The Museum of Important Things opened on August 25th, 2025 A.D. for one night only, at the Armour Yard in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
A collaboration between John Anonymous and the Children of God Art Collective, The Museum of Important Things debuted on Monday, August 25th at the Armour Yard in Holyoke.
The concept was simple: people were asked to bring up to 3 important things, with a brief description of the item and its importance to the owner.
The event was advertised exclusively by word of mouth and received over 30 submissions from locals in the area.
Attendance of the premiere was over 150 people, including the mayor of Holyoke.
From left to right: Goon Skis, Snurfer, Spider Plant
“Goon Skis'“ - Sandy - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“I wanted metal skis (like my friends had), but my father insisted that I try these old novelty skis instead. It was 1961 and he’d both them used for $15: a bargain.
For years I’d watched my father have fun on similar short twin-tipped skis, which he called “goon skis”. So I tried the old skis. Wow! Fun!”
“Snurfer” - Emily - East Hampton, Massachusetts
“1965 - invented in Michigan. Precursor to the snowboard.”
“Spider Plant” - Molly - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“A symbol of all the important plants in our lives.”
“Returned Lighter” - Liz - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“The importance of returning lighters” - lighter returned to respective owner at event.
Emily of East Hampton, Massachusetts, posing with her important things.
“Lump Jaw Cure” - Emily - East Hampton, Massachusetts
“For cattle and horses with bumps and lumps.
-Union Stock Yard (Chicago, IL.)
Pharmacists!”
From left to right: Bankers Lamp, Pigeon on TV, United States Navy Dog Tags, We Are 2024, Printing Wheel for Teletype Model 37, Tie Clasp from Sperry Railroad Inspection Conference.
“Bankers Lamp” - Baird - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“A gift, of many, from Carol.
…all meaningful & helpful for exploration and innovation.”
“Pigeon on TV by Maryanne Benns” - Baird - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“…representing Holyoke! And that it means to me[sic].”
“United States Navy Dog Tags” - Ken - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“Always worn.
If you die or are wounded they can put these in a manually operated machine that makes a carbon copy of the information.
The extra tag can be placed on toe container for easy tracking as your body is processed.”“We Are 2025 by Baird Soules” - Baird - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“This picture is part AI, part collage, part fun.”
“Printing Wheel for Teletype Model 37” - Ken - Holyoke Massachusetts
“Printing wheel for a Teletype model 37 punch tape machine. Extremely rare.
This wheel printed the character between the holes that represented the code for the character.”“Tie Clasp from Sperry Railroad Inspection Conference” - Ken - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“Tie clasp from a Sperry railroad inspection conference.
Note the defect in the head of the rail cross section.”
Ken of Holyoke, Massachusetts posing with his important things.
Baird of Holyoke, Massachusetts, posing with his important things.
From left to right: Birds, Slide Whistle Signed by Jonathan Richman, Uncle Frank’s Prayer Card.
“Birds” - Andy - East Hampton, Massachusetts
“1988 - Art Class Project, 8th Grade”
“Slide Whistle Signed by Jonathan Richman” - Kelly - Fairfield, Connecticut
“Meet your Heroes.
Maine, USA c~ 2022A.D.”
“Uncle Franks Prayer Card” - Kelly - Fairfield, Connecticut
“Uncle Frank’s Prayer Card.
Refugee > Missionary > U.S.A. Army. (Korea)
Cause of Death: Self inflicted gun-shot wound to head.”
From left to right: Pocket Slide Rule, Slide Rule.
“Pocket Slide Rule” - Ken - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“Used to make speedy multiplications before we had calculators.”
“Slide Rule” - Carey - Massachusetts
“Used in High School for Electronic Class.”
“Come on, Michael” Framed Photograph
“Come on, Michael!” Framed Photograph - Kelly - Fairfield, Connecticut
“35mm film.
Michael pictured in his natural habitat.
13” h x 19” w.” “
From left to right: Bombed Boombox, Hand Puppets, The Awful Flood of 1955.
“Bombed Boombox” - Giovanni - Springfield, Massachusetts
“A collection of graffiti artists from the 2013 ‘Get Up State’ gathering at Cornell University. Tagged by each artist who worked on murals around the Cornell Press building and other attending graffiti artists. Cornell University houses the hip-hop archive with 250,000 pieces of hip-hop history.”
“Home-Made Hand Puppets” - Sandy - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“I made these in an after school program in 8th grade. They are made of clay, paper mache, cloth, yarn.
I never got into puppeteer-ing though.”
“The Awful Flood of 1955” - Unknown
From left to right: Proportional Scale, Dist-O-Map, Belly Button Art by Greer.
“Proportional Scale” - Carey - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“Been using for 40 years.”
“Dist-O-Map” - Emily - East Hampton, Massachusetts
“1964
Circular rotating map to calculate distances in the East.”
“Belly Button Art by Greer” - Carey - Holyoke, Massachusetts
“Bought 1st art in college.”
Giovanni of Springfield, Massachusetts, posing with his important thing.
Sandy of Holyoke, Massachusetts, posing with her important things.
Old Band Flyer
“Old Band Flyer” - Andy - East Hampton, Massachusetts
“Ex-surgeon’s photograph bassist".”
John Anonymous (pictured above) and the Children of God Art Collective thank all who participated in the Museum of Important Things.