Exhibition reveals buttons contain beautiful, tiny histories By: AV Kitching Posted: 5:18 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 30, 2026

What Rose-Marie Sherwood doesn’t know about buttons isn’t worth knowing.

The Métis artist has spent nearly three decades amassing a collection of more than 30,000 buttons, some of which she’s incorporated in her art exhibit Small Objects, Big Stories, which runs until Sunday at the Dawson Trail Museum, a former Catholic church in Richer, about 30 minutes east of Winnipeg.

Sherwood considers buttons more than just parts of clothing — for her, these tiny objects carry far more weight.

When European settlers made their way across the Atlantic for the Americas, they were often restricted in what they could bring, arriving only with their garments and a small number of family heirlooms.

The buttons on their clothes became “silent passengers,” witnessing hardships and trying times, as well as good memories and joyful occasions.

“What I really want to do with my exhibit is make people stop and pay attention to what they have. It doesn’t have to be a button. Perhaps its something else that’s small, a tiny object that is representative of something much bigger,” she says.

Sherwood’s foray into the world of buttons began in 1994 after her neighbour Mary introduced Sherwood to her mother, Bertha Grosjean, an antique-store owner and passionate button collector.

Sherwood, a history enthusiast, was intrigued when she heard about Grosjean’s fascination with and deep knowledge of buttons. The collector taught her such tricks as how check the shank (the back of the button) to correctly discern its age.

When Grosjean died in 1998, Sherwood was notified that she had inherited her extensive button documentation and reference materials. The meticulously handwritten notes were invaluable, written before the internet made such information easily accessible.

Sherwood’s desire to become a collector deepened, leading her to purchase a number of antique metal buttons from Grosjean’s daughter Mary.

“The buttons were from the Victorian and Edwardian era and formed the start of my very first collection. To this day buttons from that era are still my favourites,” Sherwood says.

In her studio, Sherwood is both collector and mixed media artist. She is a member of the National Button Society, which was founded in the United States in 1938, and categorizes her buttons based on the society’s classification guidelines.

Her buttons are grouped by the material they are made from — glass, metal, plastic and mother-of-pearl — and stored in glass jars, left unlidded not only for ease of access, but to prevent corrosion and “button disease.”

Some vintage plastic buttons, specifically those made from early plastics such as Bakelite and celluloid, can break down over time. If they are stored in airtight containers, the vapours they release can cause buttons to crack or crumble.

Sherwood’s walls are full of buttons hung in frames, works of art on their own. She also incorporates buttons into her paintings, carefully going through her collection to pick out ones she deems suitable.

Some are not destined to be part of her art; those revealing stories of history and identity, culture and creativity remain within the collection, but visually strong buttons often make their way into her paintings.

“When I create my mixed media, I paint my background first, and then I build my story around the buttons, they become character,” she says.

“Sometimes I may have a button that just has to be part of something bigger visually. That’s when I decide to put it with my painting.”

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