The Board of Trustees of Maryhill Museum announce the appointment of Colleen Schafroth as director at the annual membership meeting.
Schafroth was previously appointed acting director in September 2000, taking the helm in the midst of a major capital campaign and renovation project.
Immediately upon appointment, she was responsible for preparing the 2001 operating budget and planning programs and exhibits for the upcoming season.
"After beginning a nationwide search for a new director last October," said Jim McCreight, president of the Board of Trustees, "it quickly became obvious to the board that Colleen Schafroth, our acting director, with her experience at Maryhill, her reputation in the community as an outstanding arts educator, her management skills in taking charge of our major renovation project, and the high regard the staff held for her, was the obvious choice for the permanent director position. The board is very pleased she has accepted the position and looks forward to working with her and the staff in the future."
A longtime resident of The Dalles and Goldendale, Schafroth has been curator of education at the museum for 16 years, developing and implementing educational programs for all ages. In addition, she administers the museum's extensive archives and research library, designs and installs exhibitions, and manages the volunteer program.
She has also had experience in public relations, managing the museum store, and co-directed the museum during a lengthy transition period in 1992. She holds a bachelor of arts in English and a BA in arts, as well as a master of arts in art history with a focus on museum studies from Oregon State University.
Prior to coming to the Maryhill, she briefly interned at the Smithsonian before going on to design and implement educational programs and exhibitions for both the Horner Museum and the Willamette Science and Technology Center.
During her career, she has been a leader in promoting arts education throughout the region, serving as both secretary and president of the Columbia Gorge Arts Council, as a board member of the Oregon Art Education Association, on numerous art committees in both Oregon and Washington, and a juror for regional art competitions.
Schafroth has also authored two books on chess, Sculptures in Miniature: Chess Sets from the Maryhill Museum of Art
(1990) and The Art of Chess (to be published in 2002), as well as several magazine articles, traveling exhibits, educator's guides, and art curriculum materials.
The Oregon Art Education Association recognized Schafroth's accomplishments in art education with the Oregon Museum Art Educator's Award in 1997, and she was nominated by the association again in 1998 for the Regional Museum Art Educator's Award.
"I am looking forward to guiding Maryhill Museum into the new century," said Schafroth. "The second half of the current renovation project will start soon and we will be working to increase the museum's endowment...challenges that will be met."
The museum's board of trustees is in the middle of a $3.6 million fund raising campaign to complete the renovation and increase the endowment.
The next phase of the renovation project will begin in late November and will address plumbing and augment the climate control system, all without changing the historic appearance of the museum.
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