Page 238 - TheRussellCatalogue2017

Yesterday, Tomorrow, and You:
ThE ruSSELL hOuSE ANd STudiO prOJECT
e Charles M. Russell House and Studio are listed together as a National Historic Landmark. ey not only re ect the life and work of Charlie Russell (1864-1926), “cowboy, artist, author, raconteur, and all-around Western philosopher,” but also the intimate partnership between him and his wife.
“We are partners. She is the business end and I am the creative... She lives for tomorrow and I live for yesterday; so it is the combination, which brings things today.” —C.M. Russell
Nancy acted as Russell’s business manager, and her in uence is credited with building his national reputation and nancial success. While the home was the center of the Russells’ domestic life, the studio was Charlie’s place to work and socialize. When it was completed, Charlie said, “ at’s going to be a good shack for me. e bunch can come visit, talk and smoke, while I paint.”
Charles M. Russell’s house, n.d., C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana, Permanent Collection
e C.M. Russell Museum complex includes two historic treasures—the Charles Marion Russell House and Studio—that tell the poignant story of both the man and his wife in the most arresting of ways.
We are now planning for the much-needed repair and conservation of the original Russell House and Studio, while also envisioning an exciting new reinterpretation of these nationally signi cant cultural artifacts.
e museum’s goal is to bring Charlie and Nancy to life for new and younger audiences, while helping longtime fans appreciate, in a new light, their partnership and cultural contributions. New stories and new methods of storytelling are among the innovative formats being built into immersive environments in which visitors become actors on a stage, participating in the stories as they unfold.
For a donor, the Russell House and Studio Project will have an enduring impact by helping conserve these historically signi cant structures. Charlie’s brilliant art and heartfelt concern for a changing West, and Nancy’s stepping beyond expected female roles of the time, create a story that’s as relevant today as it was yesterday, and will continue to be relevant to tomorrow’s generations. New interpretive experiences will also give Russell enthusiasts a focal point for their pilgrimage to Great Falls during e Russell Exhibition and Sale, all
of which will allow the C.M. Russell Museum to ful ll its vision of Sharing Russell’s West with Excellence.
If you’d like to donate to the Russell House and Studio Project or to learn more, please call Jackie Slovak, Senior Director of External Relations, at (406) 727-8787 or visit cmrussell.org.
Russell sitting on the railing in fromt of the studio. Charles E. Morris photograph, 1906. C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, MT Permanent Collection
E. L. Wiegand Foundation Lakeside Foundation
Dr. Daniel R. and MaryAnn Fiehrer W. Lee Co ey
Sarah Stevenson
is project funded in part by
Bertha Feaster Estate omas A. & Jane Petrie Norman Book
Dr. Michael Duchemin and Dr. Päivi Hoikkala
Great Falls Development Authority Jim & Ann Fish
Annie & George om David & Diana Smith