125 years of history makes for good stories
BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Ghost stories populate the Cincinnati Art Museum almost as much as the
sculptures, paintings and artifacts.
Well, not quite, considering there are more than 60,000 works of art
spanning 6,000 years. But more than a dozen ghost stories were told
during the museum's 125th birthday celebration. Starting at 4 p.m.
Saturday, the museum opened for 25 consecutive hours of tours, family
activities and, yes, hourly excursions into the rooms where employees
have experienced the downright spooky.
Light a candle, turn off the lights, and consider these tales, as
timeless as much of the artwork on display:

A curator and art handler working late at night in the museum heard the
200-year-old Samuel Best grandfather clock begin to chime. It was only
later that they learned that all of the clocks components had been
removed before being displayed.
A guard was cleaning in the portrait room when all of the lights went
off, leaving the room pitch black. He stood very still, waiting to hear
an explanation for the loss of power over his radio. Silence. Then,
softly, a voice: "Stand still. 'Twill be all right." Moments later, the
lights came back on.

On Saturday, about a dozen children were asked to whom that voice might
have belonged. Kate Lytchakov, a 7-year-old from Lexington, got it
right: "Someone came alive out of the painting."
At least, that's the legend. The guard reported seeing a figure
resembling the subject of a portrait in the room.

Kim Crawley has been a guard at the museum for 13 years, and has many
times seen moving shadows out of the corner of his eye. He's not scared.

"I'm a believer," Crawley said. "But they're not harmful. They're here
to help us."