Oregon 150 Announces Sesquicentennial Projects

-- February 14, 2009 Marks Oregon’s Statehood Sesquicentennial --

At the July 11th board meeting, Oregon 150’s Board of Directors approved a strategic plan setting forth a full slate of sesquicentennial projects starting February 14, 2009 (Oregon’s 150th birthday)!  Thanks to all the Oregonians who commented on the plan and contributed their ideas and passion.

Oregon 150 will host these signature projects in 2009:

• Take Care of Oregon Day* will see Oregonians in every corner of the state rolling up their sleeves on a specified day (or days) during Oregon’s birthday commemoration to give back to their state.  For instance, Oregonians might clear trails, paint a school, or clean up a pioneer cemetery.  We want to involve as many people as possible in every county in Oregon and will mount a strong marketing campaign.  This could end up being the biggest day of volunteerism in the nation and set an example for the rest of the country!

• Oregon Stories: Just as Oregon is a land of varied landscapes, so too are its people and their stories. Oregon Stories’ goal is to gather these testimonials to document who we are as Oregonians, how our state has developed, and—just as important—where we hope it will go in the future.  Oregon Stories will distribute tool kits to communities to collect stories in a variety of forms—oral histories, photographs, essays, and more.  The form that the stories take will be limited only by imagination.  The best of the Oregon Stories will become Oregon Minutes (see below), and all of the stories will be saved and eventually stored in the Oregon State Archives.  

• Oregon Minutes will be a brief, daily feature on the state's history, ideas, and people.  To reach the broadest audience, Oregon Minutes will be broadcast by television and radio sponsors and printed in newspapers throughout the state.  An Oregon Minute might be a story about Oregon’s history—for example, Governor Roberts telling the story of Charlie Parker, Oregon’s first woman voter.  An Oregon Minute might also be the first-person story of a recent Russian immigrant, or a professor at the University of Oregon talking about the importance of salmon to the region, or a girl in Burns showing her drawing of what she dreams her hometown will look like when she grows up.  Material for Oregon Minutes will come from a variety of sources, including Oregon Stories, the upcoming Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture, and the American Leadership Forum.

• The Children’s Future Vision art project is an idea in progress. We want to engage school kids civically and to create a durable work of art inspired by the hopes and dreams of Oregon’s youth.  We’ll set up a Dreams Blog on our website and encourage children to tell us what they want for their future.  Artists will then use their dreams as source of artistic material.  Where the artwork will be installed is to be determined.

• Travel Oregon 150* will be a joint project with Travel Oregon where we encourage you to break out of your daily routine and get out and see the diverse landscapes, people, and places of your home state.

Besides the projects we’ll host, we encourage communities and organizations throughout the state to plan their own sesquicentennial activities.  Already we’ve heard of so many exciting projects in the works: the Oregon Library Association’s Oregon Reads program; a folk life festival at Champoeg; and the Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture, among many, many more. We’re developing a Partners Program, through which you can request that your sesquicentennial project becomes an “official” Oregon 150 project.  Once we’ve approved your application, we’ll help you market your project and welcome your use of our logo.  We expect to have the form online soon.

Oregon’s 150th birthday will be the celebration of a lifetime, and there are lots more surprises to come!

Oregon 150 Board President, Barbara Sidway, Addresses
Annual Friends of Champoeg Gathering

On Saturday, June 23rd, Oregon 150 Board Chair Barbara Sidway joined the Friends of Historic Champoeg at their annual meeting and fundraiser at Champoeg State Park. The park is home to the Champoeg Monument, which commemorates the site of the citizen vote taken to establish Oregon as a state. During Mrs. Sidway’s update to the group on Oregon 150’s planning efforts to date, she also noted that the park and the Friends would be playing a major role during the sesquicentennial celebration in 2009.

Oregon Arts Commission Announces 2007
Governor’s Arts Awards

On Wednesday, July 18, Governor Ted Kulongoski conferred the 2006-2007 Governor’s Arts Award on eight distinguished recipients including Oregon 150 Board Member, Mayor Alice Norris. Alice Norris, Mayor of Oregon City, received the prestigious Ron Schmidt Leadership Award, presented to an elected official who has made outstanding contributions to the arts.

Alice Norris’ involvement in civic and cultural affairs spans at least two decades. She was elected to the Oregon City School Board in 1980; was a founding board member of the Oregon Trail Foundation; and executive director of the Oregon Trail Pageant from 1987 to 1999. She served two terms on the board of the Regional Arts & Culture Council during the 1990s, including two years as chair. She is a past chair of the Metropolitan Exposition-Recreation Commission and co-founded Oregon City’s First City Festival in 1994. Since becoming Mayor in 2003, she has turned her energy to Oregon City’s 51-year old outdoor municipal elevator, built to bridge the city’s dramatic changes in elevation. Since the elevator carries over 10,000 riders every month and stands as a functional and visible symbol of Oregon City, its enhancement is important to the revitalization of the community. Under her leadership, the revitalization project seeks to integrate art and heritage, create a unique gathering place, and use art as a catalyst to enhance the appreciation and aesthetics of Oregon City. 

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Displays
Murals by Artist Carl Morris

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, is currently showcasing the works of Northwest artist Carl Morris, including a series of murals not shown collectively since they debuted at the 1959 Oregon Centennial Exposition. The 1959 Oregon Centennial Exposition was created to tell “The Oregon Story.” One pavilion had the challenging task of representing the history of religious faiths.

Carl Morris, arguably Portland’s most accomplished painter at the time, was selected to paint mural panels, each over 8-by-8 feet in size. These murals, appropriately monumental in scale, are a series of abstract symbols represented through Morris' explorations of form, space, light, color and texture. The exhibit also features works representing Morris's early examples of figurative and landscape paintings.

Carl Morris: The History of Religions was curated by Lawrence Fong. The exhibit is supported by David D. Morris, Stacy Fletcher of the Carl and Hilda Morris Foundation, the Royal Danish Consulate of Portland, the Lane County Cultural Coalition, The Oregon Cultural Trust, and the Oregon Arts Commission.

Exhibition Dates: June 28 - September 9, 2007

Manage your Oregon 150 newsletter subscription.