On Saturday, several of our Breakthrough families took a trip to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. The museum provided us with a guided tour of the exhibit Endurance: The Antarctic Legacy of Sir Ernest Shackleton and Frank Hurley. The tour was led by two docents who were knowledgeable and shared interesting facts about Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917. Our families viewed rare images captured by the expedition’s official photographer, Frank Hurley, and followed along a narrative of the long journey through logs and diaries of Shackleton and his crew. Our families were inspired by the incredible story of Shackleton’s leadership, which led to the survival of his entire crew.
After a short break, we were able to participate in a group art project. As a team, we were able to take the knowledge that we learned from the exhibit and apply it towards preparation for our own expedition through the Antarctic. Each participant contributed to drawing an imaginary creature that we might encounter on our voyage as well as drawing supplies that we would put into our backpacks for survival. We also created our own vehicle that could withstand traveling through frozen conditions and wrote our own diary logs. It was a wonderfully engaging activity that required each team to build off of each other’s work to complete the project.
Our families also explored the rest of the museum, which included artifacts donated by the Forster family and facts about the Mission in San Juan Capistrano. Our families were happy to learn some more history about the city they call home.
Thank you to the Bowers Museum for being so welcoming! We are grateful for the opportunity we had to explore the extraordinary artistry and artifacts at the Bowers Museum.
