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NEWS RELEASE Media contact:
Colleen Schafroth, Executive Director
Maryhill Museum of Art’s Expansion on Pace to Open Spring 2012
The Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing Will Add 25,500 Square Feet of Space to Columbia Gorge Icon
(Goldendale, Wash., August 9, 2011) –
Maryhill Museum of Art’s first expansion in its 97-year history is on pace for completion in spring 2012. The 25,500 square foot
Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing, a LEED-rated building designed by GBD Architects of Portland, will feature a dedicated art education center, centralized collections storage suite, an outdoor plaza and a new café with terrace seating and stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge.
To date, Maryhill Museum’s capital campaign has raised $9 million in cash gifts, bequests and pledges; another $500,000 remains to be raised. The campaign was jumpstarted with a $2.6 million gift from Maryhill Museum of Art benefactor Mary Hoyt Stevenson and further enriched with a $1.5 million award from the Washington State Building for the Arts fund. The museum also received a 2:1 matching grant of $400,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust; for every $2 the museum raises, the Trust will award the museum with $1, up to a total of $400,000. Maryhill Museum of Art is half way toward meeting the match.
Additional campaign funds have come from the museum’s trustees, members and friends, as well as regional foundations such as Rose Tucker Charitable Trust, Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, Mary Hoyt Stevenson Foundation and BNSF Foundation. Regional businesses such as Cannon Power Group, GBD Architects, Google, Gunkel Construction, Insitu, Inc., Schommer & Sons, and SDS Lumber have also contributed to the campaign.
“Regional businesses who have donated to the expansion project know how important it is to bring hands-on arts and culture experiences to Columbia Gorge residents, including the thousands of schoolchildren who visit Maryhill Museum of Art each year,” says executive director Colleen Schafroth. “Participating in the campaign and helping make the expansion a reality will enhance education and provide a crucial enrichment opportunity for Gorge residents. It’s an investment in tomorrow's business and community leaders.”
“Gifts of any amount make a difference,” said Schafroth. “We have received donations of all sizes from museum friends who are eager to see this dream become a reality. We’re going to reach our goal, one step at a time.”
Maryhill Museum of Art Expansion Project Highlights:
Designed by GBD Architects of Portland, the 25,500 square foot Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing will allow Maryhill to meet a number of strategic objectives as it serves growing audiences from throughout Oregon, Washington and around the globe.
Key features of the new wing include: a dedicated art education center to accommodate Maryhill’s wide range of public programming; a centralized collections suite for improved storage and to give curators and researchers more efficient access to the museum’s world-class collections; an outdoor plaza where visitors can better enjoy Maryhill’s extraordinary setting and growing collection of large-scale sculpture; and, a new café with terrace seating and stunning views of the Columbia River Gorge.
The expansion is managed by Milt Ketchum of Sherman County, Oregon and constructed by Schommer and Sons Construction of Portland.
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ABOUT MARYHILL MUSEUM OF ART:
Housed in a glorious Beaux Arts mansion on 5,300 acres high above the Columbia River, Maryhill Museum of Art opened to the public May 13, 1940 and today remains one of the Pacific Northwest’s most enchanting cultural destinations. The museum was founded by Northwest entrepreneur and visionary Sam Hill, who purchased the property and began building the house with dreams of establishing a Quaker farming community. When that goal proved untenable, Hill was encouraged by friends Loie Fuller, Queen Marie of Romania, and Alma de Bretteville Spreckles to establish a museum.
Maryhill Museum of Art boasts a world-class permanent collection, rotating exhibitions of the highest caliber, and dynamic educational programs that provide opportunities for further exploration by visitors of all ages. On view are more than 80 works by Auguste Rodin, European and American paintings, objects d'art from the palaces of the Queen of Romania, Orthodox icons, unique chess sets, and the renowned Théâtre de la Mode, featuring small-scale mannequins attired in designer fashions of post-World War II France. Baskets of the indigenous people of North America were a collecting interest of Hill; today the museum’s Native American collection represents nearly every tradition and style in North America, with works of art from prehistoric through contemporary.
Maryhill’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden features more than a dozen large-scale works by Northwest artists. The Maryhill Overlook is a site-specific sculpture by noted Portland architect Brad Cloepfil; nearby are Lewis and Clark interpretive panels. Four miles east of Maryhill is a life-sized replica of Stonehenge, Stonehenge Memorial, which Sam Hill built to memorialize local men who perished in World War I. Nearby, the Klickitat County War Memorial honors those who have died in the service of their country since World War I.
The museum was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 2001 the museum was listed as an official site of the National Historic Lewis and Clark Trail and in 2002 was accredited by the American Association of Museums.
VISITOR INFORMATION:
Maryhill Museum of Art is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 15 to November 15. Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, $3 for youth age 7-18 and free for children 6 and under. Family admission is $25 to admit 2 adults, plus related children under the age of 18. The Family Rate will be extended to grandchildren, nephews and nieces. Admission to the Stonehenge Memorial is free; it is open from 7:00 a.m. to dusk daily.
Sandwiches, salads, espresso drinks, cold beverages, and freshly baked desserts and pastries are available at Café Maryhill from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily; the Museum Store features art and history books, jewelry, Native American crafts and other mementos.
Maryhill is located off Highway 97, 12 miles south of Goldendale, Washington. Drive times to the museum are 2 hours from Portland/Vancouver, 3.5 hours from Bend, 4 hours from Seattle, and 1.5 hours from Yakima. For further information, visit
www.maryhillmuseum.org.
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| Maryhill
Museum of Art | 35 Maryhill Museum Drive | Goldendale,
WA 98620 | 509-773-3733 |
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