Hallie Ford Museum of Art facts for kids
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| Established | 1998 |
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| Location | Salem, Oregon, United States |
| Type | private: art |
| Visitors | 30,000 (2003) |
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (HFMA) is a cool art museum at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. It's one of the biggest art museums in Oregon!
The museum opened in 1998. You can find it right across the street from the Oregon State Capital building in downtown Salem. The Hallie Ford Museum shows off many different kinds of art and old items. It often focuses on art and artists from Oregon. The museum is about 27,000 square feet big. It also brings in special art shows from other places to display in its galleries.
Museum History
Before the Hallie Ford Museum was built, Willamette University already had a collection of art. People had donated many pieces to the university over the years. By 1896, these art pieces were kept in a museum on the fourth floor of Waller Hall. Later, around 1940, the museum moved to the second floor of the gym. Back then, the collection included things like birds, old papers, rocks, wood, shells, plants, and Native American items.
In 1990, the university received a big gift. The Sponenburgh family donated about 250 pieces of ancient art from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This made people think about having a proper art museum. In 1992, a former student named Dan Schneider suggested the idea to an art teacher, Roger Hull.
Roger Hull then talked to the school's leaders in 1994. He pushed for the creation of a new art museum. Over the next two years, plans were made. Many people donated money to help buy a building near the campus. A very important donation came from Hallie Ford and her family's foundation. This money helped buy and fix up the building.
The museum officially opened its doors in 1998. It started with over 3,000 pieces of art. At that time, it was the second largest art museum in Oregon.
People in the area really liked the museum. In 2002, they voted it the best fine arts place and art gallery. In 2003, the museum won an award from the Oregon Art Education Association. It was also named the third best art gallery in the Willamette Valley. When it first opened, about 16,000 people visited each year. By 2003, that number grew to about 30,000 visitors every year!
In 2007, the museum closed for a short time to make some changes. They added more storage space in the basement. They also improved the room where people study prints. This project cost about $850,000 and was paid for by a donation from Maribeth Collins.
Also in 2007, the museum received a special grant. It was called the American Masterpieces grant. This money helped create an exhibit called "The Art of Ceremony." This exhibit showed tribal ceremonies of Native American tribes in Oregon. In 2013, the museum put on its biggest exhibit ever, called "Breath of Heaven, Breath of Earth."
Since 2021, the museum has been part of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network. This network helps protect art and cultural items.
About the Building
The building where the museum is located was built in 1965. It was first used by a phone company called Pacific Northwest Bell. The building has a modern design and is 27,000 square feet big. It has three floors, with two of them above ground. A local architect named James L. Payne designed it.
In 1996, Willamette University bought the building. It was owned by US West Communications at the time. The university then remodeled the building from 1997 to 1998. Jon Weiner, an architect from Portland, designed the changes.
The museum building opened on October 3, 1998. It has a tall, two-story gallery inside. The interior spaces have gentle curves. There are also marble panels and a nice outdoor garden area. The outside of the building is made of brick and has a slate patio. The museum has six galleries in total. Four of these galleries show the museum's regular collections. The other two galleries are used for special traveling exhibits. In 2008, colorful panels were added to the windows on the second floor. These panels add more color to the outside of the building. Some of them even light up at night!
Art Collections
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art has a wide variety of art. It comes from many different cultures and time periods. The six galleries show artwork made in different ways. You can see sculptures, paintings, baskets, and prints. The art includes pieces from Native Americans, European paintings, American art, and modern art. The museum also features art by local artists from Oregon.
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Gallery has amazing baskets. These baskets were made by Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest. They are from collections gathered in the 1940s. The museum also has the Carl Hall Gallery. This gallery shows many different works, including art by former teachers at the university.
Other galleries include the Melvin Henderson-Rubio Gallery, which shows traveling exhibits. The General Collections Gallery displays art from Asia and Europe. The Study Gallery shows smaller, temporary collections. There is also a Print Study Room where you can see prints and photographs.
The museum owns two paintings by a German landscape painter named Frederick Ferdinand Schafer. These paintings, "Morning in the Adirondacks" and "Olympic Mountains, Washington," were bought in 1996. Other art pieces include Egyptian art, Korean art, African art, and Indian art. You can also see etchings by a Dutch artist named Anthonie Waterloo. The museum also has the Paulus Collection. This is a collection of old glass negatives of the Salem area from the early 1900s.
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is a member of important groups. These include the American Association for State and Local History and the American Alliance of Museums.
Past Exhibits
The museum has hosted many interesting art shows. In 1999, they showed works by Seattle painter Michael Spafford. In 2005, they had a special show about Portland artist Michael Brophy. The museum also featured work by Oregon painter Amanda Snyder in 2007.
Other exhibits have shown art by Rick Bartow, Jacob Lawrence, and Fay Jones, among many others. The museum has also hosted traveling exhibits. These include a show on Egyptian art in 2002. It was also one of only three places in the U.S. to host the "Toi Maori: The Eternal Thread" exhibit from New Zealand. In 2007, they displayed a collection of ancient glass. They also showed ancient Roman and Greek items. In 2011, an exhibit called AMERICANA by Ross Palmer Beecher was shown.
About Hallie Ford
Hallie Ford was a very important person for the museum. She helped start the Ford Family Foundation. She went to college in Oklahoma and then moved to Oregon. In 1975, Hallie Ford became a trustee at Willamette University.
She was married to Kenneth W. Ford. Together, they started a company called Roseburg Forest Products Company in 1936. Later, they created a foundation from their success. This foundation grew to become the Ford Family Foundation in 1996. Hallie Ford passed away on June 4, 2007, when she was 102 years old. The museum is named after her because of her generous support.
