This Month at Maryhill
Greetings,
This month dishes up a bit of a double-whammy out here at Maryhill. As we kick off our 2010 season, we also celebrate a milestone. So, it's a time to think about birth — and rebirth.
Institutional anniversaries are just like human birthdays. Yes, it's a great excuse for a good party. And we will party, as only we can, this year.
But anniversaries mean much more. They provide us a chance to look back and reflect on how much the structure of the museum, its construction and modifications, the ups and downs of operations, the comings and goings of staff and supporters over the years have shaped our story.
And our story — just like yours — defines who we are. It's how we think of ourselves, how we approach the world, and ultimately, how we want the world to think of us.
“What's past is prologue,” Shakespeare wrote. True for us, as well. Just as the museum was “born” 70 years ago, it is reborn every year. Our prologue shapes our future.
And with each passing year, we cycle through the seasons, emerging from dormancy in the spring, flowering into summer, and coming to fruition in the fall.
I love the entirety of the cycle, but there's nothing quite like the spring. A new time, a new year, a new chapter in a story that grows richer in each retelling.
Join us shaping the Maryhill story, won’t you?
Colleen Schafroth
Executive Director
MUSEUM NEWS
 2010 season opens with a look back at 70 years of collecting at Maryhill
As Maryhill Museum of Art pushes ahead with plans to modernize and expand its iconic home, it celebrates its 70th year with a long look back at the art that got it here. When it opens its 2010 season on Monday, March 15 (nearly two months before the precise anniversary date, May 13), visitors will get a chance to enjoy more than 100 works from its collection. Among items selected for display are Eastern Orthodox icons, American and European paintings, American Indian beadwork, ancient Greek and 20th century ceramics, and a steel chest containing two pieces from the "Mayflower."
The following Saturday, March 20, features a host of opening day events. New curator Steve Grafe will lead a tour of the opening exhibit beginning at 3 p.m. Family Fun Day will engage children in creation of an anniversary artwork, the Great 70-Object Art Assemblage.
At 2:00 P.M. in the EyeSEE Activity Room, visitors will be invited to meet art students from Nixya’awii High School, Pendleton Oregon when we showcase self-portraits created by them at Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts. More on this fantastic student exhibit can be found below!
At 4 p.m., join museum staff and other dignitaries for dedicaton of the new Windy Flats Walkway and Viewpoint. This addition to the museum's gardens features native plants, a fence crafted by Mosier artist Tom Herrera inset with glass panels by Linda Steider, and stunning views of the Gorge. A significant gift from the Cannon Power Group, supported by contributions by Gunkel Construction, David and Rosangela Capobianco and the Arthur G. Dunn Guild in Seattle, made the walkway possible.
The 2010 inaugural festivities conclude with a reception at 5 p.m. The exhibit and day are sponsored by the Maryhill Museum of Art Board of Trustees in honor of the museum’s 70th anniversary.
To get a comprehensive look at the lineup of exhibits and programs scheduled for the 2010 season, simply click through to the calendar page.
Maryhill works with Crow's Shadow to showcase student art
Tyrone Frank, self-portrait. |
Self-portraits by nine students at the Nixya’awii Community High School in Pendleton will go on display March 20 – May 31 in the EyeSEE Activity Room at the museum.
Carrie Clark, curator of education, says students
completed the work at the Crow's Shadow Institute, with help from instructor Brian Purnell and master printer Frank Janzen. Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts is situated in the former St. Andrews mission schoolhouse on the Umatilla Indian Reservation east of Pendleton. Noted Native American artist James Lavadour and friends founded the Institute in 1992, with the idea of providing a place where Native American artists could study and produce art.
Since 2001, the Institute has been focused on fine art printmaking. To get a sense of the excitement that the students are feeling about the opportunity to show their work at Maryhill, go to the Crow's Shadow website.
Access Art pass program expands to include Libraries of Eastern Oregon
Users of 51 public libraries in 15 Eastern Oregon counties now will have access to the free Access Art passes provided by Maryhill Museum of Art.
The libraries, members of the networked consortium known as the Libraries of Eastern Oregon, include those in communities east of a north-south line roughly following the eastern boundaries of Wasco, Jefferson, Crook and Lake counties. A sliver of far southeastern Deschutes County is also included in LEO.
"Funding support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services made the program expansion possible", says museum education coordinator Carrie Clark.
