How This Museum Became Possible

The Ecdysiast Arts Museum did not begin with a wealthy family, a major foundation, or a large endowment. It began as Danielle Colby’s labor of love.

Danielle Colby of History Channel's American Pickers, also known as Dannie Diesel, did not come from generational wealth. For years, she used her own income, time, relationships, and public platform to collect, research, purchase, transport, restore, and preserve pieces of burlesque and stripping history that traditional institutions often ignore.

Long before the museum had a permanent building, Danielle traveled to learn directly from performers, historians, collectors, and culture bearers. She sought out costumes, photographs, books, personal records, posters, oral histories, and performance artifacts that might otherwise have disappeared.

In 2018 and 2019, after years of collecting, researching, and restoring, Danielle and co-producers Freya West and Hot Tawdry created Stripping History. 

Danielle Colby dressing Hot Tawdry in an original 1800s Cleopatra costume worn by Lillie Langtry for Stripping history.

You can see this beautiful piece of history in person at the Ecdysiast Arts Museum.

This interactive production allowed audiences to get an up close view of historic costumes while learning about the people who wore them.

Photo from Stripping History Event in Nashville.

That work eventually grew into the Ecdysiast Arts Museum, which opened its doors in downtown Davenport in June 2025.

The museum’s collection includes a photo-matched replica of Josephine Baker’s famous banana skirt, materials from Chicago performer Lynne O’Neill’s decades-long career, a rare poster from the original Hot in Harlem Revue, and artifacts connected to performers whose lives have received little attention from traditional museums.

One of those performers is Lorraine Gail Smith, a dancer who worked in Boston’s Combat Zone during the 1970s. Shortly after being interviewed and photographed by the Bob Sales and Roswell Angier of the Boston Globe, Smith was killed by an abusive partner. Danielle spent years trying to reconstruct her life because so little information about her had been preserved.

That experience helped shape the museum’s purpose. It should not take years of searching to prove that a woman lived, worked, created, survived, and mattered. The histories of performers like Lorraine deserve a permanent home where future generations can find them.

‘DanNie Diesel’ performing at ecdysiast arts museum. Photo by Jeremy Scheuch.

The museum has become a home for conversations about democracy, labor, gender, bodily autonomy, political power, and collective liberation. It is a place where Iowans can access food without shame, where artists can perform and develop their craft, and where people can learn about the women and gender-expansive performers who used burlesque and stripping to feed themselves, support their families, build community, and create their own economies when traditional systems shut them out.

Today, nearly all of this work is being carried by a small team of 5 people.

We are raising an initial $150,000 to protect the museum’s archive, compensate the small team keeping the space running, continue food distribution and public programming, and build the administrative foundation needed to make the museum a permanent institution in Davenport. Once we reach that first goal, we will work toward a second goal of $300,000 so the museum can move from immediate stability into long-term growth.

What Your Contribution Supports

Every contribution helps carry a piece of this work.

• A $25 contribution can help purchase shelf-stable food, preservation materials, or basic museum supplies. 

• A $50 contribution can support public programming and the daily care of the space. 

• A $100 contribution can help fund educational programming, archive documentation, or artist support. 

• A $250 contribution can contribute to professional preservation equipment, building needs, or fair compensation for the people keeping the museum operating.

• Larger contributions can directly support staff stability, food access, archival protection, workforce education, and the museum’s transition into a permanent cultural institution.

No single donor has to carry the entire museum. That is the point of community.

When many people contribute what they can, the museum becomes stronger and more sustainable than it could ever be if one person were expected to fund everything.

Help Us Build a Permanent Home for Burlesque History and Community Care in Davenport

Thank you for your support!