LEWISTON — Museum L-A has announced an opportunity for people who worked in or with local shoe manufacturers to reserve a personalized shoe last to become part of the upcoming exhibit “Portraits and Voices: Shoemaking Skills of Generations,” set to open Saturday, Sept. 25.

The initiative is part of a continued effort by Museum L-A to incorporate original art installations created by the community into its exhibits.

Shoe lasts can be reserved for $50 each and will be artfully displayed in the exhibit’s main gallery. Each “Legacy Shoe Last” will feature an antique wooden shoe last personalized with a name and connection to the local shoe industry inscribed on a leather tag. The inscribed name can be theirs or someone he or she designates as an honoree.

Monies raised will be used to help pay for the shoeworkers’ exhibit, including the research, creation and installation, said Rachel Desgrosseilliers, Museum L-A’s executive director.

“Lots of fabrication and creative energy goes into making the exhibits come alive,” she said. The exhibit will be the largest thus far in the museum’s Portraits and Voices series.

Shoe lasts serve as a form in the creation of a shoe. Museum L-A has collected wooden shoe lasts from the period of time when the Twin Cities were the home of several shoe last manufacturers.

For more information or to reserve a Legacy Shoe Last, contact Museum L-A Development Director Jennifer Dube-Works at 333-3881 or jdube@museumla.org.

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