You've read about the pass program here before: Library users check out the pass, and can use it to gain free admission for themselves, immediate family living in the same household, and four guests. It doesn't apply to special programs requiring separate tickets. For information, residents of that region should contact their local library, or call the museum at 509-773-3733, ex. 25.
Maryhill Museum Trustee is appointed to Oregon Cultural Trust
 Lee Weinstein, former corporate communications director at Nike and founder in 2007 of a public relations firm serving the Gorge and Portland, is one of three new appointees to the Oregon Cultural Trust. Lee is currently completing his first term as trustee for Maryhill. During that time he has chaired the Marketing Committee, and has been active in supporting and promoting Maryhill throughout the region. All of us at Maryhill are grateful for his support.
The Trust operates under the Oregon Arts Commission, raising and distributing funds to support Oregon arts, humanities and heritage programs. Individual donors qualify for a 100 percent Oregon income tax credit for donations of up to $500. Couples can qualify for a $1,000 credit, and corporations can directly reduce taxes with donations of up to $2,500. To learn more about the Trust, call 503-986-0088 or go to the Oregon Cultural Trust website. To learn more about Lee Weinstein, go to Lee Weinstein & Associates website.
Nominations to the Board of Trustees
Maryhill Museum of Art, a membership organization, elects a revolving Board of Trustees at its Annual Meeting each year. Pursuant to the Bylaws, the Board may be comprised of no less than nine and no more than twenty-five trustees, with a majority from the State of Washington. Members may nominate a candidate or themselves to the Board of Trustees by contacting the Nominations Committee Chair through the museum or nominating by petition submitted with no less than fifteen members’ signatures to the Nominations Committee at Maryhill Museum of Art. Petitions must be received 75 days prior to the Annual Meeting. This year the meeting is Saturday, May 15, 2010.
Exhibitions 2010
Frederic, Lord Leighton (British, 1830–1896) Solitude, 1890. Oil on canvas.
Collection of Maryhill Museum of Art. |
March 15–May 31: 70: Seven Decades of Collecting at Maryhill Museum of Art
As the good book says, many are called but few are chosen. Just because art becomes available — for sale or donation — doesn't mean it passes into our collection. An intensely selective process determines what work joins us. This year, in honor of all those who have applied their discerning filters, we mine the vault for treasures that many of you have never seen. Among those are pieces donated by luminaries of the early era, including Sam Hill, Queen Marie of Romania, Loie Fuller and Alma de Bretteville Spreckels. For a sample, visit the museum's website.
May 15–Oct. 3: Outdoor Sculpture Garden
In our sculpture garden, visitors this year will delight in an exhibit of work from the permanent collection. From protective cover to the light of day, our best contemporary sculpture reminds you that since 1997, Maryhill Museum has been remarkable, yes, for its Auguste Rodin collection, but also for so much more. Get a visual preview at the museum's website.
Leon White, Moon Temple, 2006; granite and steel; gift of Anthony Peterson. |
June 12–Sept. 6: William Morris: Native Species
Thanks to the generosity of the George. R. Stroempe Collection, 38 glass vessels inspired by the natural beauty of three distinct Northwest microclimates will share the artistic vision of artist William Morris. Inspired by the Cascade Range north of Seattle, Steens Mountain in southeastern Oregon, and the area around Sisters, Ore., the urns, jars, vessels and … well, glass containers. To get a look at other Morris art and an introduction to him, visit his website.
Concurrent with the opening week of the Morris show, the Mobile Hot Shop from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma will pay a visit to Maryhill June 12–18. Visitors can feast their eyes on demonstrations of molten glass technique — from handling, to blowing, to shaping and cutting.
William Morris (b. 1957) Glass Vessels from William Morris: Native Species Exhibition, 2004, collection of George R. Stroemple, photo by Robert Vinnedge. |
Sept. 18–Nov. 15: Comics at the Crossroads: Art of the Graphic Novel
Anyone who has been paying attention for the last 40 years knows that the marriage between words and art, once derisively dismissed as cheap entertainment for kids, has moved well into adult themes. Drawing on a wide array of artistic styles, the graphic narrative—from short stories, to documentary, to novel-length fiction—has earned wide and growing respect among observers of expressive media. The Pacific Northwest is ground zero for some of today's most compelling work. See 30 examples of what's causing the buzz.
Personification of the Judicial Branch, from The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation, written by Jonathan Hennessey with art by Aaron McConnell.
Published by Hill and Wang (a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux), 2008. Copyright © 2008 by Aaron McConnell. Used with permission.
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