Marshall
Pentecost
ARTZ
406: Gallery Professional Practices
Holter
Museum of Art – Research Paper
Holter Museum of Art
History
The Holter Museum of Art,
first opened its doors in 1987, in what use to be the former tool supply store
building in Helena, Montana. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The Museums purpose from the beginning was to
be one of Montana’s best place for people to experience art. It has since its beginning focused on
contemporary artists’ and their art work.
In 2002, a two million dollar capital campaign allowed the museum to add
6,500 more square feet. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The added
space was built to give a more unified collection, and the design of the
facility added lines of sight from room to room which allows for other options
for designing exhibits. They wanted to
use the artists’ work in the galleries to work together and to reflect one
another. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) This way
everything flows together instead of having each gallery to be a different
design or work of art. This helps in the
visual aspect for the visitor who visits each room. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Gallery Information
The
Holter Museum is a 501c(3) nonprofit organization. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The Holter
Museum of Art has five individual galleries.
The Millikan Gallery is the center of the museum. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) A visitor walks through it and also when
going between any of the other galleries.
The High Gallery is part of the newer addition which is large enough to
display larger pieces of art work. When
visitors first enter the gallery the Blair Gallery is the first room they will
see. This room serves as the first impression
of all the exhibits. The Sherman Gallery
is also very large and houses high volume shows as well as public events such
as their annual art auction. The
Artworks Gallery and the Museum’s gift shop offer local artists’ work for
sale. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
The exhibits
usually last for as long as three months and all of the galleries will change
out at the same time. Annually there are
30,000 visitors to the Holter Museum at no cost. Each year all of Helena’s third graders come
to the Museum to make art. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The demographic area is centered in Helena and
their primarily meet the community surrounding the Museum.
The museum’s
permanent collection preserves more than 1,500 works of regional art. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The store provides a place for 50 local
artists to sell their art to the public. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The Museum
helps contribute economically to the downtown area of Helena. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Purpose
The Holter’s main purpose is to promote
the creative spirit of artists. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) They serve local, regional, national, and
international artists in all media of art. The museum says, “It’s a museum’s
responsibility to break traditions, spice things up, to be a vibrant cultural
center where anything can happen. We try to get more play into our routine. We
have parties, we create inventive ways for people to meet and interact. We like
noise in the gallery; it means people are there, sharing, talking, and learning.
It’s our duty to be current, to stay at the forefront of what’s happening in
the international museum scene.” (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Liz
Gans, co-director of the museum, adds her feelings regarding the museum’s
purpose. “The Holter is ‘you-centered.’ It’s free, and you can look at the
exhibits at your own rate and respond on your own terms. The encounter can be
quieting or stimulating depending on your mood. It’s like Montana’s wilderness
that way. It doesn’t force anything on you, leaving it up to you to discover
what you want from it.” (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Gallery’s
Outreach
Education
and outreach to the community are as important as exhibitions are to the
Holter’s mission. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) The Museum have many lectures and classes that
are done year-round by professional local and visiting artists. In the summer they focus on school-aged
children, while adult classes are offered more in the fall and spring. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Location and Hours
Admission to the Art Gallery is always free to the
public. The hours are:
Monday, closedTuesday-Saturday, 10am-5:30pm
Sunday, 12pm-4pm
The museum is closed for Holidays such as the 4th
of July, Thanksgiving Day, and closed between Christmas and the New Year. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Staffing
Below
is a list of the Board of Directors as well as a list of the staff. The Museum has full and part time staff. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Board
of Directors:
Stephanie
Baucus, President
Vice
President, Perennial Strategy Group
Madalyn
Quinlan, Vice President
Chief
of Staff, Montana Office of Public Instruction
Barbara
Ridgway, Secretary
Student
and Services Administrator,
Helena
Public Schools
Jay
Phillips, Treasurer
Administrator,
Centralized Services
Montana
Office of Public Instruction
Mary
Ahmann Hibbard
Realtor,
Windemere of Helena
Emily
Flemming
Fundraising
and Development Program Mgr.
