She was a child actress from Ohio turned New York City socialite who accumulated one of the nation's earliest collections of high-quality Tibetan art. And museum officials say her birth name was, in fact, Jacques Marchais.

Born in 1887, Marchais did what very few American women could have ever dreamed for both the art and social scene, connect East and West in a time when travel and technology were limited.

"She was so far ahead of her time and extremely proud that a woman could accomplish this on her own," says Meg Ventrudo, Executive Director for the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on Lighthouse Hill.

Today Marchais' lifelong passion-a collection of journals, publications, books, memorabilia, historical photos and art-sits perched atop Lighthouse Avenue on a rare piece of cliff-side property she named after herself.

Marchais' third husband, Harry Klauber, excelled in the chemical business, allowing her the financial means to explore her fascination with Tibet. That journey led her to collect some 2,000 books on the country, a library she then cataloged according to her own color scheme. Marchais also amassed some of the world's finest and rarest pieces of Himalayan art.

Ventrudo says Marchais' first contact with the culture came as child.

"According to her diaries she says she played with these bronze figurines from the ancient religion 'Bon' or 'Pon,'" Ventrudo says, pointing to the statues on display at the museum. "They belonged to her great grandfather who was a merchant from Philadelphia in the tea trade."

She says Marchais rediscovered those figurines as an adult, inspiring her newfound interest in Tibet and India.

In fact, Marchais modeled her museum after a Himalayan mountain monastery complete with terraced garden sanctuaries, a research library and trapezoidal windows and posts unique to the region.

"She saw photos of the Dalai Lama's palace called the Potala of Lhasa in her books and really recaptured some of that architecture," Ventrudo says. "That was amazing considering there were no color photos at the time."

Marchais' goal was to offer solace and sanctuary to city folk by creating a hillside retreat that was no more than 60 minutes from Manhattan.

Marchais chose Staten Island stonemason Joseph Primiano to carve the museum into the cliff, using stones handpicked from open spaces across the borough, like the area now known as LaTourette Park.

Marchais and her husband also moved into the house they purchased directly next door.

"The acquisition of both the books and the collection, and the physical construction of the museum itself were all monumental feats in the 1940s," Ventrudo says.

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art celebrated its grand opening in October, 1947-an event that was featured in a Life magazine spread. Marchais was on hand to celebrate the big event, but died six months later.

Today museum curators are celebrating Marchais' lifetime devotion to her work 60 years after that grand opening in a new exhibit called "From Staten Island to Shangri-La: The Collecting Life of Jacques Marchais."

"She referred to this Staten Island space as Shangri-La," Ventrudo says, noting that many local residents are still unaware of its presence.

"She created this place with an educational mission, where people could come and learn about other cultures and have a free exchange of dialog," Ventrudo says.

Part of that mission includes annual discussion sessions with Lama Pema Wangdak, who visits the museum to explain the Buddhist way of life, meditation and other principles.

"While this is not a working temple," Ventrudo says, "many monks also come to our site for sanctuary."  The museum is regularly visited by international admirers and tourists, and even hosted the 14th Dalai Lama in 1991.

Ventrudo says scholars also come from far and wide to study Marchais' vast collection of Buddhist art and other artifacts from Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal, India, Japan, Thailand and China.

Pieces showcased in this latest exhibit include Marchais' own Qing Dynasty "partner" desk dating back to the 18th century, an altar featuring various Buddha statues and a shrine of goddesses from Nepal adorned with semi-precious stones.

"The collection is spectacular because it was put together at a time when the Chinese dynasty had fallen and China was 'open to the West' and art from monasteries had come on the market," says Ventrudo, who notes that many of the pieces were acquired between 1911 and 1950.

The exhibit also tells the story of Marchais' life as it unfolded in the social movement of the time. "Her biography hadn't really been told before," Ventrudo says.

While she never actually traveled to Tibet, Marchais not only collected its art and artifacts, but also bought and sold them in a gallery she owned at 40 East 51st Street in Manhattan in the 1930s.

"She came to New York just before the roaring twenties,"

Ventrudo explains. "She lived through both World Wars and The Great Depression and felt people needed respite."

While Ventrudo says Marchais never defined herself as a Buddhist, she did open herself up to all religions.

"She felt science and technology were overwhelming and that people needed a source of spiritualism to turn to," Ventrudo explains.

Eastern thought was also a big movement in Manhattan's social scene at the time. Marchais shared her passion for Asian thought with some of the big movers and shakers of the time.

Among her high-society friends pursuing a similar spiritual quest was Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham's dance teacher.

Many of Marchais' personal photographs of friends and family members, pictures of the physical construction of the museum, and snapshots of her collection are also on display in this exhibit.

"We have hundreds of her photos in our archives and a majority of these are her own work," Ventrudo says, pointing to examples on display. "They really help tell her personal story."

Ventrudo says the museum also carries out Marchais' mission of providing sanctuary and solace by hosting weekly yoga and Tai Chi classes. They also open their grounds for an annual Tibetan Festival featuring food, vendors and jewelry from the region. This year's celebration is scheduled for October 21st.

"From Staten Island to Shangri-La" is open through December 31st, 2008.

Jacques Marchais Museum

of Tibetan Art

338 Lighthouse Avenue,

Staten Island, 718.987.3500

www.tibetanmuseum.org

Hours

Wednesday - Sunday  1p.m. - 5p.m.

Members - Free

Adults - $5

Seniors ( 50 and over)/Students - $3

Children under 6- Free

Please email info@tibetanmuseum.org for additional information regarding hours, tours, or programs.