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(GOLDENDALE, Wash., January 12, 2022) – Maryhill Museum of Art has been approved for a $25,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to support The Exquisite Gorge Project II: Fiber Arts, a community-based art project to take place this year.The Exquisite Gorge Project II: Fiber Arts is among 1,248 projects across America totaling $28,840,000 selected to receive this first round of fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Maryhill Museum of Art that help support the community’s creative economy,” said NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers. “Maryhill Museum of Art is among the arts organizations nationwide that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.”

In addition to the recent grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the project has received funding from a number of regional grantmakers, including Roundhouse Foundation; Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation’s Community Grants, The Salvador Fund of the Gorge Community Foundation, Columbia Fiber Arts Guild, and Umpqua Bank, Goldendale Branch.

“We are eager to build on the success of the first Exquisite Gorge Project and these funds make it possible,” says Louise Palermo, Curator of Education at Maryhill Museum of Art and founder of the Exquisite Gorge Project. “We are thrilled that grant makers like the NEA at the national level, as well as regional funders, believe in this project and see the impact it has on participating artists, our partners and the public.”

In the coming months, 13 regional fiber artists are slated to work in communities along 220 miles of the Columbia River from the Willamette Confluence in Portland to the Snake River Confluence near Walla Walla, Washington.

Drawing inspiration from the people, the landscape, and the river, the artists will collaborate with a Community Partner and interact with community members from their assigned stretch of the river to create unique, site-specific installations, sculpture, and innovative designs. They will also engage in programs meant to inspire and educate the public about fiber arts.

Maps and guides will encourage the public to visit each location; during a culminating Festival of Fiber Arts on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Maryhill Museum of Art, artists and each completed section will be brought together to reveal a continuous 66-foot flowing sculpture with the Columbia River as a central element.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Louise Palermo, Maryhill’s Curator of Education, is the Project Director and Oregon-based artist Tammy Jo Wilson is the Artistic Director. Participating artists are Francisco and Laura Bautista, Lynn Deal, Ophir El-Boher, Carolyn Hazel Drake, Xander Griffith, Chloë Hight, Kristy Kún, Bonnie Meltzer, Magda Nica, Owen Premore, and Amanda Triplett. The participating artists work in a variety of textile and fiber-based media, from weaving, basketry, and repurposed textiles to quilt making, jewelry, and felt making.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS
In addition to the participating artists, partner organizations will make the project possible. The following partners and artists will be paired on each section of the river:

Section One: Oregon Society of Artists–Artist: Lynn Deal
Section Two: Lewis and Clark University–Artist: Amanda Triplett
Section Three: Columbia Center for the Arts, The History Museum of Hood River County and Arts in Education of the Gorge–Artist: Chloë Hight
Section Four: White Salmon Arts Council and Fort Vancouver Regional Library–Artist: Xavier Griffith
Section Five: The Dalles Arts Center and The Dalles-Wasco County Library–Artists: Francisco and Laura Bautista
Section Six: The Fort Vancouver Regional Library at Goldendale Community Library–Artist: Carolyn Hazel Drake
Section Seven: The American-Romanian Cultural Society and Maryhill Museum of Art–Artist: Magda Nica
Section Eight: Desert Fiber Arts & REACH Museum–Artist: Ophir El-Boher
Section Nine: The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation–Artist: Bonnie Meltzer
Section Ten: ArtWalla–Artist: Kristy Kún
Frontispiece: Tammy Jo Wilson and Owen Premore

Sponsors
Major Support from: National Endowment for the Arts, Roundhouse Foundation; Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation’s Community Grants; The Salvador Fund of the Gorge Community Foundation; Columbia Fiber Arts Guild; and Umpqua Bank, Goldendale Branch.

This project could not happen without the additional support of services and goods from a number of people and organizations, including the following: Anonymous, M & P Ranch, Premier Metal, Olympic Yarn and Fiber, and StoryGorge. Additional thanks go to all our community partners and artists.

Anyone interested in supporting the project can contact Colleen Schafroth at 509- 773-3733 x 23 or development@maryhillmuseum.org.

MEDIA CONTACTS & IMAGES
For questions or image requests related to this program or Maryhill Museum of Art: Rachel Bucci at rachel@maryhillmuseum.org. High resolution general museum images are available for use by the media here.

Image above: Xander Griffith, Aren’t You Glad I Didn’t Say the Other Vancouver (detail), 2019, felt.

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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 renowned 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 American Indian collection represents nearly every tradition and style in North America, with works of art from prehistoric through contemporary.

Maryhill’s William and Catherine Dickson Sculpture Park 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; Stonehenge Memorial was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. Nearby, the Klickitat County War Memorial honors those who have died in the service of their country since World War I.

The museum building 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. In 2012 the museum opened the Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing, a 25,500 square foot expansion that is the first in the museum’s history. The new wing boasts the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust Education Center, a collections storage and research suite, a new cafe and terrace, and the Cannon Power Plaza with an installation of sculpture, and sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood in the distance.

MUSEUM HOURS:
Maryhill Museum of Art is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 15 through November 15. The Gardens & Grounds are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, March 15 – November 15 at no charge. Admission to the Stonehenge Memorial is free; it is open from dawn to dusk daily year-round.

TICKETS / ADMISSION RATES:
Tickets may be purchased in advance at maryhillmuseum.org. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $9 for college students with I.D., $5 for youth age 7-18 and free for children 6 and under. Maryhill participates in Museums for All, with admission set at $2 per person with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card and a valid form of photo ID. Rate is valid for up to four individuals per EBT card.

MUSEUM AMENITIES:
Sandwiches, salads, espresso drinks, cold beverages, and freshly baked desserts and pastries, as well as a selection of local wines and craft beer are available at the museum’s cafe, Loie’s, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Cafe hours may vary during Covid-19. the Museum Store features art and history books, jewelry and other mementos. Picnic tables are located on the museum grounds.

DIRECTIONS:
Maryhill Museum of Art overlooks the Columbia River on Washington’s SR 14, just west of US 97, 12 miles south of Goldendale, Washington; it is a scenic 45 minute drive from Hood River, Oregon and 30 minutes from The Dalles, Oregon. Drive times 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 maryhillmuseum.org.