Student
Assisance Foundation
Pat
Keim
Lobbyist,
former Government Affairs Director for
BNSF
Railway
Jessie
Luther
Attorney,
Browning, Kaleczyc, Berry & Hoven PC
Heather
Margolis
Executive
Director, Montana Education Partnership
Ersun
Ozer
Owner,
Mediterranean Grill
Carla
Potter
Ceramic
Artist
Dan
Ritter
Director,
Governor's Office of Community Service
Audra
Shropshire
Contributing
Writer, Montana Parent Magazine
Helen
Thigpen
Attorney,
Legislative Services Division
Holter’s
Full and Part time staff:
Caleb
Fey, Executive Director
406.442.6400
ext.105
caleb(at)holtermuseum.org
Jenny
Gehl, Museum Store Manager
406.442.6400
ext.101
jenny(at)holtermuseum.org
Renee
Erb, Assistant Curator & Collections Manager
406.442.6400
ext.104
renee(at)holtermuseum.org
Catherine
Askam, Community Engagement Coordinator
406.442.6400
ext.102
catherine(at)holtermuseum.org
Sondra
Hines, Curator of Education
406.442.6400
ext.108
sondra(at)holtermuseum.org
Chris
Riccardo, Assistant Curator of Education
406.442.6400
ext. 107
criccardo(at)holtermuseum.org
Karen
Jakovac, Finance Director
406.442.6400
ext.106
karenj(at)holtermuseum.org
David
Spencer, Store Associate
406.442.6400
ext.101
david(at)holtermuseum.org
Membership
The
Holter Museum offers membership to the community as well as to those outside
the community. Membership does provide
financial support for the Museum to continue its mission of creativity. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Members
enjoy special benefits with their memberships:
(Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
·
Discounted wine and beer at exhibition openings.
·
10% off all Museum store purchases which include
holiday sales.
·
They get discounted class tuition.
·
Notifications of events by email and the
e-newsletter.
·
Tax deduction for their contributions
Holter
Museum memberships come in different levels and costs:
·
Military
(Active & Veterans) $25
·
Supporter
$50
·
Dual/Family
$75
·
Contributor
$100
·
Sustainer
$250
·
Benefactor
$500
·
Guardians
Circle $1,000
Members
can also make monthly payments for their yearly membership by automatic
payments. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Volunteering
Holter Museum
of Art also takes volunteers. They
consider volunteers an important part of the Museum. Those who wish to volunteer will go through an
orientation and training session. The
training sessions throughout the year do help train the volunteers for special
events and activities. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Funding
The
Holter Museum counts on the kindness of people to support the Holter’s
exhibitions, educational classes, and public programs. The Holter Museum of
Art has an endowment fund that gives them a stable steady source of operating
income. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
The
Holter Museum also holds a yearly Gala and Auction Fundraiser. They honor an artist and sell tickets to the auction
that include a sophisticated buffet dinner and a drink ticket. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) Those who attend are also able to have access
to their silent auction as well as attending the live auction.
Present Show
The
present exhibition going on right now at the Gallery is running from January
23, 2015 to April 26, 2015. The exhibition
is the studio work of Robert Harrison, a Helena ceramicist and author. His work is influenced by European porcelain
and architecture. Mr. Harrison has spent
the past two years accumulating his own porcelain pieces and others found
throughout Helena into gilded, three-dimensional collages. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
The
Holter Museum of Art holds approximately six to ten exhibitions per year.
Future Shows
The future
shows to come are: (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
2015
Youth Electrum
April
16 to May 16, 2015
Opening
Reception - Thursday, April 16
The
Holter Museum of Art joins with students throughout Lewis and Clark and the surrounding
counties to present the 2015 Youth Electrum.
