Maryhill Museum of Art to expand

GOLDENDALE — The remote Maryhill Museum of Art will undergo the first expansion in its 70-year history, the board of directors said Monday.

The $10 million project will add 25,000 square feet of space to the museum that is on the Columbia River Gorge south of Goldendale. The work is to be completed by March 2012.

“Maryhill Museum of Art’s rich history and extraordinary setting make it one of the region’s leading museums and a true gem of the Pacific Northwest,” said Jim Foster, president of the museum’s board.

The museum opened in 1940 in a huge mansion on 5,300 acres above the Columbia River, far from cities. The home was built by entrepreneur Sam Hill, who ultimately decided to make it a museum and called on his friends to help provide artwork. The museum building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Maryhill’s permanent collection includes more than 80 works by Auguste Rodin, European and American paintings, religious icons and the Theatre de la Mode, featuring small mannequins dressed in designer fashions of post-World War II France. The museum also has a large American Indian collection.

The new 25,500-square foot Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing will include an art education center, improved storage and more efficient access to the museum’s collections. There will also be an outdoor sculpture plaza and a new cafe.

“The new wing will allow us to offer even more public programs, welcoming spaces that highlight our breathtaking setting, and to better care for and interpret our collections,” says Laura Cheney, of White Salmon, who co-chairs the museum’s campaign committee.

Maryhill has raised $8 million of its goal of $10 million in cash gifts, bequests and pledges. The campaign has received a $2.6 million gift from Mary Hoyt Stevenson and $1.5 million from the Washington State Building for the Arts fund. The campaign includes pledges of $500,000 from Cannon Power Group, which develops wind power in Klickitat County, and the Mary Hoyt Stevenson Foundation.