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WASHINGTON COUNTY ARTS GUIDE DECEMBER 2012 – FEBRUARY 2013
Museum
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on the hook for improvements in the space, which was wired and plumbed, but
not much else.
The museum’s budget is increasing from $500,000 to $650,000 on top of a
three-year goal of raising $3.5 million to support its goals, which also include
expanding its educational offerings to reach some 10,000 students and creating
an interactive online archive of historical documents dating back hundreds of
years.
A $1.5 million anonymous gift to the museum offered a gigantic boost
toward that goal, which supplements more than $40,000 worth of combined
2012-13 fiscal year grants so far from groups like the Oregon Community
Foundation, the Oregon Heritage Commission, and the Juan Young Trust.
Individual donors have pledged funds, but major local economic drivers like
Intel and Nike are not among the supporters (“We haven’t had that
conversation yet,” says Shogren).
The hope is that the scope of the expansion paired with the high-profile
Hubble exhibit will raise eyebrows and add some clout, putting the Washington
County Museum on the map with some of the bigger museums in the Portland
area. Looking to the future, Shogren says it’s not a matter of professional
rivalry, but a necessary component to serve the citizens of the rapidly growing
and evolving community.
“I’m not interested in competing. I’m interested in complementing,” says
Shogren, assuredly. “Part of what I’m looking at is where Washington County
will be 20 years from now. The forecast for Washington County 20 years from
now the population will be over 1 million and with the state of roads and public
transport, the cultural attraction of downtown Portland is going to feel
physically longer and longer because it will take so long to get there. If the
museum wants to eventually have the resources in our facility to support a
county whose population is more than 1 million, we need to be taking those
steps today.”
That means climbing a mountain of a capital campaign. It means continuing
to reach out to the community. It means continuing to build on the legacy of an
establishment that, in and of itself, is committed to preserving the legacy of the
county it serves.
For Shogren, that’s just business as usual.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a gamble. I wouldn’t even say it’s a calculated risk,” says
Shogren, sounding a bit like Capt. Kirk’s half-Vulcan first officer. “I think it’s
really the next strategic, logical step.”
The “Hubble Space Telescope”
exhibit runs through May 31 and
the “Americans All” exhibit about
the county’s early Latino guest
workers runs through June 30. The
Museum is located on the second
floor of the Hillsboro Civic Center,
120 E. Main St. (above Starbucks).
Admission to the museum is
free to members, $6 for adults and
$4 for children. Museum hours are
Wednesday through Friday from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 10
a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from
noon to 5 p.m. Learn about parking
and other details at
washingtoncountymuseum.org.
EXHIBITS ON DISPLAY THROUGH SPRING
On the musuem’s opening day,
Ilene O’Malley gave a presentation
of the Bracero Project exhibit,
which chronicles early migrant
labor in the county.