(Graphic courtesy of The Museum at Warm Springs)
Great News!
Early-May Museum Reopening Planned
We are now looking at an early-May reopening date and apologize for the extended closure as we were installing our new Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system. The process has been taking longer than expected due to unexpected supply chain issues.
“This is the latest update but we are fairly certain at this point that we will be reopening very soon!,” says Museum Executive Director Elizabeth A. Woody.
Please look for a public announcement once the date is confirmed. We will update you here in our newsletter and will also post information on our website and regular updates on our Facebook page. The Museum’s staff has been working during the closure.
Major funders of the new HVAC system include the U.S. Congress/National Park Service, The Roundhouse Foundation, The Ford Family Foundation, Portland General Electric Foundation, Spirit Mountain Community Fund and Oregon Cultural Trust. We are so grateful!
Gift Shop Getting Stocked for The Museum’s Reopening!
We are getting ready for the upcoming reopening of The Museum in early May. Visitors will see familiar items on the shelves, such as Pendleton blankets. Other treasures are sure to tempt the pocketbook. Please plan to stop in when The Museum reopens. You never know what you will find!
2023 Annual Report Available!
Our 2023 Annual Report has been published. It’s available in our website’s Press Room.
Update!
2024 Grounds Clean-Up!
Last year’s grounds clean-up attracted more than 150 enthusiastic Museum Members, Warm Springs Tribal members, Museum Board members, donors and other Museum friends who spent the day sprucing up The Museum’s grounds. We were very grateful for all of this help!
It was so much fun for everyone that we decided to hold another Grounds Clean-Up Day this year.
We’re getting closer to announcing a date, so please keep your eyes peeled for the announcement!
(Photo: Bill Flood, Community Development Consultant and Sunmiet Maben, Museum Operations Manager. Photo by Eddie Kao.)
Setting the Stage for Renewal of The Museum’s Permanent Exhibit!
Last July, The Board of Directors met at The Museum and began discussing the renewal of the aging Permanent Exhibit, which hasn’t been upgraded since The Museum opened 30 years ago in 1993. It is time to begin to focus on the exhibit, which remains the most popular attraction for visitors and is an important way that the Warm Springs people tell their story to the world.
“Now that our 30th anniversary year is over, we need to start planning for a new phase in the life of our Museum that will include much-needed upgrades to our aging infrastructure and renewal of our Permanent Exhibit, which has not been refreshed since The Museum opened 30 years ago,” noted Museum Executive Director Elizabeth A. Woody in The Museum’s 2023 Year-End appeal letter.
Museum Operations Manager Sunmiet Maben has been appointed Project Manager of the Permanent Exhibit renewal project. Sunmiet currently managed the entirety of The Museum’s new Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system, a complex project that has involved many moving parts, including fundraising, budgeting and invoicing, working with contractors and supplies and, finally, to successfully overseeing the installation during The Museum’s closure to the public.
A Permanent Exhibition Community Committee comprised of Warm Springs Board of Directors and Warm Springs Tribal members has been formed. The Committee, thus far, includes Ruth “Pinky” Beymer, Olney Patt, Jr., Donald J. Stastny and Rain Circle. “We will be bringing in more people in the future, especially elders, so there will be a strong sense of continuity, of staying true to the Exhibit’s content and to what our elders did before us, what they continue to teach us, and what we need to carry into the future.
“We are in the process of talking with potential exhibit designers, looking at other museums to see what the trends are in terms of design, technology, lighting, tone, colors… the list goes on and on,” says Sunmiet. “We will also be conducting surveys — a selection of focus questions, which will be strategically placed throughout the Permanent Exhibit. We will ask that visitors take some time and complete these surveys for us so we can also get their ideas and opinions about the Exhibit.”
The estimate for renewal of the Permanent Exhibit is approximately $1-2 million. In December 2023, a $90,000 “scoping and assessing” grant was received from Visit Central Oregon for Phase 1 of the renewal. Fundraising for the renewal is a top priority in 2024.