and how a tale written years before Halloween arrived in the United States became synonymous with it. This exhibition, Legend: 200 Years of Sleepy Hollow, seeks to trace the evolution of the Legend in popular culture, from bucolic folk tale to Halloween harbinger."

About the Legend

2020 marked the 200th anniversary of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, originally published in The Sketchbook. As a newly independent nation, the United States was in desperate need of cultural expressions, celebrations, and icons, and the fiction of Washington Irving provided that groundwork.  Irving was America’s first popular author, the first to gain international notoriety, and the first to originate a unique American voice and national character in literature.  This exhibition explores the origins of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (the story’s basis in oral traditions, Gothic narratives, and ancient folklore tropes) and the lasting legacy of America’s first pop culture icons, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman.

Calendar of Events (click here to access the Events List) 

• Aromatic Soap-Making Demo with Nani Ka La Naturals - September 18

• Fall Fun Workshop: Pinecone Wreaths - October 2

• Fall Fun Workshop: Tissue Paper Jack-O-Lanterns (more info coming soon) - October 9

• Photo Walk with Alkaid Ramirez: Try documentary photography with a Polaroid Instax (more info coming soon) - October 16

• Hallow's Treat Trail Free Event (more info coming soon) - October 31

About the Exhibition Designer / Curator

Clark Silva received his bachelors in Illustration from California State University, Fullerton and is currently pursuing a Masters in Art History and Museum Studies.  His study focus is not only on museology, including registration archivist, and exhibition design, but visual culture, specifically  holidays/festivals, folktales, mythology, video games, heavy metal music, and LGBT art and representations.

Clark loves Halloween, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been an intrinsic part of the celebration for him.  As a contemporary symbol of the holiday in America, Clark wanted to analyze the history of the story, and how a tale written years before Halloween arrived in the United States became synonymous with it. This exhibition, Legend: 200 Years of Sleepy Hollow, seeks to trace the evolution of the Legend in popular culture, from bucolic folk tale to Halloween harbinger.

​Follow Clark on Instagram: @artofclarksilva