The family of Cleveland industrial designer Viktor Schreckengost has decided not to create a museum in the city dedicated to his work. But many of his creations will remain in Cleveland where they will be displayed.
Scheckengost is famous for his designs of toys, vehicles and furniture as well as his artwork. And in 1931, he established the industrial design department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. After his family dropped plans to build a museum, they recently asked the Western Reserve Historical Society to take some of his creations. History Center Director Angie Lowrie says they gladly accepted. But because coordinating the donation has been relatively slow, there is no timeline for opening an exhibit.
“I imagine it’s in the foreseeable future though that we’ll start seeing some collections coming to the museum. At that point, we’ll start determining how soon we can incorporate that for public access. Until we get a sense of what we’re even getting it’s hard to develop a plan.”
Lowrie says the museum already has about 25 pieces of Schreckengost’s work. His family plans to auction off other pieces. Schreckengost died in 2008 at the age of 101.
Here are some WKSU stories on Schreckengost: