Patricia Cosgrove, director of the White River Valley Museum and Mary Olson Farm, recently was nominated to the board of directors for 4Culture, King County’s cultural services agency that provides programs, financial support and services in the arts, public art, heritage and historic preservation.
The 15 members of 4Culture’s board of directors are nominated by the King County Executive and confirmed by the Metropolitan King County Council.
“I am thrilled that Patricia Cosgrove has accepted nomination to the 4Culture board. Patricia brings to the board an extensive knowledge of South King County and 30 years of experience in the heritage field, one of our four program areas,” said 4Culture Executive Director Jim Kelly.
“Patricia’s management and curation of White River Valley Museum, one of the best heritage museums in King County, give her a great perspective to advise her fellow board members on issues related to the heritage community and to non-profit management in general.”
Under Cosgrove’s direction, the museum has received numerous grants, awards and accolades, including “best local history museum in the state” by the 2007 Washington State Visitors Guide.
In addition to the museum’s award-winning exhibits and programs, Cosgrove is leading restoration efforts for Olson Farm, the most intact 1880s family farm in King County. The White River Valley Museum and the City of Auburn are working to restore the farm and open it in 2010 as a living history and environmental learning site.
Recently, the Washington State Department of Ecology Coastal Protection Fund awarded a grant totaling $23,600 to Mary Olson Farm for environmental restoration and education. Funds will be used for invasive plant species removal using goats, pasture grading and replanting, and hillside restoration.
Healing Hooves will provide a herd of goats to help remove invasive plant species from the farm’s north pasture, a six-acre floodplain field and several hillside areas. Follow-up clearing work will be completed by EarthCorps crews. The work will begin in June and cleared areas will be replanted with native shrubs and trees.
The museum also has been awarded the nationally competitive American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Alderson Internship. The Alderson Internship is awarded each year to an institutional member of AASLH to bring an intern to their faculty for a summer.
The White River Valley Museum was chosen from 101 applicants to receive the maximum $3,000 award. The funds will be used to bring a student earning a master’s degree in library science to work on the museum’s archives. This is the first time the Alderson Internship has been awarded to an institution on the West Coast.
