PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Historical Society is moving forward with a full re-imagination of its Arts + History Museum, currently on schedule to open an updated space in late 2025.
With a central focus on inclusion and accessibility, the society has teamed up with Seattle firm ARC Architecture to update the historical building with two ramps in addition to widened and height-adjusted doors. The society also is looking for ways to increase access within the exhibits themselves.
In collaboration with AldrichPears Associates LTD, a design firm from Vancouver, British Columbia, JCHS plans to implement static infrastructure, which will increase the society’s ability to turn exhibits over. That also will allow them to approach a timeline of having new exhibits each year.
“There’s so much breadth and depth to the history of this place,” said Tara McCauley, the executive director of the historical society. “We’re really excited to do some deep dives year over year around topics that are interesting and relevant to our community, and bring out new collections and do new research and connect with new community partners, and then bring people back, give people a reason to come back every year, if not more often.”
Annual exhibits at the museum, which is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at 540 Water St. in Port Townsend, will live under single highly malleable themes, which the museum will approach from multiple perspectives. The first year’s theme is “Home.”
Some examples of how the society might approach the theme are through stories of particular residential structures in the area which have housed various waves of history, McCauley said.
Another exhibit might focus on forced removal. The society is looking at the story of the Kawamoto family, which was put in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.
The society also is working with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and the chair of the Chemacum Tribe to share “Home” stories from an indigenous perspective.
The society will focus its art exhibits on a single annual theme, McCauley said.
“The other thing that we’re so excited about is being able to integrate art and history,” she said. “We have beautiful art exhibitions that stand alone, and history exhibits that stand alone, and they don’t really talk to each other. Integrating the experience of seeing art installations, seeing artists and seeing curators do interesting work around the same theme our history exhibitions are exploring, we think is such a cool way to use art and history to approach a topic through different lenses.”
The historical society is eager to receive input in its deliberation of future themes.
McCauley presented an organizational update before the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners on July 8 that covered the historical society’s full museum site renovation, which has been in various stages of planning for the last three years. Project updates included design firm drawings illustrating the nature of the transformation.
County Commissioner Heidi Eisenhour noted that, in her many years as a Jefferson County resident, there have not been many changes to the museum. On a recent visit, she said she was impressed by changes already being made, saying it is newly becoming the most fun palace in the county.
McCauley joked that they would have to adopt the quote as their organizational motto.
The historical society currently is in a quiet capital fundraising phase, focusing on grants and large private donors. It has raised $1 million of its $2.3 million goal.
The society hopes to reach 70 percent of its goal before it opens campaign to the public in fall 2025.
Jefferson County Historical Society Board President Ann Welch spoke about the deepening of the organization’s potential impact on the community.
“We are going to be more responsive to the community, and we take history in a broad look rather than thinking of it as in the olden days,” Welch said. “History just ended 10 seconds ago. When we are able to look at it in a full way, as well as take advantage of many more of our collections that we’ve had over the years, there will be a reason for people to become members and to return to the museum because it’s going to be changing.”
“Particularly art and history,” said Alexandra Toombs, the organization’s director of development and communications. “We have not found anyone else who’s doing this where you’re taking one topic and then you’re using both mediums to tell the story. It’s kind of fun. We’re like, ‘We’re leaders in this arena.’”
To learn more about the Jefferson County Historical Society Museum, visit jchsmuseum.org. For more information, call 360-385-1003 or email at info@jchsmuseum.com.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
The Jeanne K Simmons art exhibit. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
A late 19th Century transit vehicle owned and operated by the City Transfer Company of Port Townsend, part of the soon-to-be-updated history exhibitions. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Museum visitor Dan Mack, a resident of the Hudson Valley in upstate New York, has been awaiting an opportunity to see Jeanne K Simmons’ work in person since discovering her online several years ago. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
Terri Mack takes in Jeanne K Simmons’ burnt cedar sculpture, “Grief Monument for Corbin” on July 11. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
The Jefferson Museum of Art & History is at 540 Water St. in Port Townsend. (Elijah Sussman/Peninsula Daily News)
