This Month at Maryhill
Greetings,
As we close our doors to another successful season, it’s a good time to remind you — we’re still working to bring you great art.
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| Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823–1900), Misty Afternoon, 1873, oil on canvas. From the Collections of Dr. Michel Hersen and Mrs. Victoria Hersen. |
The best evidence is the exhibit schedule for 2009, which puts the focus on landscape — in work from the Hudson River School, and Ansel Adams, and a host of other artists who appreciate the beauty around us.
Behind the scenes, we continue to expand our collection through generous donations by museum supporters like you.
As we approach the New Year, it’s a good time to thank you for your many gifts of support.
Our education and other programs are one way we try to pay you back. In this issue, meet Carrie Clark-Peck, who makes those programs one of the many reasons to put Maryhill Museum of Art on your “must-visit” list for 2009.
Happy Holidays, and Happy 2009.
Colleen Schafroth
Executive Director
Museum News
Exhibit schedule for 2009 includes Hudson River School, Ansel Adams photos
Maryhill Museum of Art has released details about its 2009 exhibits and programs. You can get a detailed summary by downloading a PDF version of the brochure.
Here’s a quick run-through of what’s on tap.
Hudson River School Sojourn — March 15 through July 8. A tour of American landscape painting from the 19th century, much of it arising from artists in New York state.
Outdoor Sculpture Invitational — May 16 through Oct. 4. Features work by Northwest sculptors Lance Carleton (Everett, Wash.), Matt Cartwright (Portland, Ore.), Gregory Glynn (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), Tom Herrera (Mosier, Ore.), Ed Humpherys (Walla Walla, Wash.), Jay Moody (Portland, Ore.), Francisco Salgado (Portland, Ore.), Julie Speidel (Vashon, Wash.), Mike Suri (Portland, Ore.), Jeff Tangen (Shoreline, Wash.), and David Wagner (Portland, Ore.)
Ansel Adams: Masterworks — July 18 through Sept. 13. Visitors will enjoy 47 of Adams’ greatest photos, black and white work celebrating the grandeur of the American wilderness.
The Good Life — Sept. 26 through Nov. 15. Drawn from the Maryhill collection, these 30 pieces painted between 1850 and 1950 celebrate the beauty and enjoyment of life — in still life, social gatherings, and outdoor activity.
Collection grows with generous recent donations
Thanks to several recent donations, the art collection at the Maryhill Museum of Art has experienced a growth spurt.
An oil painting, Under the Trees by one-time Klickitat County artist Eanger Irving Couse (1866–1936), was a gift from the collection of George Shane of Arlington, Oregon. The work was likely painted during the late 19th century, at the ranch of his wife’s parents. Couse later moved to New Mexico, where his work focused on the Native Americans of the Taos Pueblo, and earned international recognition.
Norm and Danielle Bodine have donated a chess set and board by artist Inge Roberts. A native of Germany, Roberts worked in California before settling on Whidbey Island, Wash. The chess set is the only such piece that Roberts has produced.
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| Porcelain chess set made by Inge Roberts donated by Norm and Danielle Bodine. The set is inspired by the 12th century Lewis chessmen discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. |
A sculpture titled Roll & Play, by Northwest artist Alisa Looney, has been purchased by Maryhill Museum with funds donated by The North Star Foundation (Christy Eugenis and Stan Amy) of Portland.
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| Alisa Looney, Roll & Play, 2007, powder-coated, flame cut mild steel. |
Helen Pauline McClain Flynn of Tacoma, Washington has donated three Alaska Yup’ik grass baskets and one tray. Of a style made for more than 100 years, the donated work was purchased at the Moravian Bookstore in Bethel, Alaska, in the early 1970s by the donor.
The final recent donation is a blue and burgundy Native American beaded headband or “crown,” donated by the Klickitat County Historical Society.
