5th Annual Heritage Invitational Extravaganza!
Made in the Valley (draft title only)
2015 Heritage Invitational Exhibit Proposal

The Willamette Heritage Center is accepting exhibit proposals for participation in the 5th Annual Heritage Invitational from Heritage Organizations around the Mid-Valley. The theme/draft title for the 2015 Winter Exhibition is Made in the Valley. The exhibit will explore themes of manufacture and production in Polk, Marion, Linn and Yamhill Counties. The exhibit will run Thursday, January 15 (invitation only reception) through Saturday, March 14, 2015.

Through the Heritage Invitational, and other future projects, the WHC hopes to become a model for community-based exhibition processes and projects, fostering broad-based participation in the development of several exhibitions and programs. The Center also envisions the Invitational as providing a venue for heritage groups and organization to share their message to a wider audience, and offering exhibit development experience to the WHC heritage partners. To get a better idea of the invitational, visit our website (https://www.willametteheritage.org/past_exhibits.html), where information as well as slide shows of the first 4 exhibits (Hidden Gems in 2011, Willamette Women in 2012, Childhood in 2013 and Work in 2014) are available.

The Heritage Invitational features organizations from around Polk, Marion. Linn and Yamhill Counties. As we have a limited number of exhibit spaces we can sub-divide our gallery into (a maximum of 20), we are now asking that those interested in participating submit a brief Exhibit Proposal (no more than 2 pages). There is a chance that not all proposals will be accepted. A committee made up of the Center’s senior staff and two representatives from outside organizations will make final decisions on participants.

Guidelines for exhibit proposals (no more than 2 pages):
Please include the following information in your proposal:
1. Exhibit description: What is the topic of your exhibit? Why is it significant to your organization or community? What could visitors potentially see, hear, read and experience in your section/space?
2. Exhibit goals: What is/are the primary goal(s) of your exhibit? What would you want visitors to take away after viewing your section?
3. Sample images: Please provide a few (no more than 4) sample images that might be used in your exhibit.
4. Objects: Please list at least 3 objects you are considering displaying in conjunction with the 2015 theme.

Background of the Willamette Heritage Center
The Willamette Heritage Center at The Mill (WHC) was formed by the merger of two well-respected museums, the Marion County Historical Society (MCHS) and Mission Mill Museum (MMM), on January 1, 2010. At the time of the merger, the Board directed that the WHC:
1. Have a broader mission and vision.
2. Become the premier regional museum in the Mid-Willamette Valley.
3. Show the diverse, multifaceted rich cultural heritage of the Mid-Valley.
4. Expand educational programs, exhibitions and research opportunities.
5. Preserve Mid-Valley artifacts.
6. Create operating efficiencies.
To reach these goals, the newly combined Board of Directors and staff, working with a consultant, conducted an intensive strategic planning process to determine community wants, needs, expectations and concerns. The results were a new mission, a new vision, and a Strategic Plan, Forging Our Future 2010 – 2013, that was approved by the Board of Directors in October 2010.

One major component within the Strategic Plan was the development of a Site Interpretation Plan (SIP) that specifically addresses three of the goals in the Strategic Plan:
 Increased community involvement by partnering with individuals and organizations, increasing education, visitation and participation.
 Increased visitor enjoyment and expanded repeat visitation: Create a more visitor-centered environment in all aspects of operations.
 Preserving and maintaining historic treasures, while ensuring responsible and broadened access.
The SIP revises the institution’s approaches to our changing exhibitions, focusing on those stories that can be addressed at the Center more effectively than at other historic sites and that emphasize the strengths of the Valley’s history, collections and physical assets. Located in the Mill is the 900 –square-foot gallery for special changing exhibits. Our goal for this space is to have four changing exhibitions during the year, with winter being a venue for 20 area heritage and cultural organizations to join together to display information about and objects from their collections on selected topics.
Please send exhibit proposals to Kylie Pine by Friday, May 30, 2014.
ATTN: 2015 Exhibit Proposals/Kylie Pine
Willamette Heritage Center
1313 Mill Street SE
Salem, OR 97301
Or email at kyliep@willametteheritage.org