The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is opening a new chess exhibition on Jan. 7 and will be there until April 26. The exhibition features approximately two dozen chess sets from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas that date from the 18th through the 20th centuries.
While operating within a predetermined structure of the 32 game pieces, artists bring their own creativity and interpretation to each set, resulting in a wide variety of themes and materials. Created with wood, glass, bone and ivory, the sets include traditional designs, as well as abstract, non-figurative sets and narrative sets depicting mythological characters or historical figures.
The exhibition was curated from the beloved collection of over 400 chess sets at the Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, Washington. Chess has a long history at Maryhill, going back to an early director, Clifford Dolph, who first curated a chess exhibition in 1957; the exhibition proved so popular with visitors that it was extended twice and the museum began collecting chess-related materials.
With the exhibit open, there will be fun events for the community like the Leap Day Chess Tournament on Saturday, February 29. The tournament will be from noon to 4 p.m. and is free for anyone to attend. To register, call 503-370-6855.
There will also be Tuesday gallery talks with museum docents at noon on March 31, April 7, and April 14. This one is also free and open to anyone who wants to join.
On Thursday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. will be a lecture from Colleen Schafroth. The lecture is also free and open to the public.
