Visiting the newly renovated Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art this term will include more than a tour.
The renovation, which nearly doubled the building’s original size, included spaces for community and student education.
A $17,000 grant from the Oregon Community Foundation has filled a new art studio with tools, tables and supplies for classes and workshops. The studio will provide “hands-on experience relating to the exhibits upstairs,” museum spokeswoman Katie Sproles said.
Visitors will be able to check out six new “art packs” that will have material and activities relating to the current exhibit. The grant will also provide scholarships for people to take classes in the studio, making it more accessible, Sproles said.
Museum Educator for University and Community Audiences Becky Tonkin said the grant money goes toward several events and programs.
In addition to museum tours ending in the studio, the museum will also hold eight-week long classes relating to the museum and the exhibits. The classes will be broken into sections for children and adults, with subject matter and inspiration coming from the pieces on display.
The money will also be used for outreach programs. The museum will create art kits for schools on a variety of subjects from Japanese art and culture to photography, Tonkin said. These kits are either taken to the schools for free or for a fee.
The extra space will also give the museum a place to hold teacher workshops, family days and free days for people to come in and do art projects, Tonkin said.
The Oregon Community Foundation is a non-profit organization that builds an endowment from private donors and splits it into grants and scholarships. A group of board and community members decides which applications best meet the need for grants. Created in 1973, the OCF has assets worth $500 million, according to its Web site, www.ocf1.org.
“We get 250 applications each grant cycle, two cycles a year,” Senior Program Officer Jeff Anderson said. “We award 90 to 100 grants each cycle, so it’s pretty competitive. We look for proposals with cultural opportunities for the community.”
The group also visited the museum before awarding the grant.
“Connecting educational institute with the broader community was a real strength of this proposal,” Anderson said.
The money for the grant came from the Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Hayes Sr. Fund and the Edna L. Holmes Fund.
The museum will re-open Jan. 23 with an Andy Warhol exhibit. Studio classes start Jan. 26 for children, teens and adults.

Haley Gordon is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald