Endangered Update

New Bair Family Art Museum Opens

Eight years after the Charles M. Bair Family Museum in Martinsdale was added to MPA's Most Endangered Places list, it is now better than ever, having just opened a new $3.1 million art museum building. In 2003, Bair Family Trust administrators closed the museum and shipped the Trust's Charles M. Russell and J.H. Sharp paintings to the Yellowstone Art Museum, citing the ranch's remote location and the collection's vulnerability to theft and fire. However, in 2008 the Montana Supreme Court found that the Trust had breached its duty in closing the house museum and the day after the decision, the museum reopened -- thanks to the energy and commitment of its grassroots supporters!

Shortly after the 2008 court decision returned the original paintingsto the site, planning began for an art museum building to house the most valuable and vulnerable objects in the collection. The new museum building, designed by O2 Architects of Billings, opened shortly after Memorial Day. Galleries in the 7,300-square-foot building are decorated in the vibrant colors the sisters used in their home and feature the family's Native American artifacts, Western and European paintings, and Edward S. Curtis photogravures. The museum is open every day through Labor Day and will be open Wednesday through Sundays in September and October. Visit http://bairfamilymuseum.org/ for more information.