EDITOR’S NOTE: Times and places of the weekend’s events have been added to this story.
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PORT TOWNSEND — The newly christened Jefferson County Museum of Art and History will host its opening party this weekend and unveil its inaugural art exhibition under the new name.
The facility at 540 Water St. in Port Townsend — the Jefferson County Historical Society Museum— is being renamed.
Part of the impetus was a bequest from Nora Porter, a Port Townsend civic and political leader who died in November at the age of 75 and left the museum about 80 pieces of unique local art.
The name change also reflects the region’s ongoing relationship with the creative arts, according to Ann Welch, historical society board member.
“This area has clamored for a brick-and-mortar art museum forever,” Welch said.
“It wasn’t likely that we could build a new facility or take over an existing building, so it makes a lot of sense to do this now.”
About half of the Porter collection will be featured in the museum’s first exhibit under its new name.
“Contemporary Expressions of the Northwest: Fine Art from the Robert and Nora Porter Collection” is scheduled to open at 11 a.m. Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The evening before will be the gala opening party.
The party is planned from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the Cotton Building, 607 Water St.
The cost for the event, which includes hors d’oeuvres, wine and music, is $50 for historical society members and $75 for nonmembers.
“Art has always been a part of our history in Jefferson County, and these new exhibits celebrate this,” said Jefferson County Historical Society Director Bill Tennent.
The new display will feature work by Patricia Fitzgerald, Galen Garwood, Max Grover, Anne Hirondelle, Kim Kopp, Evangeline Nakano, Linda Okazaki, Carolyn Watts, Thomas T. Wilson, Martha Worthley and Stephen Yates.
Many of the artists featured in the exhibit will be on hand for Friday’s benefit and Saturday’s ribbon-cutting.
The exhibition will remain in place through December.
Tennent said the response to the idea of an art museum “has been overwhelming” and has generated several new memberships to the historical society.
Tennent said the new museum will provide a different experience for art enthusiasts.
“People will come in here and see things they have not seen before in a local museum,” Tennent said.
“This is different from an art gallery which sells art. Our mission is to preserve, protect and display these pieces.”
While the name of the museum is changing, the umbrella organization, the Jefferson County Historical Society, will continue under that name and will operate the museum and other facilities, including the research center at 3692 Airport Cutoff Road, the Commanding Officer’s Quarters at Fort Worden State Park and the Rothschild House on the bluff at the corner of Franklin and Taylor streets.
Tennent said Jefferson County provides a hospitable setting for the arts, which will be reflected in future exhibits.
“Many of the artists who came here in the 1970s found a place surrounded by beauty and full of creative people that has helped them to express themselves,” he said.
The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.
General admission is $4. The museum is free to all Jefferson County residents the first Saturday of every month.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
