Miniatures Museum gears up for UFO festival – and more

Like many Roswell businesses and organizations, the Miniatures & Curious Collections Museum, 320 N. Richardson Ave., has been busy preparing for the city’s iconic UFO festival, which runs Friday through Sunday.

Nancy Fleming, the museum’s co-founder, spent the last week putting a few final coats of paint on the black-light-reflecting robots, aliens and spaceships in the museum’s “From Trash to Glowbots” exhibit, which opens today. Dozens of objects are on display in the glowing exhibit, made from recycled items collected from more than 70 Roswell-area residents of all ages, she said.

“It was four days over two weekends of hot glue fun,” Fleming said, still enthusiastic.

On Monday afternoon, artists Stephen Fleming and Agustin Pozo were putting the finishing touches on a mural covering the window of the neighboring building that will one day be an annex to the museum.

The media window art depicts a variety of whimsical aliens in equally bizarre spaceships hovering above a panoramic view of the farms, lakes and buildings of the Pecos Valley.

The artwork is varied and intricate, with many little surprises hidden in the details for those who take the time to look.

“We were able to do the mural and the glowbots because of the city’s sponsorship of the UFO festival,” Fleming said.

She said the museum was able to purchase the building just south of the current museum from the city of Roswell thanks to a generous donor and was recently able to obtain the necessary building permits to begin renovating the building.

Fleming said the “first phase” of the renovation project will include Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms, community workshop space and more space for miniature exhibits.

She said that because the building had been destroyed, the first phase “would take some time.”

“There will be a lot of work to do,” Fleming said.

The community workshop space will be intended for multi-purpose use, including events and classes, she said.

Eventually, “phase two” will include a storage space and a miniatures workshop with tools and equipment where old miniatures can be refurbished or repaired and craftspeople can create new pieces, Fleming said.

Starting today, the museum will offer special hours during the UFO festival. The museum will be open from 10am to 7pm through Sunday. Admission is free.