Molly Cliff Hilts, 62, one of our mission-driven, founding members, died January 21st. She had been suffering with cancer for 18 months. She passed peacefully at home, holding her husband Dave’s hand.
When Deborah Edward and I wanted to explore how to launch ninety-nine girlfriends, we decided to tap into a creative, connected, expert group of 12 women for advice on how to start. Molly, artist and consummate host, volunteered to be one of the 12 and to hold what turned out to be a very dynamic and formative conversation on her veranda. Molly supported and cheered us on as we launched the girlfriends. She wanted to do whatever she could to get the project off the ground.
When we were young and scrappy and the organization had zero money in its event budget -in fact it didn’t even have an events budget - Mol jumped in and helped set up our launch event bringing rugs, twinkly lights and so many other things from home and then put on one of her famous little black dresses and was a greeter at the front door. She was part of the heart and soul at the inception of ninety-nine girlfriends. Molly volunteered to be on the first Arts & Culture Grant Review Team and, from all accounts, that team owned “the fun quotient.” She continued her personal commitment to the arts by supporting many of the girlfriends’ arts nominees and grantee partners. She “fell in love with,” (her words) and supported My Voice Music, Open Signal and so many more.
Molly believed in the power of bringing talented, diverse and fun women together because “when you foster community, anything can happen.” Many remember her from the girlfriends’ events she hosted at her home - the fancy cocktails, the festive parade with well over 100 women crossing the street from one house to the other - to have our senses surrounded by young musicians on her backyard stage and the stars at twilight.
Molly was an extraordinary encaustic painter and had recently been captivated by illustrating crows and ravens. See her website to enjoy her work online or visit Brumfield Gallery in Astoria. Brumfield is featuring an exhibit by Molly through March 7th. One of our members, Lisa Smith, hosts a program on KMUN community radio and featured Molly’s work on the second half of her January 12th broadcast of “All About Folk”. Enjoy it at Coast Radio Archives.
On January 8th Molly found out that her painting titled Eagle Creek was placed in the Portland Museum of Art’s permanent collection of Northwest Art. This was a huge honor for Molly. The painting is a premonition of the fire that started in Eagle Creek and spread to the Gorge, as the hills are depicted in a smoky orange. She painted it in 2016 and the fire started in 2018.
Molly’s commitment to the arts pales only to her commitment to supporting young women. She mentored many women who were hoping to find their footing in the arts community. She believed that connecting talented women who may not have connections in that world would ignite relationships that impact the lives of all involved. As a result, in ninety-nine girlfriends she was a supporter of our Fellows Program and sponsored many members. If you are moved to make a contribution to our Fellows Program in Molly’s name, please do. You can learn more here.
Molly leaves behind her loving husband, her sons and her daughter-in-law to be. Molly will be missed by so many and her contributions to our community will be felt for a very long time to come.
— Eileen Brady, co-founder, ninety-nine girlfriends
