The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
63°F
Current Conditions
Overcast clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture celebrates 100 years as Spokane institution

The A.B. Campbell House, donated to the Eastern Washington State Historical Society by Helen Campbell Powell, as a memorial to her mother, Grace Campbell, was Spokane’s public museum from 1925 until 1960. (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture)
The A.B. Campbell House, donated to the Eastern Washington State Historical Society by Helen Campbell Powell, as a memorial to her mother, Grace Campbell, was Spokane’s public museum from 1925 until 1960. (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture)
By Azaria Podplesky azariap@spokesman.com(509) 459-5024

Whether you visited as a child on a field trip or made a day out of it with your own family, whether you’re a member or only visit once in a blue moon, when a new exhibit sounds particularly interesting, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, or the MAC, is part of your Inland Northwest vocabulary.

The museum has been a Spokane institution since its beginnings in 1916. To celebrate the centennial milestone, reflecting on the past 100 years while also looking to the future, the museum will host a gala Saturday.

The MAC came to be when the Spokane Historical Society merged with an arts society to become the Eastern Washington State Historical Society, which is still the museum’s official title.

The goal then was the same as it is now, according to Marsha Rooney, senior curator of history.

“Their goal was to gather objects that told the story of natural and human history,” she said. “It was for the benefit of the people of the region, especially school children, students and scientists.”

Although the MAC is known as being the neighbor of the historic Campbell House, the museum started out in a room in City Hall. It then bounced from Norfolk Hall on Riverside Avenue to a room at the Crescent Department Store to the Wharton Block on First Avenue before settling into the Campbell House until January 1960, when it moved to the Cheney Cowles Memorial Museum building next door.

Over the years, the museum has housed a variety of exhibits focusing on art and history, both regional and beyond.

In 1927, for example, according to a booklet put together for the museum’s 75th anniversary, headlines advised visitors to “expect furor” when an exhibit called “Blue Four,” which featured the expressionist paintings of artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, Alexej von Jawlensky and Paul Klee, opened.

To celebrate the opening of the new museum building in 2001, the MAC presented “Hometowns,” a collection of stories from towns and museums from Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.

And the museum also collaborated with the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Colville and Kalispel tribes on the “People of the Rivers” exhibit.

“It’s been interesting to see over the years how we’ve taken advantage of not only talking about our story and our region but also trying to bring the world to Spokane in whatever way we can,” Rooney said. “And that’s reflected in the collections that we have. We look for things that basically come out of this region, things that were made here, things that were used here, things that people cherished here, but also we look at our connection with the world and a lot of those things help fill that story as well.”

Current exhibits include “Titans of the Ice Age: Mammoths and Mastodons” and “The Secret Life of an Artifact.”

Future exhibits include “Z Nation: Behind the Camera,” opening this summer. The exhibit will highlight local artists contributing to the show and will also give visitors the opportunity to see how the show is made as the crew films scenes around the museum.

Opening in October is “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” which executive director Wes Jessup calls an experiential exhibit.

Upon entering the exhibit, visitors will receive a ticket with the name of a passenger who was on the Titanic. After learning about the construction and sinking of the ship, as well as the efforts to conserve the wreckage, visitors will learn the fate of the person on their ticket.

Both Rooney and Jessup know the unlikelihood of reaching such a milestone and give all the credit for the centennial celebration to the community.

“Things change so fast that I think 100 years takes on more and more significance today because not everything lasts, at least not in the same shape,” Rooney said.

“The museum is really a reflection of the city and the region and I think it says that people care,” Jessup said. “We have an amazing group of donors that support this museum… I think it’s really a tribute to Spokane that the museum has thrived for that many years.”

And though both Rooney and Jessup are proud of the museum’s centennial milestone, they are even more excited for what the next 100 years holds.

“We really want to be like a community hub here where people can gather whether it’s for an art exhibit or a film or a concert or a class,” Jessup said. “There’s so many things that we can be doing, and I’m excited about examining that reach and bringing more people and developing our audience.”