Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art (also known as The Square, or PGSMoA), is an art museum located at 1400 First Avenue North in Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. Its building was constructed in 1896 to house the city's first high school, Great Falls High School (later known as Great Falls Central High School). The high school moved to new quarters in 1931, at which time the building was renamed Paris Gibson Junior High School. The junior high school vacated the premises in 1975 for a new building. In 1977, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art was formed, and it took ownership of the building. It is one of twelve museums in the city. The structure has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since September 1976.
The museum focuses primarily on contemporary art by artists from the region. Much of its collection consists of folk art, abstract art, postmodern art, and functional artwork such as jewelry. In addition to two floors of galleries, the museum also hosts an outdoor sculpture garden.
(The structure should not be confused with the Roman Catholic parochial school also named Great Falls Central High School. The Square should also not be confused with Paris Gibson Education Center, an alternative high school which opened in 2007).
Great Falls Central High School
Construction Great Falls was founded in 1883 when businessman Paris Gibson surveyed the city and platted a permanent settlement on the south side of the river.Robison, p. 25. It was incorporated on November 28, 1888.Federal Writers' Project, p. 150. By 1890, Black Eagle Dam had been built within the city limits on the Great Falls of the Missouri River, a meat packing industry (the largest between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Spokane, Washington) had arisen, a railway had come to town, and a silver smelter had been built. The city's public school system was established in 1886. That year, the city opened the Whittier Building (later known as Whittier Elementary School) and began holding ungraded educational instruction for all students there.Bureau of Agriculture, Labor and Industry, p. 306. Accessed 2011-05-06.
Great Falls High School was founded in the fall of 1890 by the city of Great Falls after four teenage girls (newly arrived in the city) asked to receive a high school public education.Superintendent of Public Instruction, p. 65. Accessed 2011-05-06. The four young women constituted the first class, which met in a corner of a classroom in the Whittier Building (which, by that time, featured instruction in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades). By September 1892, Great Falls High School was an independent school within the city public school system. Its 23 students also had a specified course of instruction (rather than general classes).
In 1896, the Great Falls Public Schools built the first Great Falls High School building. City voters passed an initiative in 1893 to sell bonds to build a high school, but the Panic of 1893 delayed construction."About Us: Our History." Paris Gibson Square. 2009. Accessed 2010-05-06. A design by local architect William White was chosen over three other proposals.
About the high school building White's Romanesque Revival three-story structure featured a small central circular building, two rectangular wings, and an eight-story, four-faced clock tower. Construction on the building, located at 1400 First Avenue North, began in 1894. The high school was built of gray sandstone obtained from quarries near both Helena and Great Falls.Baumler, p. 33. Accessed 2010-05-06. The walls, which were thick at the bottom of the building but only thick at the roof, were sunk into the earth and stood on shale bedrock. To compact the foundation's backfill, a herd of sheep was driven around the structure 100 times. Wood for the interior supports, roof, and steps were cut from massive trees logged in the Rocky Mountains and floated down the Missouri River.
The finished building featured a tin mansard roof (molded and painted to look like tile), gables, and an attic suspended from the roof joists. The interior woodwork was solid oak, all rooms had high wainscoting, the solid doors were thick, and highly detailed molded pediments were emplaced over each door. Ornate brass doorknobs and hinges were used throughout the building, and heat was supplied by cast iron radiators with delicate, filigreed covers. The building (whose original cost was estimated at $59,940) was completed by McKay Brothers in 1896 at a total cost of $110,000. The structure, which was designed to educate 500 students, contained 14 classrooms, a physical laboratory, a chemical laboratory, an art studio, and an assembly hall that could seat 400. A boiler system was installed in the basement.
A brick annex, designed by architect W.R. Lowery, was constructed against the high school's south side in 1913 at a cost of $200,000.Madison, Erin. "Square's Past Saw Students, Explosion." Great Falls Tribune. July 11, 2010. At this time, the boiler system was moved from the basement of the high school to the area between the main building and the annex. An urban legend (which may have begun as early as the 1910s) began to circulate that the old boiler room was turned into a swimming pool, and that a student drowned in the pool—leaving the high school haunted. An investigation in the 1990s revealed that although student Grant Mill from Great Falls High School did drown in 1915, he did not drown in a fictitious pool in the basement but rather in the Missouri River.Baumler, pp. 34-36. (Nonetheless, in July 2010, museum executive director Kathy Lear admitted that she once heard ghostly radio music coming from the basement late one afternoon.)
The clock tower was removed in 1916 after its massive weight began to compromise the building.