Join the Legacy Circle to support Maryhill
A variety of donors have contributed an average of more than $400,000 a year to the support of the Maryhill Museum of Art. To foster a path for like-minded potential donors, the museum has created the Legacy Circle. Development director Tim Copeland sees the Legacy Circle as a tool to gather and recognize major gifts, either now or through deferred arrangements. “The Legacy Circle will allow us to recognize the special dedication of our friends who have remembered Maryhill in their wills, or who want to make some other type of planned gift, or give to the museum’s endowment fund,” Copeland says. To learn more, simply request a copy of the booklet, “Joining the Circle,” by contacting Copeland at 509-773-3733 or tim@maryhillmuseum.org.
Behind the Scenes:
How Carrie Clark-Peck Puts the Smarts in Arts
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| Carrie Clark-Peck, curator of education, demonstrates to students how to wear a Romanian folk mask. |
Carrie Clark-Peck has a background in elementary education and politics, work that bespeaks a love of kids and an adventurous spirit.
Perfect preparation, then, for her work as curator of education and programming at the Maryhill Museum of Art.
After joining the museum as an assistant 11 years ago, she moved into her current position four years back. She loves it.
“I’ve got the very best job,” she says.
She says education programs divide along two branches — one for students and young people, another for the general community.
“We start with the premise that we’re the only fine art museum within 100 miles, so it’s the only chance for many kids to visit a real museum and experience art in that setting,” she says of her approach to student programs.
Her main goal? Expose as many kids as possible to art.
School groups can arrange a special program, or explore the museum on their own.
Kids joining parents for Family Fun Days get in free, and can learn about museum exhibitions in lectures or activities built around technique.
The EyeSEE Activity Room provides kids an interactive art experience, through hands-on activities such as Klikitat basket weaving or dancing like Loïe Fuller.
“Another thing we’re doing,” Clark-Peck says, “is kid friendly labeling. The labels are placed lower on the wall, near five or six pieces of art in the gallery, and they encourage families to talk about art with their kids.”
Activities for the general community include everything from technique instruction — such as the summertime plein air painting sessions — to a host of special programs.
Clark-Peck mentions, for instance, a planned laser light show on a large screen hanging from the north exterior wall of the museum next July 4.
“It will have abstract light forms and special graphics, and we’ll have a concert by Gorge Winds Concert Band,” she says.
Events like that help increase the attraction of Maryhill Museum of Art. Ongoing programs add to the allure. Clark-Peck notes, for instance, the growing popularity of the museum’s library partnership. Working with libraries from Hood River and White Salmon on the west, to Boardman and Goldendale on the east, the museum makes free passes available for patrons to check out.
“We want to keep access open to everyone,” Clark-Peck says. “This is the program’s fourth year, and every year, we get more libraries wanting on board.”
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Now you can share Maryhill Museum of Art with friends around the globe. Maryhill offers over 20 e-postcards featuring objects from the collections. And it is easy — just follow the simple directions posted on the museum’s website… postcards
If you’re traveling around the country this winter, you’ll want to think about boosting your Maryhill membership to one of four premier tiers. With premier membership, you earn a host of reciprocal membership benefits at more than 300 museums around the country. With as little as a $100 Sponsor membership, you earn free member admission, member discounts at museum shops, and reduced-cost concert or lecture tickets. Northwest partners include: Artcentric, Corvallis; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art/University of Oregon, Eugene;
Umpqua Valley Arts Center, Roseburg; Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue;
Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, Spokane;
Museum of Glass, Tacoma; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. To learn which other museums are taking part in the North American Reciprocal Museum program, go online.
As you consider your year-end gifting, we hope that you'll add Maryhill Museum of Art to your list. To help us continue presenting magnificent exhibits and programs, we need your financial support. Admissions revenue pays for only about 40% of our annual costs. Another 40% is generated from other revenues, including earnings from the museum endowments.
The rest comes from people like you — people who love Maryhill and sustain its mission by becoming members and making annual gifts, or both. This support is vital to our efforts, and we deeply appreciate help.
Learn more about giving opportunities at Maryhill Museum of Art by clicking here; send an e-mail; or, to speak with a live person, call our development office at 509-773-3733.
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