(Photo by Carlos Reynoso)
The Museum at Warm Springs Kicks Off Annual Membership Drive on Friday, August 1!
We’re kicking off our annual Membership Drive on Friday, August 1. The Membership Drive will run through Sunday, August 31. Last year’s Membership Drive raised more than $19,000 and tripled our Membership! Thank you to all of our renewing and new Members!
Several Oregon collaborators are helping spread the word about the Membership Drive, including Central Oregon LandWatch, Jefferson County Arts Association and Art Adventure Gallery, Jefferson County Historical Society, KWSO 91.9 FM Warm Springs Radio, Madras-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, Old Mill District, Redmond Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitor Bureau, The Environmental Center and Visit Central Oregon.
In 2025 and for the foreseeable future we’re continuing to focus on “renewal” of our Museum — both exterior and interior spaces. “This past spring it became apparent that we desperately needed a new roof, as it has not been replaced since The Museum was constructed more than 30 years ago,” says Museum Executive Director Elizabeth A. Woody. “Patching and other quick fixes were not doing the job anymore so we reached a decision that we needed to do something as quickly as possible in order to protect our exhibits and priceless collections and archives from potential, irreversible damage.”
With the generous support of our Board of Directors, Board of Regents, The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, foundation partners (The Ford Family Foundation, The Roundhouse Foundation and Oregon Community Foundation) and individual donors, we were able to quickly secure funding to make this important project possible. We’re also focusing on renewal of our aging Permanent Exhibit — our central visitor attraction.
Annual memberships start at $25 and are tax deductible as allowable by law. All Members receive free admission for one year, 10% discount in The Museum’s Gift Shop, special invitations to exhibits and programs, and access to Oregon Historical Society’s Reciprocal Membership Program with free admission to a different Oregon museum each month. Be a part of a community of supporters and become a Museum at Warm Springs Member here. Click “Join” to see Membership levels and online payment information or send a check to: The Museum at Warm Springs, P.O. Box 909, Warm Springs, OR 97761 (Attn: Membership).
Second and Final Installment of $40,000 Received from Travel Oregon for Museum’s Accessibility Audit
In November 2023, Travel Oregon through its 2023-2025 Competitive Grants Program awarded an $80,000 grant to The Museum to conduct an Accessibility Audit. The second and final installment of the grant — $40,000 — was received this month.
The Audit’s purpose was to act as a tool to support The Museum’s efforts in both the planning and implementation of future Museum accessibility improvements.
“The goal of the accessibility project is to make The Museum a place that is welcoming and accessible to all, a place where visitors discover and experience the unique stories and culture of the Warm Springs people,” says Museum Executive Director Elizabeth A. Woody. “We are very grateful to Travel Oregon for this grant and for all of their support over the years.”
The Voice of the People
By Don Stastny, Board of Directors and Member of the Permanent Exhibit Steering Committee
The Museum at Warm Springs was conceived and built by The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to Smithsonian Institution Standards of their “4th Museum.” The 4th Museum was a concept envisioned by W. Richard West, Jr., the Founding Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington D.C. It was an attempt to join together in a network the various tribal museums across the country that would share traveling exhibitions, online resources and community programs to take NMAI’s commitment to sharing Native perspectives beyond the NMAI’s three physical buildings: the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland.
While the 4th Museum was not achievable at the time, The Confederated Tribes persisted in the notion that if the 4th Museum evolved sometime in the future, The Museum at Warm Springs would be of a quality and composition to play an exemplary role in the envisioned 4th Museum network. Some of the concepts of the 4th Museum would be providing appropriate exhibit and exhibit preparation space to allow for exhibits to move from one tribal museum to another. As such, The Museum at Warm Springs was built and continues to be the exemplar and forerunner of tribal museums across the country.
The Museum houses an outstanding collection of over 15,000 cultural objects under curation and a very limited number were employed in the original Permanent Exhibit. While the collection and archives are the “heart” of The Museum, the Permanent Exhibit is the “voice” of the people of Warm Springs. As such, the Permanent Exhibit content and purpose continue to evolve as the mission and purpose of The Museum evolves. The evolution of The Museum under the leadership of Executive Director Elizabeth A. Woody is becoming a stronger educational institution — not only informing visitors but also assisting tribal members and youth about their history and past — more than a repository it is an active place of learning.
The Permanent Exhibit serves as the foundation of The Museum and is supported by the Collection and the Archives as well as the Temporary Exhibit Gallery. As originally planned, the Permanent Exhibit space was 7,500 square feet, and the exhibitry was focused more on the experience of the visitor to The Museum. The Exhibit was also planned at a time when the science and art of museum building was undergoing a morphosis (i.e. how things change form or structure during their development). As museology (the science or practice of organizing, arranging, and managing museums) has evolved, there is a greater emphasis on having elements of the exhibit changing so that a visitor may get a different experience on each visit.
Likewise, the technology that activates the exhibits has evolved extensively. Over the past few years, The Museum’s Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), electronics and security have been updated and improved. This will result in the basic infrastructure of The Museum being able to accept technological improvements in the Permanent Exhibit as well as enabling better and more timely maintenance — in essence, providing a better environment for the Permanent Exhibit.
A Permanent Exhibit Steering Committee comprised of Museum staff, Warm Springs Tribal members and representatives of the Board of Directors has been taking on the task of working with Formations, the original and “re-selected” exhibit designer, on contemplating the flow and composition of the Permanent Exhibit. The existing first part of the exhibit (3,500 square feet) will be updated and the technology/infrastructure renovated. This section will continue with the History Theater, Introductory Film, Fisherman Diorama, Rock Art (Petroglyphs and Pictographs), the Story Chamber, Traditions and Ceremonies, the Celebration of each Tribe (Warm Springs, Wasco, Northern Paiute), and the “House” Diorama including the Wedding Scene.
The remainder of the space (4,000 square feet) will be reprogrammed and rebuilt to address current and projected program elements including Trade and Travel, Euro-Americans and the U.S. Government, the Treaty of 1855 and Ceded Lands and the establishment of the Warm Springs Reservation, stories of Early Reservation Life, the impact of Boarding Schools and attempted assimilation, Sovereignty and Self-Governance, Honoring Veterans, and The Tribes Today.
In addition to the “focus” areas, a visit to the Permanent Exhibit will end with a flexible, interactive space to accommodate a range of exhibit possibilities as well as a discovery and activity area for children. The dream is to invite children to create art or contribute to an ongoing project that can either go on display or be taken home as a souvenir of their visit.
After experiencing the Permanent Exhibit (The Voice of the People), the visitor will be invited to tour the Temporary Exhibit Gallery, visit the Museum Gift Shop and tour exterior exhibits and displays that tie the place and the people to the land.
The vision for The Voice of the People is an experience that will be impactful and educational, as well as entertainment. It will honor the Ancestors, speak to the Elders and youth of the Tribes and provide a memorable and learning experience for each visitor on each visit — an aspirational goal, but achievable.
“This is the beginning of a capital campaign to not only accomplish the immense task of renewing the Permanent Exhibit but also to do the best we can for our Ancestors,” says Elizabeth.
