Mission & History
Vision Statement
We envision a world where art is accessible to all and fosters creativity, cultural appreciation, and personal growth.
Mission Statement
Coos Art Museum serves as a cultural resource for Oregon’s South Coast through exhibitions and educational programs that inspire appreciation and exploration of visual art.
Values
Community
We believe the arts foster a vibrant tapestry of creativity, imagination, and expression that enriches our lives, sparks innovation, and fosters deep connections across cultures and generations.
Learning
We offer arts education as a fundamental cornerstone of holistic development, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and empathy, while empowering individuals to explore their unique identities.
Accessibility
We strive to make the arts intellectually, physically, and economically accessible to everyone.
Equity
We endeavor to create a culture of diversity, access, and inclusivity that is represented in the museum’s collection, exhibitions, and educational programs, and among members of the Board, staff, and volunteers.
Stewardship
We are responsible stewards of the resources that have been entrusted to our care.
Theory of Change
We strive to serve our rural communities by making art accessible. With a deep belief that art enriches our lives, sparks innovation, and fosters deep connections across cultures and generations, our exhibits, educational programs, and social events weave a vibrant tapestry of creativity, imagination, and expression. Our vision is of a creative, cultural, and growing world where art is accessible to all. We are a place where rural communities can explore their art.
Our History
Coos Art Museum traces its beginnings to the early 1950s with the formation of the Coos Artists League. In October 1950, Janice Scott, a professional artist who studied at the Portland Art Museum, convened the first meeting. In its earliest years, the League organized exhibitions and public programs in temporary venues like local businesses, libraries, and U.S. Coast Guard Stations. Any story about Coos Artists League would be incomplete without mentioning a few of the dedicated individuals who worked to ensure the group’s success: Butch Schank (who suggested the name group’s original name ‘Coos Artists League’), Mabel Hansen, Maggie Karl, Dorothy Vaughan, and Helen Scully. Galleries still bear some of these names.
In 1966, the City of Coos Bay constructed a new public library building, opening the door for Coos Artists League to move into the the historic Carnegie Library building in downtown Coos Bay as its first permanent home. The League remodeled the building to incorporate galleries, offices, and storage vault. Coos Art Museum opened to the public on September 17, 1966 with works on loan from the Museum of Modern Art and Oregon collections. After opening their permanent home, Coos Artists League filed Articles of Incorporation in 1967.
By the late 1970s, Coos Art Museum required a larger and more adaptable space to support its expanding collection and growing public programs. The U.S. Postal Service announced in 1978 that it intended to construct a new post office in Coos Bay. The building, an Art Deco style structure, once home to federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service and the War Department, stood as a prominent architectural landmark in downtown Coos Bay. The decommissioning of this 1936 building, created an opportunity for reuse, aligning with the Museum’s growing ambitions.
Securing the building required a coordinated campaign of public and private support. Community leaders, local businesses, and regional stakeholders combined resources to achieve this goal. After an initial defeat, a public ballot funding measure passed on May 17, 1983, enabling the City to purchase and renovate the building for Museum use. After years of hard work, Coos Art Museum opened in its current location in 1984.
The former post office building includes galleries, storage, and offices across its two floors and retains original Art Deco features. The second floor also houses a meeting room dedicated to exhibiting mementos from the career of Coos Bay native and Olympic track star Steve Prefontaine, and office for the Oregon Coast Music Festival.
Current Operations and Programs
The Museum operates in the restored Art Deco facility, housing galleries, offices, storage, and spaces dedicated to community partners. As the only art museum on the Oregon Coast and the third-oldest art museum in Oregon, we steward a Permanent Collection of more than 650 artworks, various collections of canvas artworks, a Library and Archive documenting the Museum’s and general art history, a Rental Sales Gallery, and the historic building in which we operate. The Museum presents up to twenty rotating exhibitions each year, showcasing work from local, regional, national, and international artists to create a cultural experience for audiences throughout the year.
Education remains central to our purpose. Through classes, workshops, outreach efforts, and public programs designed for participants of all ages, the Museum encourages lifelong engagement with the arts. Programming focuses on fine art skills like drawing, painting, and ceramics, as well as general crafting projects that are designed to get anyone’s creativity flowing. The organization expanded its educational footprint through the addition of the CAM Studio, which supports hands-on learning, youth programming, and community partnerships. Guided by our mission to serve as a cultural resource for Oregon’s South Coast through exhibitions and educational programs that inspire appreciation and exploration of visual art, Coos Art Museum operates as a creative hub for the region. Our work supports artistic growth and fosters connections shaped by the diverse experiences of the South Coast community.