Student art launches temporary gallery as museum prepares for expansion

WENATCHEE — Bronze birds, animals and abstract shapes fill display cases in a temporary downtown gallery this week, each one shaped and cast by a fifth-grade student learning the basics of sculpture.

Across the room, paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed-media pieces line the walls. It’s all work created by high school students from across North Central Washington and now on display as part of the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center’s annual student exhibitions.

The displays are the first public exhibits to open in the museum’s new temporary gallery at 30 S. Mission St., where the museum will continue hosting art shows and programming while its historic campus undergoes a two-year expansion and renovation project.

Museum officials announced the change March 3, as the museum prepares for construction on its “Branch Out” expansion project.

The museum’s main buildings at 127 S. Mission St. will remain open through May 16, when a groundbreaking ceremony will mark the start of construction.

The temporary gallery’s first exhibitions open March 6 with two long-running regional programs: the 47th annual Regional High School Art Show and the Beauty of Bronze Showcase, which features bronze sculptures created by hundreds of local fifth-grade students.

Bronze birds, animals and abstract shapes fill display cases while walls of the gallery feature paintings, photography and mixed-media work by high-school students from across the region.

More than 500 bronze sculptures from elementary students across the Wenatchee School District, Soap Lake and several private schools are included in this year’s display, along with 125 high-school artworks representing 16 schools across North Central Washington, according to organizers.

“These are all 10-year-olds. All fifth graders,” one visitor remarked while examining the sculptures during a preview tour. “It’s ridiculous.”

The exhibitions will remain on display through April 11, after which the temporary gallery will transition to a summer history exhibit tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States and its connections to North Central Washington.

Museum Executive Director Marriah Thornock said the temporary gallery is part of a larger effort to keep the museum connected to the community while its buildings undergo renovation.

“We want to make sure there is still a place in the community for people to come see changing exhibits and engage with museum programs,” Thornock said during a preview event for local media and community partners.

Construction on the expansion project will officially begin with a groundbreaking ceremony May 16, which will also mark the last day the museum’s current buildings remain open to the public.

The renovation will connect the museum’s two historic buildings, constructed in 1918 and 1938, while adding new exhibit spaces, a redesigned entrance facing Centennial Park and expanded community programming areas.

Plans also include a children’s museum area, expanded performance spaces and a café operated in partnership with the Wenatchee School District’s Tech Center, where students will help develop the menu and gain hands-on hospitality experience.

Thornock said the redesign grew out of years of community input about how the museum should evolve.

“We heard that people appreciated the museum but wanted the guest experience updated,” she said. “We also heard that the museum should be a place that creates deeper connections across the community and remains sustainable for the next generation.”

While the museum buildings are closed for construction, programs will continue across multiple locations throughout the valley.

Events and classes will take place at the Wells House and Wenatchee Valley College, youth robotics programs will move to the former Valley Academy of Learning building, and youth camps will be hosted at Orchard Middle School.

Meanwhile, the museum’s permanent collection — more than 120,000 artifacts ranging from fossils to historical machinery — is being carefully packed and relocated to temporary storage as construction begins.

Thornock said maintaining a visible presence downtown was important while the museum’s main campus is under construction.

“One thing we really wanted to avoid was the community seeing the museum close and thinking that we went away,” she said.

The temporary gallery space will continue to host rotating exhibits over the next two years, including future editions of the Regional High School Art Show and other community-focused displays.

“We’ve been here for 86 years,” Thornock said. “We want to make sure we’re here for the next 86.”

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media