The development of schematic design, cost estimates, and construction documents for the Center for the High Desert, which would include a new gallery, five classrooms, flexible spaces, and an event area for expanded humanities programming at the museum.

The construction of a new 27,500 square foot wing will advance the High Desert Museum’s vision for the Center for the High Desert—a place for humanities-driven programming that brings together scholars, artists, policy makers, nontraditional leaders, and community members to transform conversations about the High Desert region, significantly broaden and deepen community engagement, and catalyze collaborative, creative solutions. An iterative design process will inform the development of a gallery, classrooms and an event center that will enable the Museum to respond to the needs and interests of our growing audiences and rural High Desert community. These adaptable new spaces will support interdisciplinary programming that will broaden community engagement, drive new scholarship, inform policy decisions, and build understanding and collaboration between community members. More than an expansion, this new space will position the Museum to be as dynamic as our High Desert community.

Retention of seven staff members to develop virtual tours and programming based on the museum’s collections.

This project will enable the High Desert Museum’s core humanities team to create new virtual programming that will expand public access to the Museum’s significant humanities resources, expertise and collection and deepen understanding of the diverse experiences and perspectives that make up the history of the High Desert region with a particular focus on Indigenous cultures and perspectives. Key outputs will use three areas of our mission, exhibitions and community programs, collections, and K-12 education programs, to establish multiple avenues for engaging broad audiences in important humanities themes and content. Ultimately, these online experiences and resources will continue the Museum’s mission-based work during the current crisis, advance long-term institutional goals, significantly expand the Museum’s impact, and reach new audiences across the High Desert and beyond.

Implementation of a 4,500-square-foot permanent exhibition on the peoples, history, and cultures of the Indigenous Plateau, and a two-year Position in Public Humanities.

The High Desert Museum requests a $400,000 Implementation Grant for the reinstallation of our 4,500 square foot permanent exhibition on the Indigenous Plateau and $100,000 for a two-year Position in the Humanities. Through a dynamic new exhibition, visitors will learn about the Lighted Earth as the foundation of Plateau philosophy and law in which light gives everything life and as a result, we are all connected and have a responsibility to care for each other. Building from this theme, visitors will learn about Plateau lifeways, cultures, histories, and knowledge the same way a Plateau child learns—through experiences, observation and storytelling. Creating Together is bringing together Native knowledge holders and humanities advisors to create an innovative experience that will transform how visitors see the world around them. The Position in the Humanities will advance the long-term impact of the exhibition through Interpretive and Education Guides and extensive public programming.

To support planning for a permanent exhibition on the native Americans of the Great Basin and the Plateau.

Planning for a traveling exhibition and catalog on the post-Civil War Hispanic influence on ranching in Oregon, both in terms of the general ranch culture and production of crafts.

Development of a digital map illuminating the dynamic relationships between the people, wildlife, and landscapes of the High Desert.

The High Desert Museum requests a $30,000 Discovery Grant to develop Remapping the High Desert—an online project that will connect broad audiences to the dynamic relationships between the people, wildlife and landscapes of the High Desert. Despite its significant size and importance to the nation, the High Desert is one of the least studied and understood aspects of the American West. Using innovative design, this project will uncover the many layers of stories and relationships embedded in the vast landscape of the High Desert. Drawing from remapping concepts, the content and approach will prioritize diverse perspectives, including recognizing the High Desert as the ancestral homeland of Indigenous people. Users will also be able to share their experiences. Through this Discovery Grant, we will implement the planning phase of Remapping the High Desert and bring together a wide range of humanities scholars and digital media experts to develop major concepts and design elements.

A preservation assessment of approximately 7,000 objects, which document many of the indigenous groups of the Columbia River Plateau, including the Colville, Yakama, Klamath, Nez Perce, and Umatilla tribes, over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection includes beaded bags, cedar root baskets, clothing and textiles, cradleboards, tools, horse trappings, and jewelry and is used to convey the experiences and perspectives of Plateau Indians through permanent and traveling exhibits, educational programs, and scholarly research.

The 7,000 objects related to American Indians in the Museum’s collection are essential to understanding the experiences and perspectives of Columbia Plateau Indians and enhancing the public’s knowledge of the American West. Dating from the 1800s to 1960s, these objects, including beaded and cornhusk bags, baskets, articles of clothing and cradleboards, demonstrate how Indigenous groups navigated dramatic changes in the region. This collection is essential to our exhibitions and programs, making its long-term care a high priority for the Museum. Consultant Ellen Pearlstein will assess this collection to provide an accurate understanding of its preservation needs and inform two projects related to the long-term care of the collection. We are developing a new culturally responsive collections care plan and in the initial stages of renovating our 4,500 square-foot By Hand Through Memory permanent exhibition, which uses this collection to convey the experiences of Plateau Indians.