Tom Novak paints mural for Baker Heritage Museum kids corner

Tom Novak is putting his brush on a new kids corner at the Baker Heritage Museum, a move that could make one of Baker City’s best-known history stops more inviting to families, school groups and younger visitors. The 78-year-old muralist was asked to paint a scene for the corner of the museum’s ballroom, where a dedicated children’s area is set to open later this summer.

The project gives the museum a distinctly local stamp. Novak has painted at least 30 murals around Baker City, and his work already marks some of the community’s most recognizable places. Eighteen painted panels showing scenes from Baker County’s past cover the exterior of the Baker Heritage Museum, and he also refreshed a mural he originally completed in 1995 with help from local students.

The kids corner fits into a broader effort to update the museum’s upstairs public space. Friends of the Baker Heritage Museum said this year’s work includes changes and updates to exhibits in the upstairs ballroom, with the new children’s area among the additions. That matters for a museum housed in the historic 1920 Natatorium at 2480 Grove Street, where the collection spans Baker County history from the 1860s through the 1960s in a 33,000-square-foot building.

Inside, the museum’s permanent and changing exhibits cover logging, ranching, mining, Baker City history, Wally Byam’s Airstream legacy, Chinese heritage, wildlife and Native American artifacts. The children’s corner appears aimed at widening the audience for that mix of history and local storytelling, giving families a space built for a more interactive visit than the museum’s traditional exhibit halls alone might offer.

The museum also kept its public programming moving around the new exhibit work. Its speaker series is held on the second Tuesday of each month, and the June 9 talk focused on the history of newspapers in Baker County. Social hour began at 6 p.m., the presentation started at 7 p.m., and admission was free. Together, the youth-oriented space and the talk series show the museum leaning on two different entry points, one for adults drawn by history and one for children who may be coming through the doors for the first time.

Travel guides list admission at $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for ages 6 through 12, and free for children 5 and younger. Hours are listed as Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. For a museum built around Baker County’s past, the new kids corner suggests a push to shape its future visitors too.