The blank rooms of the Robeson Gallery in the HUB-Robeson Center have been tie-dyed with bright calico, laced with intricate beadwork and hung with dolls of every era in black history.

To celebrate of Black History Month, the gallery opened a new exhibit, Contemporary and Historical Black Dolls, which displays dolls from the Philadelphia Doll Museum, private collectors and local doll artists.

"A lot of the dolls are hand made and they're wonderful," said gallery assistant Carol Brooks. "All this stuff has stories behind it. And quite a few artists contributed to this."

The exhibit -- a varied collection of beaded African dolls, glittery celebrity dolls and bright contemporary dolls -- stresses a connection with history, said Kim Morris, publicity assistant at the HUB-Robeson Galleries.

In a WPSX-TV interview discussing the Philadelphia Doll Museum's collaboration with Robeson Gallery, museum founder and executive director Barbara Whiteman said that "with dolls you can talk about form and medium ... but there's also the whole history of where (the doll) was made and what social events were going on."

Whiteman said that though black dolls are now commonplace, older black dolls are extremely rare and almost always handmade.

Up until the 1950s, she said black dolls were not often produced, except by hand.

Whiteman said the collection at Robeson Gallery displays a wide range of dolls, some originally playthings but most collectors' items.

She added that a variety of mediums and forms are represented.

Brooks said about one third of the exhibit is on loan from Philadelphia, and dolls are also on display in the wooden cases next to Heritage Hall.

The Philadelphia Doll Museum is the only one in the country to emphasize the preservation and collection of black dolls as important and significant artifacts of culture and history.

Robeson Gallery is hosting a reception with the artists and collectors who contributed dolls to the exhibit at 1 p.m. tomorrow in the gallery.

Contemporary and Historical Black Dolls opened Jan. 25 and runs until March 17. Gallery hours are noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and noon to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

For more information about admittance or upcoming exhibits, visit www.sa.psu.edu/galleries.