Donate
Your generous support of the Grace Hudson Museum will help ensure the care and protection of the Museum’s precious cultural assets, its long-term financial sustainability, and the presentation of high-quality programming focused on historic and contemporary fine art, the history and legacy of the Hudson-Carpenter family, and the traditions, practices, and vitality of Pomo Indian peoples. Your gift may be designated for areas about which you feel most passionate. See below for our current list of designated giving areas. You can make an on-line donation by clicking on the yellow buttons attached to each option.
Choose how we use your gift
ACQUISITIONS FUND
COLLECTIONS CONSERVATION
EDUCATION OUTREACH
ENDOWMENT FUND
EXHIBITION & PROGRAM SPONSORSHIP
GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
SUN HOUSE CARE
WILD GARDENS
See detailed descriptions of each option below.
acquisitions fund
The Acquisitions Fund exists to support the purchase of fine art, historic cultural objects, and archival material that enhance the Museum’s overall collections. Most often acquisitions occur through donation or bequests of artwork and historic items. Sometimes, however, opportunities arise to purchase relevant material at auction or through private sale. A healthy Acquisitions Fund makes it possible for the Museum to seize these opportunities. Over the past six years, gifts to the Acquisitions Fund have made possible the purchase at auction of a major Grace Hudson numbered oil, a painting of Pawnee material culture that Grace did during her brief time in Oklahoma, numerous sketches of local places, and a portrait of the Hudsons’ dog Mascot, one of only two known paintings of the Hudsons’ beloved pet.
collections conservation
Conservation of collections is a critical part of what museums do. The Grace Hudson Museum possesses many paintings, baskets, books, photographs, letters, and items of material culture that are close to or exceed one hundred years in age. Collections can be threatened by insect infestation, water, mold, extreme temperatures, overexposure to light, accumulation of grime and particulate matter, or general wear and tear. Without proper conservation practices in place, items can fall into disrepair, rendering them unusable for exhibition and research. Furthermore, there are times when we must borrow art or historical items from individuals or institutions to include in exhibitions. It is not uncommon for borrowed items to need conservation treatment prior to being exhibited. Gifts for conservation allow the Museum to maintain appropriate protocols for care of its collections, and to secure expert conservation help for items in need of cleaning or repair.
education outreach
Help us host more student field trips with a donation that supports outreach and marketing to schools within and outside of Ukiah Valley. Your gift could also underwrite the cost of a school bus that might be prohibitive for certain schools or school districts.
endowment fund
An endowment is a fund in which principal is invested and the earnings on the investment used to support an institution’s expenses. The Grace Hudson Museum’s Endowment Fund provides an ongoing source of annual revenue that helps sustain the vitality of public programs and ongoing maintenance of the facilities. Since its establishment in 1992, the Museum’s Endowment has grown from $69,000 to just under $7 million today and currently provides roughly $60,000 per year for Museum operations. Growing the Endowment is critically important, as the greater principal, the greater the return on investment, ultimately generating larger annual revenues. A donation to the Endowment Fund is a forever gift, as the pooled principal is held in perpetuity, benefiting future generations of visitors for years to come.
Click here, to learn more about the different ways you can support the Endowment Fund.
exhibition & program sponsorship
Consider a gift to support an upcoming exhibition, an individual program, or a series of programs. Any amount is welcome. However, for gifts of $1,000 or more, your name, or your business’ name, will appear on the title wall of the exhibition and be acknowledged in related promotional material (i.e., exhibition announcement postcard, Museum web site and social media) and in related public remarks. Upcoming exhibitions include:
Stitching California: Fiber Artists Interpret the Golden State’s People, Life, and Land (August 17, 2019 to January 5, 2020)
Metaphor, Myth, & Politics: Art from Native Printmakers (January 18 to May 10, 2019)
The World of Frida, an exhibition featuring contemporary fine art influenced by the great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. This traveling exhibition comes with English/Spanish exhibition labels. (May 23 to August 16, 2020)
Exhibition expenses range from hiring temporary preparators who are essential for de-installing a just concluded show and installing a new show, mounting and framing of fine art or other exhibition items, fine art shipping for loaned works of art, loan fees for traveling shows, shipping to bring in traveling exhibitions, design and printing of exhibition labels, creation of marketing materials, honoraria and travel fees for program presenters.
general operating support
Donations for General Operations provide the Museum with funding that it can use in a variety of ways, filling in shortfalls in expense areas that are most pressing at any given time.
sun house care
Grace and John Hudson’s redwood Craftsman bungalow — the Sun House — was built in 1911, and served as the couple’s home — and Grace’s studio — until 1937. When the City of Ukiah purchased the house and grounds in the late 1970s, the Sun House became a historic home and living museum, and remains so today. A Ukiah icon, the Sun House has been designated a California Landmark (No. 926) and has also been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, symbolizing its importance as a state and national treasure. As a historic home, it is the largest and arguably the most significant item in the Grace Hudson Museum’s collections. Like all historic buildings, the Sun House needs ongoing maintenance and occasional repair. A donation designated to Sun House care, will help us preserve the structure as a vital tool in teaching visitors about the Hudsons and the times in which they lived.
wild gardens
The Wild Gardens is the newest feature of the Grace Hudson Museum, an outdoor education area where visitors can see and experience plants that are native to Mendocino County. Here one can learn about how native plants fit into the broader ecosystem of the region and the also about the ways in which Pomo Indian peoples have used and continue to use them in their culinary, basket weaving, and medicinal practices. Accessible to the public since October 2017, the Wild Gardens is still a work in progress. For the next few years, the gardens will require considerable maintenance to ensure that opportunistic non-native species do not out-compete the native plants. And many features remain to be completed, such as interpretive signage, a circular ground mural that evokes Pomo basket weaving traditions, outdoor sculptures, and visitor benches. One can make a simple donation, or memorialize your gift by purchasing an engraved paver that will be set into the pavement at the front entrance of the Museum. Pavers come in two sizes: a 4” x 8” version for $500 and a larger 8” x 8” for $1,000. Have your family’s name or the name of a loved one engraved on your paver, or compose a special message. All proceeds from paver sales directly go towards maintenance and improvements to the Wild Gardens.