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Bowen Museum reports visitor growth, new exhibits and staffing changes ahead of spring events
Summary
The Bowen Museum reported higher visitation and program attendance in 2024, completion of an outdoor preservation phase and plans to upgrade exhibits, the website and digital collections. Staff also described a new staffing split to add a part‑time museum host.
Sean (museum program lead) reported to the Crook County Board of Commissioners at the Feb. 12 work session that the Bowen Museum hosted 27 programs in 2024 with program averages of about 60 people and total visitors of 19,523 for the year. Program attendance was reported as just under 3,000 and outreach reached more than 600 students from seven local schools.
Why it matters: The museum’s increased attendance and programming reflect heightened local engagement and underpin requests to invest in exhibit upgrades, digital access and equipment replacements to support community and school use.
Staff described a three‑phase Ranchers Memorial preservation project. Phase 1 — exterior cleanup, artifact stabilization and moving large machinery onto concrete platforms — is finished and allowed the museum to host a concert at the memorial last August. Phase 2 will focus on interior cleaning and organization; Phase 3 will develop an exhibit in the first half of the Ranchers building after interior work is complete.
Collections manager Deanna Smith and volunteers have expanded preservation and volunteer capacity: regular volunteer numbers rose from three to a dozen, and seasonal volunteers supplement that core group. The museum also plans a lobby exhibit upgrade to refresh display cases, a redesigned bookstore (to be in place before the busy summer tourist season), improved inventory tracking, and website improvements including an event calendar and online booking for the community room.
The museum is scheduling a garden dedication for May 10 to mark completion of the Belknap/Stahansick Crawford Garden. Staff said they are pursuing grants to replace aging audiovisual equipment in the community room (PA system and projector) and to support digital collection work; volunteers have been photographing many artifacts for online access.
On staffing, museum administration was restructured from full‑time to a 32‑hour workweek and a 20‑hour “museum host” position will be added to staff the front desk and support visitor services. Museum leaders said the change is intended to free administration time for sales, partnerships and collections work while maintaining front‑desk coverage.
Commissioners praised the outreach increases and the work to place collection items in county offices for display; staff said they will continue to provide monthly updates as work on exhibits and the garden progresses.
