Rough Water Museum Hopes To Get People Talking With Ambitious Exhibit

Thu., June 22, 1995

By Jim Kershner jimkershner@comcast.net

The people over at the Cheney Cowles Museum are slightly preoccupied this week, which is a polite way of saying they are toiling away like beavers.

They’re madly constructing one of the most ambitious projects ever at the museum, “Rivers and Dams: Promises, Progress and Peril,” which opens Saturday and continues through Sept. 24.

“This is the biggest project in the 9 1/2 years I’ve worked here,” said coproject director Judy Grollmus. The museum hopes to draw 40,000 visitors in the next 2 1/2 months. That’s double the normal summer draw.

Here are a few of the things that will draw the crowds:

A 300-gallon aquarium filled with salmon, trout, crayfish and snails.

Two major art exhibits, each one presenting a polar-opposite view of dams and their value.

An extensive museum exhibit, detailing the natural and human history of the Columbia River system.

A huge concrete bucket, which carried 4,300 pounds of concrete during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam.

Children’s activities and projects every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, beginning June 28.

Opening festivities Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., which will include a salmon maze, a living stream, remote radio broadcasts and a barbecue. Admission is free on this day.

This is the first of 14 different exhibits and events (see accompanying schedule). The big finish will be a free Symposium and EXPO at the Ag Trade Center on Sept. 8, with panel discussions, speakers and booths.

The purpose of the project can be summed up by one of the published goals: “To encourage critical and constructive examination of this complicated and controversial subject.”

“Controversial” is right. Rivers and dams are the central players in a long list of contentious issues: salmon runs, power generation, habitat destruction, irrigation needs and Native American rights and traditions.

“Balance - that’s the most important part of this,” said David Andersen, co-project director. “It’s not really our place to be taking sides. We would like to be a facilitator to the discussion.” This does not mean that “Rivers and Dams” will be watered down. In fact, there should be something to make everyone boil.

“You’ve got to go to the whole thing to get the balance,” said Jan Wigen, the museum’s development officer. “If you go to just one thing, you may not think it’s balanced.”

Take, for instance, “Arrested Rivers,” the opening art exhibit (it actually opened on May 31). Artist Chuck Forsman’s massive paintings show Western landscapes blasted and scarred by dams. Forsman believes that “arrested rivers are lifeless; like clogged arteries, they hasten our mortality.”

After the Forsman exhibit closes on July 23, a new art exhibit will go up in its place on Aug. 3. It’s called “Grand Coulee: The Building of a Dam,” and it will be more like a celebration of what has been called the “eighth wonder of the world.” The exhibit will include 22 watercolors by Vanessa Helder showing the dam’s construction, plus a huge video wall showing historic footage and interviews with people who built the dam.

“I perceive that whole wall coming to life,” said Andersen.

The “Arrested Rivers” paintings actually spawned this entire project. One of the museum’s goals is to integrate the art exhibits with the rest of the museum, so the curators began thinking of ways to connect with the paintings’ themes.

“It mushroomed from there,” said Grollmus.

Did it ever. The museum ended up obtaining underwriting help from a long list of corporations and other entities: the Bonneville Power Administration, Bullitt Foundation, Columbia River Alliance, Inland Power & Light, Modern Electric Water Co., National Endowment for the Humanities, Northern Lights Inc., Northwest Power Planning Council, Washington Commission for the Humanities and Washington Water Power.

A number of events, including most of the Wednesday night lectures and presentations, will be free because of the underwriting support. The Symposium and EXPO, which will feature William Dietrich of the Seattle Times as the main speaker, also will be free.

As for the main exhibits, normal museum fees will apply: $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and students, and free for children under 6. Wednesdays are half-price from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and free from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays; and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. The museum is closed Mondays.

