Maryhill Museum of Art

We're excited to launch our search for a new full-time Curator of Art at Maryhill Museum of Art! Maryhill Museum of Art’s mission is to ignite a journey of educational enrichment in the Columbia River Gorge by preserving and interpreting art and historic collections. We achieve this by producing high-quality exhibitions and educational programs, sharing our collections with the public, maintaining an engaged member and donor support constituency, and operating our museum in accordance with the standards of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). The collection at Maryhill Museum of Art includes a broad range of materials that include paintings, prints, sculpture—including an Auguste Rodin collection, Indigenous artwork, fashion, textiles, ecclesiastical art, and chess sets. Most of the collection dates to the late nineteenth into the mid-twentieth century. Maryhill Museum of Art occupies a historic Beaux-Arts mansion that is situated on 5,300 acres with panoramic views of the Columbia River. Within the historic building and 2012 addition, the museum has 35,000 square feet of space with galleries on all four floors. Maryhill Museum of Art seeks a Curator of Art to shape the vision of the collection, create compelling annual exhibitions, and oversee the care of the collection in alignment with the museum’s priorities, vision, and values. Read the position overview here: https://lnkd.in/gsYwbq4t

Thanks to The Epoch Times for including Maryhill Museum of Art in a selection of museums nationwide who are participating in 'Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026' with Craft In America! https://lnkd.in/gyiBRjd2

Today, The Epoch Times published an in-depth article about American Classical Realism at Maryhill Museum of Art. While mid-century American and European tastemakers lauded abstract expressionism and pop art, a group of American painters kept traditional European atelier practices alive. Their continuing contributions are on view at Maryhill Museum of Art, which has one of the largest institutional collections of American Classical Realism. Many thanks to Sarah Isak-Goode of The Epoch Times for her research and for shedding light on this wonderful (and somewhat underappreciated) part of our collections! Read the article: https://lnkd.in/gt86vSBe

Thanks to Columbia Gorge News for sharing the puppetry performance and maker workshop, tours, and free admission for educators happening this Saturday, August 1 at Maryhill Museum of Art!

We’re excited to announce the forthcoming release of "Handwork: Handcrafted Objects that Made America," a stunning new volume that celebrates more than 250 years of American craftsmanship and the remarkable stories behind the objects that have shaped our nation. This publication is part of the nationwide Semiquincentennial initiative "Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026," presented by Craft In America. Read the press release: https://lnkd.in/gU8ssCSP

Many thanks to Oregon ArtsWatch and to writer Justin Duyao for this thoughtful interview with Steve Grafe, Ph.D., who retired as Curator of Art from Maryhill Museum of Art after 17 years with the organization. Excerpt from the article: "Grafe has served as the Curator of Art for the small-but-mighty museum overlooking the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge since 2009. During his tenure, Grafe revitalized the Museum’s Indigenous Peoples galleries, championed historically underappreciated academic realists (e.g., R.H. Ives Gammell and Richard Lack), and grounded the institution’s programming in the ecology and history of the Pacific Northwest. In short, Grafe’s ambitious programming initiatives and curatorial vision helped modernize the Museum once described by The Oregonian / OregonLive.com as 'the Pacific Northwest’s overstuffed family room,' expanding the scope of its permanent collections and helping to transform it into the eclectic institution it is today. Read the article:

Maryhill Museum of Art is grateful for the impact of its longtime Curator of Art, Steve Grafe, who retired on June 10. During his 17 years with the organization, he shaped Maryhill into a museum its visitors consistently underestimate—and remember. All the contemporary Indigenous art in the museum collection was acquired during Steve’s tenure. In 2013, he began upgrading alcoves in the Indigenous Peoples of North America Gallery. This was a logical extension of the success he had securing historic and traditional Indigenous art. Half of the gallery is now filled with items received since Steve’s arrival—including notable additions of Columbia River Plateau baskets and beadwork, California and Northwest Coast baskets, and items from Western Alaska. Steve has also been responsible for acquiring hundreds of items that are part of Maryhill’s fashion collections, including Balkan folk clothing from Romania, Macedonia, and elsewhere; two separate mid-20th-century miniature collections; an extensive array of 20th-century European and American fashion hats; and vintage folk clothing from Oaxaca, Guatemala, and Panama. His fondness for Orthodox icons was heightened by recent additions of New World religious art. In addition to managing temporary and permanent exhibitions, Steve coordinated the Pacific Northwest Plein Air in the Columbia River Gorge event for ten consecutive years. This allowed him the opportunity to work with dozens of skilled contemporary landscape painters. Read more about Steve's impact at Maryhill Museum of Art: https://lnkd.in/gNyjyPm2

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Maryhill Stonehenge Solstice Ceremony at sunrise on Sunday, June 21, 2026, with appreciation for event co-organizers + sponsors Food Circle Foundation and Trout Lake Abbey! https://lnkd.in/ggWYfvNg

Thanks to The Olympian Newspaper and Karlee Van De Venter for shining a light on the #StonehengeMemorial in advance of the summer solstice! https://lnkd.in/gKuxKS6c

We are over the moon to share that Maryhill Museum of Art raised over $157,000 in support of our mission this past Saturday evening at the "100 Years of a Dream" fundraiser gala held at Best Western Plus Hood River Inn thanks to the generosity of our attendees, sponsors, and contributors! Funds raised help us preserve our museum collections and historic facilities, prepare for upcoming exhibitions, and subsidize museum access (most notably through our partnerships with libraries in WA + OR, Blue Star Museums for military servicemembers, Free Educators Week, and Museums For All / EBT) so that everyone who loves to learn has a ticket to visit #MaryhillMuseum.