By Yvonne-Cher Skye
The Coquille Valley Museum was officially opened in 2006. It has been a curio cabinet of
collections which through the nurture and support of Volunteers has developed into a
collection of over 5000 items. Through a core group of individuals, stories have been
collected, photos identified, and a significant historical library of 800+ volumes are
currently housed in the old Taylor Sports Shop at 153 N. Central Avenue in Coquille,
Oregon.
Yvonne-Cher Skye became aware of the Museum in 2015. Wherein her first attendance
of a Board Meeting led to a request that she join the Board. After several months of
working with the volunteers and working with the collection. She was able to offer
improvements to catalog and curate the collection on a more museum and historic
preservation level. She was called away to field work in Idaho and stayed in touch with
a few of the Board Members.
As a result, and the efforts to pass a vote wherein funding could be provided to the
museum, Yvonne-Cher Skye was contacted to help catalog and assess the needs for
the Museumto qualify as a preservation institution. A major component of this process
is the development and completion of a digital catalog of the entire collection, the
development of current and fresh exhibits and more public outreach, via a year-long
program to include the school district, the Chamber of Commerce, the City Council,
as well as the public. As well as the above changes, we are also actively monitoring our
demographics, sales and donations so that we can prove that the community is indeed
providing a matching funding required of multiple grants.
As part of our public outreach, we are interested in provided the true history of the area,
which involves the voices of all individuals who have lived, worked and died in the
Coquille Valley Region. There are 21 towns, and villages that are within our jurisdiction,
as we move forward into the future, this type of work is necessary so that we don't forget
the past,