The museum is at 2316 W. First.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ‘Rivers and Dams’ schedule of events Schedule of events for “Rivers and Dams: Promises, Progress and Perils” at Cheney Cowles Museum, 2316 W. First, from Saturday through Sept. 24: Saturday: opening festivities, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. museum grounds; free. Activities will include a salmon maze, barbecue and remote broadcasts by KGA Talk Radio, crafts, and games for all ages. Through July 23: “Arrested Rivers” art exhibition, museum main gallery. Largescale oil paintings, created by University of Colorado art professor Chuck Forsman, visually documenting 13 rivers in the West that have been dammed. June 24-Sept. 24: exhibition in permanent galleries. Follow a blue “river” on a journey through time to learn about the history of rivers and dams in the region. Story is told through audio, video, charts, maps, graphics and various multimedia and interactive displays. June 24-Sept. 17: elephant trunk and concrete bucket from Grand Coulee Dam, installed on sculpture pad on museum grounds. June 28: “The Columbia River … As It Was,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. William Layman of Wenatchee has researched the Columbia River before the first dam was built and will present a photographic travelogue of the Columbia River “as it was.” June 28-Sept. 2: On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, children’s activities, crafts and educational projects, 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m., $1 per child for most projects. Some activities require preregistration; call 456-3931 for schedules, fees, age groups and other requirements. July 12: “The Great Floods: Cataclysm During the Ice Age,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. Dan Brown, National Park Service at Grand Coulee Dam, will tell the story of the cataclysmic floods that carved Eastern Washington’s coulees, leaving giant ripple marks and other bizarre landforms. July 26: “The River, Salmon and Culture,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. Speakers from regional American Indian tribes discuss their cultures, the changes experienced when the dams were built and what rivers mean to them. Aug. 2: “Grand Coulee: The Building of a Dam” exhibition, opening reception, 6:30 p.m., museum lobby. Presentation, 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium, “Why We Couldn’t Build Grand Coulee Dam Today”; free. Paul Pitzer, historian and author of recently published “Grand Coulee: Harnessing a Dream,” opens the third exhibition of the summer. Aug. 3-Sept. 17: “Grand Coulee: The Building of A Dam” exhibition, main gallery. Large-scale photographs originally taken by Libby Studios of Spokane, under contract by the Bureau of Reclamation, to record the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. Also featured are 22 watercolors by Vanessa Helder, a Spokane artist who painted the Grand Coulee construction site with the consent of government engineers, and historical artifacts, and an oversized video presentation projected on the rear wall of the gallery using historic and current interviews. Aug. 16: “Dams: A Northwest Treasure,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. Dave Clinton, assistant manager of Inland Power and Light and chair of the Columbia River Alliance, discusses the value of dams to the Northwest. Aug. 30: “River of Life, Channel of Death: Fish and Dams on the Lower Snake,” 7:30 p.m., auditorium; free. Keith C. Peterson, editor of WSU Press and author of the recently published book of the same title, will discuss the various issues surrounding dams and fish related to the Lower Snake River. Sept. 8: “Rivers and Dams: Conflicts and Values,” Symposium and EXPO. Symposium, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and EXPO, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., Ag Trade Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.; free. Symposium speakers present their perspectives on the complex issues of rivers and dams. Speakers include representatives from environmental groups, the hydropower industry, Native American tribes, biologist, river users, and historians. The EXPO offers information booths and literature from businesses and organizations involved in regional river and dam issues. Talk firsthand with people on the “front line.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: ‘Rivers and Dams’ schedule of events Schedule of events for “Rivers and Dams: Promises, Progress and Perils” at Cheney Cowles Museum, 2316 W. First, from Saturday through Sept. 24: Saturday: opening festivities, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. museum grounds; free. Activities will include a salmon maze, barbecue and remote broadcasts by KGA Talk Radio, crafts, and games for all ages. Through July 23: “Arrested Rivers” art exhibition, museum main gallery. Largescale oil paintings, created by University of Colorado art professor Chuck Forsman, visually documenting 13 rivers in the West that have been dammed. June 24-Sept. 24: exhibition in permanent galleries. Follow a blue “river” on a journey through time to learn about the history of rivers and dams in the region. Story is told through audio, video, charts, maps, graphics and various multimedia and interactive displays. June 24-Sept. 17: elephant trunk and concrete bucket from Grand Coulee Dam, installed on sculpture pad on museum grounds. June 28: “The Columbia River … As It Was,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. William Layman of Wenatchee has researched the Columbia River before the first dam was built and will present a photographic travelogue of the Columbia River “as it was.” June 28-Sept. 2: On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, children’s activities, crafts and educational projects, 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m., $1 per child for most projects. Some activities require preregistration; call 456-3931 for schedules, fees, age groups and other requirements. July 12: “The Great Floods: Cataclysm During the Ice Age,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. Dan Brown, National Park Service at Grand Coulee Dam, will tell the story of the cataclysmic floods that carved Eastern Washington’s coulees, leaving giant ripple marks and other bizarre landforms. July 26: “The River, Salmon and Culture,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. Speakers from regional American Indian tribes discuss their cultures, the changes experienced when the dams were built and what rivers mean to them. Aug. 2: “Grand Coulee: The Building of a Dam” exhibition, opening reception, 6:30 p.m., museum lobby. Presentation, 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium, “Why We Couldn’t Build Grand Coulee Dam Today”; free. Paul Pitzer, historian and author of recently published “Grand Coulee: Harnessing a Dream,” opens the third exhibition of the summer. Aug. 3-Sept. 17: “Grand Coulee: The Building of A Dam” exhibition, main gallery. Large-scale photographs originally taken by Libby Studios of Spokane, under contract by the Bureau of Reclamation, to record the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. Also featured are 22 watercolors by Vanessa Helder, a Spokane artist who painted the Grand Coulee construction site with the consent of government engineers, and historical artifacts, and an oversized video presentation projected on the rear wall of the gallery using historic and current interviews. Aug. 16: “Dams: A Northwest Treasure,” 7:30 p.m., museum auditorium; free. Dave Clinton, assistant manager of Inland Power and Light and chair of the Columbia River Alliance, discusses the value of dams to the Northwest. Aug. 30: “River of Life, Channel of Death: Fish and Dams on the Lower Snake,” 7:30 p.m., auditorium; free. Keith C. Peterson, editor of WSU Press and author of the recently published book of the same title, will discuss the various issues surrounding dams and fish related to the Lower Snake River. Sept. 8: “Rivers and Dams: Conflicts and Values,” Symposium and EXPO. Symposium, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and EXPO, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m., Ag Trade Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.; free. Symposium speakers present their perspectives on the complex issues of rivers and dams. Speakers include representatives from environmental groups, the hydropower industry, Native American tribes, biologist, river users, and historians. The EXPO offers information booths and literature from businesses and organizations involved in regional river and dam issues. Talk firsthand with people on the “front line.”