GREAT FALLS – The M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded the C.M. Russell Museum $250,000 for support of the Museum’s new permanent exhibition, The Bison: American Icon, Heart of Plains Indian Culture. Scheduled to open in late 2008, the exhibition will explore the story of the bison by examining the diverse interactions of people with bison in the Northern Plains from 1750 to present. Throughout three galleries, the nature of these interactions will be explored through different voices, objects, images and historical information. The perspectives of Northern Plains Indians, early explorers, settlers, miners, hunters, ranchers, artists, government entities, and their contemporaries today will be interwoven to reveal how the bison has continued to be a vital source of currency for so many in this region – culturally, economically, and symbolically. Funds from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust will be used to help cover costs associated with the fabrication and construction of The Bison exhibit, including renovation of existing galleries and the creation of an entirely new gallery space.

The M. J. Murdock Trust was created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, co-founder of Tektronix, Inc., and an innovative, entrepreneurial leader with business involvements and interests throughout the Pacific Northwest. Since its establishment in 1975, the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust has focused most of its grant making efforts in the five states of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust seeks to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants and enrichment programs to non-profit organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. Since the Trust’s inception, nearly $500 million has been given out in grant awards, making the Trust one of the five largest private foundations in the Pacific Northwest, and one of the top 100 in the country.

Opened in 1953, the C.M. Russell Museum’s mission is to collect, preserve, research, interpret and educate on the art and life of Charles M. Russell. In addition, the Museum also focuses on the art and lives of Russell’s contemporaries, as well as art that depicts the culture, life, and country of Russell’s West.