Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/34142
Joseph Henry Sharp, Still Life With Apples and Holly, 1908 O2 Architects is honored to be the architect of choice for the design of the Bair Family Museum An early George III salver, John Parker and Edward Wakelin, London, 1762 In order to pre- serve these price- less art pieces, the originals will be housed in the new building and copies will be dis- played in the House Museum to fully tell the Bair story. The exterior of this new museum building, accord- ing to Kim Losen of 02Architects of Billings, has been carefully designed to blend with existing structures on the property while the interior is designed to exhibit paintings and collections gathered by the Bair family. According to Director-Curator Elizabeth Guheen, the design includes gallery space for Charlie Bair’s collection of Russells, Sharps, and J.K. Ralston as well as a separate gallery for the Bair sisters’ American and European paint- ings. A specially designed gallery space has been created to show the valuable, but light sensitive photographs of Edward Curtis—only a few copies of which have been shown in the house. The museum will also be available for guest exhibits. Climate and light controlled glass display cases have been designed for the Bair’s Native American art and ar- tifacts. In addition, there is a temporary gallery space for revolving exhibits and a cement vault for storing pieces during off-season months. Ceremonial ground breaking for the building was in August of 2010 and construction began in the fall. The Grand Opening is scheduled for July, 2011. The summer hours for the Museum will be May through September, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.—last tour of the home is at 4 p.m. Lee Rostad and her husband Phil ranched in the northern foothills of the Crazy Mountains, not far from the Bair Ranch. Rostad wrote a biography of Charlie Bair, Fourteen Cents and Seven Green Apples, and a history of the museum and the fight for its survival, The House of Bair: Sheep, Cadillacs and Chippendale. She has also written Grace Stone 208 N. BROADWAY, SUITE 350 CULTURAL, COMMERCIAL, RESIDENTIAL, SUSTAINABLE, HISTORIC PRESERVATION 90 Coates, Her Life in Letters. The recipient of many honors, Lee currently lives in Helena and serves on the Montana Historical Society Board. DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SUMMER 2011