Midwest Miniatures Museum temporarily closed to install new exhibits, plans April reopening

GRAND HAVEN — The Midwest Miniatures Museum in Grand Haven is closed for the winter to undergo exhibit installations. 

Located in the historic Nathaniel and Ester Robbins House on 20 S. Fifth St., the museum features displays created by world-renowned artists, including vignettes, dollhouses and historic reproductions. Temporarily closed until April 1, the museum is expanding public collections onto the building’s second floor.

The museum opened in the Robbins House in 2021, after having been in operation since 2009 in Barry County’s Hickory Corners. Alongside a small number of miniature museums in the United States, the collection’s curators aim to create a viewing experience that lends itself to new perspectives, nostalgia and educational value. 

“The number fluctuates depending on what qualifies as a miniature museum, but we consider ourselves to be peers with at least six other miniature museums,” said Chris Green, executive director of the Midwest Miniatures Museum. “We feature world-class miniatures from all over the world, including from Eugene Kupjack, the artist responsible for the miniatures on display in the Thorne Room at the Art Institute of Chicago.”

Green said the scale of artisan miniatures is at the heart of the craft. Each museum focuses on particular size exhibits, with the Grand Haven collection being in 1:12, 1:24, 1:48 and 1:144 scale pieces. He added the museum’s exhibits encompass a broad variety of subject matter, ranging from tiny silverware to miniature paintings. 

“A good deal of what many miniaturists like to create revolves around creating places, sometimes from history and sometimes from memory,” Green said. “Oftentime, (pieces are) based in a sense of nostalgia for a place that is either hard or impossible to visit.”

Green emphasized that miniatures allow viewers to “visit” historic or elaborate sites and time periods more easily, providing unique perspectives for those journeying through the museum.

Every year, the museum makes plans to swap out exhibits, with only about 5% of its collection currently on display. This winter, Green said the museum will be expanding into the historic home’s second floor, featuring never-before-seen exhibits. 

“Closing during the winter gives us time to revamp our exhibits every year,” Green said. “We're still finalizing what these pieces and themes ultimately will be, but we do know our ‘Titanic’ will be on view.“

The museum’s “Titanic” is a 10.5-feet-long piece that according to Green, viewers will want to check out in April. He characterized it as a stunning piece, and emphasized that numerous other emergent exhibits will be unveiled alongside it. Green noted social media users should follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram for collection updates and information about upcoming exhibits.

Highlighting significant exhibits that have opened in the past, Green brought attention to “The Julianna,” which was installed last summer.

“We were able to bring the parents of the deceased artist that started ‘The Julianna’ when she was in high school to see her work in a museum for the first time,” Green said. “That was a powerful and important event.”

In addition to exhibits being unveiled in the spring, the museum has a few events up its sleeve to celebrate. Upon the museum’s reopening, there is a launch event scheduled for the first weekend of April. There will also be a members and donors celebration shortly after the grand opening, in which the museum’s membership will be able to see behind the scenes. 

Green added that in 2026, the museum is looking to expand its services and offer increased opportunities for community engagement. He said the museum hopes to add an educator to its staff that can fulfill partnership commitments with Grand Haven Area Public Schools and engage the community at local events.

Throughout this past year, the museum took part in a variety of community events, according to Green. In December, the museum co-hosted a pop-up show with Lakeshore Visual Arts Collective and participated in Grand Haven’s Artist Trail, furthering involvement among local artists and community members.

— Contact ONN reporter Hailey Hentz at hhentz@ottawanewsnetwork.org.