Now in its forty-first year, the Youth Electrum provides local art
students of every grade and media to display their work in formal exhibition
spaces. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
2015
Archie Bray Foundation Second Year Fellowship Exhibition
May
23 to August 30, 2015
Opening
Reception - Friday, May 29
Through
workshops and residencies, the Archie Bray Foundation brings professional
ceramic artists to Helena, Montana to learn, teach, and develop their
art. The Holter Museum of Art is partnering with the foundation again
this year to feature the work of second year artists Chris Dufala, Adam Field,
Tom Jaszczak, Zemer Peled, and Joanna Powell. An opening reception
celebrating this exhibition and that of Vanessa German will be held on Friday,
May 29th. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Past Shows
Below are some past shows the Museum
has presented: (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
John
Buck & Deborah Butterfield: Horse and Rider
January
20 – April 8, 2012
Bair
Gallery
This
rare joint exhibition brings together the works of two internationally
celebrated Montana artists. Sculptor and printmaker John Buck works with two
interrelated bodies of work: carved wood, assemblage and bronze sculptures, and
large, multicolored woodblock prints. Deborah Butterfield started making horses
in 1973 mostly out of wood and organic matter, and cast her first bronze horse
in 1985. Her pieces in Horse and Rider are relatively small scale and express
an interplay of materials and techniques. In 2010 both received the Montana
Governor’s Arts Award. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Image details: (left)
John Buck, The Big City, 1991, woodcut print; (right) Deborah Butterfield, Han
Horse, 1985, steel, copper, wire, slate (from private collection)
James
Todd: Jazz Icons
September
7 - December 31, 2012
Bair
& Millikan Galleries
Painter
and printmaker Jim Todd is a Montana original. While many of his peers paint
iconic Montana landscapes. Todd participates in a different tradition, one that
is resolutely urban and politically engaged. During his distinguished career he has made
the conjunction of social history and the visual arts a primary focus for both
his art-making and his teaching. Internationally recognized as a genuine
innovator in wood engraving, he has broken stereotypes of size and content
associated with the medium. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Jazz
Icons celebrates the men and women of jazz, that hybridized, purely American
music. The exhibition stretches from his early high school sketches from Great
Falls (where he is from) to the recently completed wood cut prints of
"Jazz Women." Also included are paintings of jazz greats on generous
loan from the Montana Museum of Art & Culture and a temporary loan of
"The Ozark Club" from The History Museum, Great Falls. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
This
exhibition is accompanied by a catalog, Jazz Icons by James Gilbert Todd Jr.,
available for purchase in the Holter Museum Store. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Image
detail: James Todd, Jazz Women, 1994, wood engraving
2013
Youth Electrum
April
19 - May 12, 2013
The
Sherman, Bair & Millikan Galleries
The
Annual Youth Electrum Exhibition is in its 39th year. Featuring the artwork of
students from Helena's elementary, middle, and high school students, the
galleries are filled with the creativity and talent of local youth. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
It is
the Holter Museum's presented this exhibition.
The High School gallery is a juried show with prizes in the categories
of Grand Prize, Painting & Drawing, Photography, Multimedia, and Sculpture.
(Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Image: Untitled, Kaelin Horne, Helena High School, 12th
grade
The
list of exhibitions for the last five years are unavailable at this time and
only a portion of the past exhibitions are listed on the website. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Events and Education
Holter
Museum of art has family programs that they hold several times a year and are
called Family Days, or Use-Eum workshops. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015) They also
offer after school programs that offer classes and workshops for ages eight to fourteen
years old. Summer programs are also
offered with summer art classes, creativity camps, and workshops for the ages
of five years old to eighteen. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
The Museum also offers tuition scholarships for those who
cannot afford to pay for the tuition for the classes that are offered. The Ethel Harrison Education Fund, provides
assistance for those in need. Applying
is easy and can be done on-line on their website. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
The
Museum also offers special events with published authors and poets that are
paired with wines from a local restaurant called Benny’s Bistro. These events cost usually around $15 per
person or $25 for a couple along with the cost of the wine. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Holter Museum Store
The
Holter Museum also allows artists to sell their unique handmade gifts. All the purchases do help support the Museums
exhibitions and educational programs. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Store
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am – 5:30 pm, and Sunday from 12
noon to 4 pm. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Website
The website for the Holter Museum is
well designed and very informative.
Everything that you need to find out about the museum is on this
website. It is organized by topic and theme
and easy to use. You can find events,
exhibitions, and classes on their website.
Also the history, purpose, and vision are located in the website. Printed pages of the website are in the
Appendix with added information on what you can find on the website. (Holter Museum of Art, 2015)
Materials or Visitors
The Holter Museum of Art does not
offer and handouts or materials for visitors to the Museum.
References
(2015). Retrieved from Holter Museum of Art:
https://www.holtermuseum.org/janda/index.php
