'There are things you can do even without a building," said Kristin Makholm, director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, "although in the long term we do hope to have a building again." Makholm, who took charge of the ailing St. Paul institution in June, has been figuring out just what the options are for a museum that exists largely out of sight. Having closed its rented galleries in January 2009, it has no building, no programs, minimal staff and very little money. It does own a 3,500-piece collection of paintings, sculpture, photos and crafts in storage.

Makholm is camping out in an office at the James J. Hill Reference Library in downtown St. Paul. She runs the museum with a part-time assistant, a cell phone, a laptop and moxie. Her days are jammed with meetings with potential supporters -- foundation staff, city bureaucrats, art collectors. The museum has about $1 million in a fund reserved for buying art, but no endowment to support its day-to-day operations. That means she must raise about $300,000 by June 30 (when the fiscal year ends) to cover salaries, storage, insurance, office expenses and fees for the programs she's planning.

"I've been writing a lot of grant proposals," she said. "Someone in my position can't stop getting applications out."

Once had staff of 30

Twenty years ago, the museum -- then called the Minnesota Museum of Art -- owned the Jemne building, a historic art deco structure in downtown St. Paul, and had additional galleries in Landmark Center. It ran an art school and a restaurant, had a staff of 30, an annual budget of $1.5 million, and nurtured dreams of building new quarters in which to consolidate its far-flung endeavors. But even then it was struggling with weak leadership, unfocused programs, an image problem and growing debt.

After selling the Jemne building, the museum operated out of Landmark Center for many years before moving into a former auto garage near the Science Museum. Over the years, its financial position and reputation deteriorated further until, on the brink of bankruptcy, its board dismissed the remaining staff and closed the galleries 12 months ago.

Makholm, who was gallery director at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, was hired to reinvent the museum. She is developing a strategic plan and is seeking regional organizations with which to share exhibitions from the museum's collection. Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis opens a small show Sunday of the museum's paintings and drawings by the late George Morrison, an influential Minnesota Ojibwe artist whose artistic estate Bockley handles.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to highlight what a great collection they have and the significant role they could play in the community by collecting, researching and traveling art of this region," said gallery owner Todd Bockley. "There is a niche they can fill by talking about the cultural character of this region. That's not the mandate of the larger museums here, but there's a hunger for it in the Twin Cities."

In March, abstract works from the museum's collection will be shown at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, and Makholm has discussed other endeavors with Arts Midwest and the St. Paul public schools. The strategic plan, due in March, will probably focus on regional artists, expanded education, partnerships with other organizations and touring shows from the collection, including photos by Wing Young Huie and the sculpture of Paul Manship.

"We need to determine if our goals are attainable," said Makholm. "We're taking a magnifying glass to that and trying to be realistic about what we can accomplish."

Mary Abbe • 612-673-4431