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Boise, Idaho.  The Basque Museum and Cultural Center in Boise is experiencing a time of challenges and growth: more and more requests for exhibitions and consultations are received across the US and even from other countries.  “We are evolving,” said Patty Miller, executive director.  “We have seen an increase in visitors.  Educational institutions and businesses now call wanting to collaborate with us.  We are now being asked for materials and to do presentations that challenge us to bring new meaning to a cultural museum that serves diverse communities.  It is an amazing and exciting time for the museum.”

In order to accommodate the demand and grow as a cultural museum, the Basque Museum has launched a campaign “Expanding Horizons,” in hopes of raising a million and a half dollars before 2013.  This money will be earmarked for improving and increasing the services that the museum provides in areas such as: educational programs, historic research, collections, exhibits, and scholarships, among others.

Good response

The campaign was officially presented yesterday, but it had started some months prior, among the Museum’s patrons and members. The response has been very good and the Center has already raised half of its goal.  Virginia Argoitia, a veteran patron living outside of the state of Idaho, made the first generous donation of $525,000, while others donations total an additional $250,000.

“We are immensely grateful for the level of support that we have received at this preliminary stage by individual donors, corporations and foundations,” Miller acknowledged.  “It is a confirmation of our value to the community which we serve.”  “It is a great start to a demanding but exciting challenge.”

Basque Government Support

The Basque Government collaborates in the campaign and the Basque Government’s Secretary General of Foreign Action; Guillermo Echenique did not miss its launch.  “The work done by the Basque Museum in Boise is very important.  Thousands of miles from Euskadi, this institution not only preserves the history and the Basque culture, but also shares it through its educational programs, exhibits, as well as through its collections,” Echenique said at the presentation.  “I want to express our thanks for all of the work done and encourage you to continue to expand your horizons.” 

The Museum has the Basque Government’s continued support, as it has already endorsed many of the Museum’s initiatives since the 1990s, among which are the Boise Ikastola, adult Basque classes, restoration of the Jacobs-Uberuaga house, or the exhibit “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Basques,” that opened on Ellis Island (New York) and is now a traveling exhibit throughout the American West.