Bellevue Arts Museum puts off reopening

By Warren Cornwall
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

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The shuttered Bellevue Arts Museum has postponed its planned October reopening because it hasn't raised enough money, museum Executive Director and Chief Curator Michael Monroe announced yesterday.

The unveiling of the revamped museum has been pushed back to spring 2005, as museum leaders work to raise an estimated $2.8 million for remodeling and operations.

In a letter to museum supporters, Monroe wrote that he didn't want to reopen the museum until renovations were completed.

"While fund raising is a primary focus for both board and staff, we do not yet have the amount needed to cover the cost of the remodel," he wrote. "We cannot bring works of art into the building until the proper exhibition spaces are ready."

This marks the second postponement as museum leaders work to revive a museum that closed a year ago. The reopening was initially set for July.

"It's really important not so much when we open, but that we open in a really good way," Monroe said last night.

The museum's closure came amid a financial and artistic crisis. The museum was running out of cash and facing mounting criticism and public disaffection over its exhibits after moving to a new $23 million building in downtown Bellevue in 2001.

An effort is under way to resurrect the museum with a focus on crafts and design, rather than contemporary art. The museum hired Monroe, a nationally known crafts expert, in July.

Major fund raising for the new operation got under way after he arrived and has brought in roughly $600,000, said Angela Sutter, chairwoman of the museum's board.

Monroe said that major institutions, artists and the community are starting to support the museum again.
 
"We are feeling a very positive sense in the community," Monroe said. "I am more confident now than when I first came."

Other leaders in the Eastside arts community remained cautiously optimistic yesterday that the museum would regain its footing.

"As a community I think we're just finding our way through this. They have to not just raise money, but restore trust and faith in the institution. Nobody knows how long that will take. However, on the bright side they are making progress," said Mary Pat Byrne, arts specialist for the city of Bellevue and president of the Eastside Arts Coalition.

Lynne Allison, chairwoman of the city of Bellevue's arts commission and a local arts patron, said she still wanted to know more about Monroe and the museum's long-term plans before making any contributions.

"I'm cautious and I want to see what the whole package is as far as the leadership [of the museum]," she said.

The museum yesterday also announced that Boeing has promised to donate $25,000 for exhibits and $25,000 as a challenge grant to other businesses, said museum spokeswoman Barbara Jirsa.

Dale Chihuly, the well-known Northwest glass artist, has promised to create an installation for museum, which should be able to remain for an extended period, Jirsa said.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com