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NEWS RELEASE Media contact:
Colleen Schafroth, Executive Director
Two Large Gifts Push Maryhill Museum of Art
Within Reach of $400,000 Matching Grant
Latest Gifts Help Museum Close in on $10 Million Capital Campaign Goal
(GOLDENDALE, Wash., January 17, 2012) –
Maryhill Museum of Art today announced a gift of $200,000 from a private donor and a $10,000 grant from the Kind Heart Free Spirit Foundation. Together the gifts bring the museum within $40,000 of the amount needed to secure a matching grant of $400,000 from the
M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
Maryhill Museum of Art was awarded the $400,000 matching grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust in January 2011 to support construction of the 25,000 square foot
Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing. For every $2 the museum raises, the Trust will donate an additional $1 to the campaign, up to $400,000.
The latest gifts – $200,000 from Mary and Brot Bishop of Portland, Ore. and $10,000 from the Kind Heart Free Spirit Foundation of Washougal, Wash. – bring the museum within reach of the Murdock Trust match and the overall campaign goal of $10 million.
“We are so grateful to the Bishops and to the Kind Heart Free Spirit Foundation for their generosity,” said Colleen Schafroth, the museum’s executive director. “Like the Murdock Trust, they both believe in our vision for the future and the vital role that Maryhill plays in the regional cultural landscape. We are thrilled to be within reach of our campaign goal.”
Construction is currently underway on the 25,500 square foot Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing, the first expansion in the museum's history. Designed by
GBD Architects of Portland, the new wing will allow the museum to meet a number of strategic objectives as it serves growing audiences from throughout Oregon, Washington and around the globe. The wing is slated for completion this spring; a formal dedication will take place May 12 -13, 2012.
The new wing will include: a dedicated art education center to accommodate a wide range of public programming; a centralized collections suite for improved storage and more efficient research access to the museum’s collections; an outdoor plaza where visitors can 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 museum’s $10 million capital campaign was jumpstarted with a $2.6 million gift from Mary Hoyt Stevenson and further enriched with a $1.5 million award from the Washington State Building for the Arts fund. Additional funds have come from the museum’s trustees, members and friends, as well as regional foundations and businesses.
Anyone interested in contributing to Maryhill Museum of Art's capital campaign can do so online at
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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. 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 the museum's cafe, Loies, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily; the Museum Store features art and history books, jewelry, 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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