[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2010-01-21

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  Poet laureate nominations sought
2.  Cultural tourism grant information available
3.  Building infill issues slated for Portland workshop
4.  Three workshops offered to educators
5.  Humanities group seeks program applications
6.  Archaeology films scheduled this weekend


POET LAUREATE NOMINATIONS SOUGHT

In 2005, Governor Ted Kulongoski, Oregon's five statewide cultural
partners serving heritage, the humanities and the arts, and  the Oregon
Cultural Trust joined forces to reinstate Oregon's poet laureate
position, which had been vacant since the close of William Stafford’s
tenure in 1989.  As a result, Lawson Fusao Inada was appointed
Oregon’s fifth poet laureate and he will complete his second term
next month.

Recognizing that a poet laureate provides a bold and articulate voice
for culture across the state and contributes thoughtful eloquence to our
public life, Oregon seeks nominations for its next poet laureate.

The role of poet laureate is to foster the art of poetry, encourage
literacy and learning, address central issues relating to humanities and
heritage, and reflect appropriately on public life in Oregon.  The poet
laureate will provide up at least six and up to twenty public readings
in settings across the state to educate community, business, and state
leaders about the value and importance of poetry and creative
expression.  Additionally, the poet laureate will undertake a
significant cultural project or projects throughout his or her term,
sharing poetry with people or to a region of the state that might
otherwise have little opportunity to experience it.

Nominations for the poet laureate are sought from Oregonians, including
other poets and writers, as well as educational and cultural leaders. 
Self-nominations will not be accepted.  Nominations will be accepted
until Feb. 15. For more information about nominations, visit
www.culturaltrust.org 


CULTURAL TOURISM GRANT INFORMATION AVAILABLE

The Oregon Arts Commission is accepting applications for its Arts &
Cultural Tourism Grant program through Jan. 31.

The grants support projects and partnerships that advance arts-based
cultural tourism activities.  The program, part of the Commission's
Creative Oregon Initiative, fosters stronger links between the arts,
culture, the tourism industry and local economic development.

The program supports activities undertaken by arts or tourism groups -
and especially projects in which both collaborate - designed to increase
tourism motivated entirely or in part by the arts-related offerings of a
community or region.  By attracting Oregonians and non-residents,
Commission-funded projects increase the economic benefit of cultural
tourism to communities, regions and the entire state.

Proposed projects may enhance an existing cultural tourism project or
fund a new initiative. For example, a 2009 grant supported a four-day
festival to attract visitors to the wealth of arts, culture and heritage
resources in a community.  Grant guidelines and applications are
available online through the grants section of the Arts Commission's
website at www.oregonartscommission.org 


INFILL ISSUES SLATED FOR PORTLAND WORKSOP

The term “infill development” is common in Portland’s vocabulary,
as new buildings arrive on the streetscapes of neighborhoods. Typically,
one thinks of “infill” as filling a vacant space between buildings,
but it also includes the demolition of long-standing buildings, replaced
with new or “mega” structures that don’t take their surroundings
into consideration. During the Architectural Heritage Center's Portland
Historic Preservation Needs Assessment meetings, a majority of people
identified “new large-scale infill construction in older
neighborhoods” and the need for “better fit” as the city’s most
pressing preservation challenge. 

A workshop from 10 a.m.-noon Jan. 30 will feature a panel of
neighborhood land use activists, Dean Gisvold (Irvington), Dean Smith
(Irvington, Multnomah), and Linda Nettekoven (Hosford-Abernethy), along
with Bill Cunningham, Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability, who
will frame the infill issue as today’s dominant neighborhood concern,
outline the rules that influence infill outcomes, and discuss how people
can better influence them. 

This program is assisted by a Partners in the Field challenge grant
from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For more information
and registration visit:
http://www.visitahc.org/content/infill-development-traditional-neighborhoods-conflict-resolution


THREE WORKSHOPS OFFERED TO EDUCATORS

Three workshops on the Columbia River and the Civil War in the Pacific
Northwest are planned during the next few months.

>From 9 a.m.-noon Feb. 20, "Words, Water, and Work: Literature and
History in the Columbia Basin" will be offered by the Center for
Columbia River History. Chad Wriglesworth, the center's 2008 James B.
Castles Fellow, presents a free workshop to introduce educators to
poets, novelists and essayists who have written about the social and
ecological transformation of the Columbia River Basin, from the 1930s to
the present. Participants will be receive examples of ways that regional
history and literature can be integrated into the classroom by
investigating places such as Grand Coulee Dam, Bonneville Dam, The
Dalles Dam, and Hanford Engineering Works. Teachers will leave the
session with a practical teaching bibliography and online resources for
future projects and curriculum development. This workshop is open to 
everyone, but will be of particular interest to language arts and
social studies teachers. To register, contact Donna Sinclair,
info at ccrh.org, 360-258-3289

On March 6, historian Richard Etulain will lead a workshop on "History
on Location: Neither North Nor South: The Pacific Northwest in the Civil
War."  The advancement of slavery and other economic and political
factors historians attribute to causing the Civil War, also influenced
Northwestern development. Moreover, 19th century sectional sentiments
ran high in Oregon and Washington, with social and political impacts
that included racial exclusion. Many connections exist between these
geographically distant and seemingly disparate histories, including:
Abraham Lincoln's interest in the Trans-Mississippi West and his
Northwestern political connections; the divergent roads to statehood in
Oregon and Washington; the Western training of Civil War soldiers in the
pre-war era; the military role in facilitating Northwestern expansion
and the transportation infrastructure; and the displacement and
dispossession of the region's Native people. This workshop is free to
teachers but seating is limited and advanced registration is required.
To register, please contact Matt Karlsen at matt.karlsen at esd112.org. For
more information, see 
http://www.ccrh.org/calendar.php 

The Oregon Council on the Social Studies is holding its annual spring
workshop on April 10 at Rainier Jr/Sr. High School in Rainier. "Journey
on the Columbia River:  Past, Present and Future" is the theme and more
than 200 educators from elementary to university level are expected to
attend. Exhibits are a conference attraction, enabling attendees to
examine, sample, and inquire about a variety of products used in social
studies learning.  For more information, contact oic at chemeketa.edu or
visit http://www.oregonsocialstudies.org/


HUMANITIES GROUP SEEKS PROGRAM APPLICATIONS

Oregon Humanities (formerly Oregon Council for the Humanities) is
accepting applications for the second cycle of the 2009-10 Conversation
Project: A New Chautauqua season. Oregon nonprofits must apply before
Jan. 31 to host programs that will take place between March 1 and June
30. The Conversation Project catalog, instructions for host
organizations, and a downloadable application form are available at
www.oregonhumanities.org.
 
For more information, contact Annie Dubinsky at (503) 241-0543, ext.
116, or a.dubinsky at oregonhumanities.org.
 

ARCHAEOLOGY FILMS SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND

The Archaeology Channel will show the best films from its 2009
International Film and Video Festival this weekend at Portland State
University's 5th Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall Blvd., Portland.  Doors open
at 7 p.m. on Jan. 22 and 23, with tickets available at that time. For
more information, visit 
http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/PortlandSeries2009.shtml 
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which encourages you to participate in the 2010 Oregon Heritage
Assessment at 
http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/OHC/assess_main.shtml