In 1917, a janitor was permitted to live on the site with his family. Frank Miles was given $150 and allowed to construct an apartment for himself, his wife, and his five children in the southeast corner of the high school's attic. It is uncertain how many years he and his family lived there."What Else Happened at the Old High School?" Great Falls Tribune. June 13, 1999.
Use as Paris Gibson Junior High School Great Falls High School moved into a new building in 1931. In 1927, the Great Falls public school system sought voter approval to issue bonds to build a new high school, but this initiative was defeated."Great Falls High School." Great Falls High School Bison Football. No date. Accessed 2011-05-06. The bond issue was brought before voters again in 1928, and it passed.Wilmot, Paula. "Community Banded Together to Weather the 'Dirty '30s'." Great Falls Tribune. May 9, 2010. Construction on a new, $1 million building began in 1928 and continued through 1929.Robison, p. 73.Les Johnson o/b/o Amanda Johnson v. Great Falls Public Schools. Final Order. HRC Case No. 9504007138. Human Rights Commission of the State of Montana. September 10, 1998, p. 3. Accessed 2011-05-06.Wilmot, Paul. "1920s Proved to Be Eventful in Great Falls, Around Region." Great Falls Tribune. April 11, 2010.
From 1930 to 1975, the Great Falls High School building housed Paris Gibson Junior High School.Alberta-Montana Heritage Partnership, p. 266. The north entrance was closed in the 1940s after the front steps were discovered to be sinking."Square's Front Doors Reopened After Decades." Great Falls Tribune. September 22, 2000. The driveway in front of this entrance was removed in the 1970s and replaced with sod. The south entrance was used as the main entrance after 1940. In the late 1960s, while repairs to the structure's roof were being made, a student broke into the building and climbed atop the elevator. He rode the elevator to the roof. But he touched a power line as he climbed off the elevator, giving him a severe electrical shock and causing his shirt to catch fire. He survived with minimal injuries. Another accident occurred shortly before the building was closed in the 1970s. A student in the gymnasium (which was housed in the brick annex), attempted to do chin-ups on a water pipe. The pipe snapped, causing the gym to be flooded.
The junior high school vacated the premises in June 1975 for a new building at 2400 Central Avenue.Robison, p. 48. Several local Catholic parishes joined together in the late 1940s to construct a Catholic high school, named Great Falls Central High School. The low brick, steel, glass, and plaster building, constructed in 1950, occupied half a city block next to the Ursuline Academy. Two large wings were added in 1966. However, the building closed in 1973 due to lower enrollment, rising costs, and fewer volunteer priests and nuns to act as teachers. The Great Falls Public Schools purchased the structure in 1975 for $1.4 million. It spent another $800,000 renovating the building and adding an industrial arts wing on the southwest corner. Paris Gibson Junior High moved there in 1976 from the old high school building.Paris Gibson Junior High School closed in 1985 due to rapidly declining enrollment in the city school system. It reopened in 1989 as Paris Gibson Middle School. The middle school closed in May 2005. See: "Population Trends Key to School's History." Great Falls Tribune. September 23, 2005; Johnson, Peter. "Great Falls Enrollment Undulates Over Years." Great Falls Tribune. March 3, 2004; Johnson, Peter. "District Shuts Paris." Great Falls Tribune. June 3, 2005.
The former Great Falls Central High School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 1976.National Park Service, p. 301.
Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art
Founding and early years After the departure of Paris Gibson Junior High School from the old Great Falls High School building in June 1975, there was deep concern that the building might be demolished. The building was in disrepair from decades of use as a public school, the HVAC and mechanical systems needed upgrading, and the building was ill-prepared for mothballing. Vandalism, weather, and lack of use quickly began to take its toll, as the building sat vacant for a year. A local coalition of historic preservationists, concerned citizens, and art aficionados quickly formed to save the historic structure. Great Falls had long been home to the C. M. Russell Museum (dedicated to the works of Western artist Charles Marion Russell and others), but there was no institution supporting contemporary artists or art in other genres. The effort to save the historic high school began in 1974, during the citywide debate over whether to purchase the Catholic high school for use as a junior high. Jean Warden Dybdal and Pam Marlen, leaders in the Junior League chapter in Great Falls, organized an informal citizen's task force to come up with a plan to save the high school building. The initial plan was to create a community cultural center, although over time this changed into a more formal museum proposal. The Junior League and its allies successfully pushed the Great Falls Public Schools and Commissioners of Cascade County to sign an agreement whereby the structure became jointly owned by both governmental bodies. Cascade County agreed to provide funding for the structure's renovation and operations. The art museum was tasked with becoming financially self-sustaining. GFPS agreed to lease the structure to the museum for $1 a year, but not pay for any renovations. As part of the agreement with GFPS, the museum also agreed to devote a substantial portion of its resources to educating students and the public about art and art-making.