[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2010-07-26

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  Cultural Trust awards $1.4 million in grants
2.  IMLS gives $500,000 to Oregon museums
3.  Exhibit included in plaza's celebration


CULTURAL TRUST AWARDS $1.4 MILLION IN GRANTS

The Oregon Cultural Trust announced today it is granting  $1.47 million
 to humanities, heritage and arts nonprofits across Oregon this month.
On-third of the funds will go to county and tribal coalitions, one third
for cultural development to 57 arts, heritage and humanities
organizations, and one third to the Trust's five statewide partners.

The Cultural Trust experienced a marked increase in the number of
submissions for its competitive Cultural Developments: 212 compared to
last year’s 163. The number of awards this year increased, from 48 to
57; of those, 13  are first-time grants recipients. These grants range
from $4,000 to $25,000, and represent direct cultural investments in
nonprofits in 19 communities and 15 counties.
 
Norm Smith, chair of the Cultural Trust Board, commented, “The
extraordinary increase in funding requests to the Cultural Trust this
year speaks not only to widening recognition of the program but also to
critical financial need among Oregon’s heritage, humanities and arts
nonprofits. It’s more important than ever that Oregonians support the
libraries, historical societies and art centers that are the heart of
community.”

Executive Director Christine D’Arcy added, “Trust grants represent
the vitality of Oregon culture. From the Maritime Museum in Astoria to
the Northwest Photography Archive in Portland to the Sumpter Dredge in
eastern Oregon, the Trust is funding projects that reflect who we are,
what shapes our communities and what we value.”
A list of the grant recipients is available at www.culturaltrust.org 


IMLS GIVES $500,000 TO OREGON MUSEUMS

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is awarding give Oregon
museums a total of more than $500,000 in Museums for America grants, it
announced this month. 

"This year's grant recipients are truly an exciting and diverse group
of museums, representing the remarkable ways that large and small
institutions are serving communities, "said Acting Director Marsha L.
Semmel. 

The Coos Historical & Maritime Museum in North Bend will receive
$23,938 for "Improving Access to the Victor C. West Maritime Collection:
A Digitization Project." The museum will evaluate the content and scope
of the collection and store, index and digitize the photographs
according to archival standards. The collection of maritime images
includes more than 60,000 items chronicling the maritime lumber shipping
industry that dominated the West Coast from the 1850s to the 1970s. As a
result of this project, the Museum will be able to respond to research
requests efficiently and with minimum disturbance to the images.

The Oregon Historical Society will receive $150,000 to expand its
award-winning “Oregon My Oregon” exhibit to include the last half of
the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century.
“Oregon: Yours, Mine, Ours” will feature topics such as the
economy, immigration, and the environment. Exhibit elements, drawn from
OHS’s collections, will be used to update and expand this permanent
core exhibition. In addition, the museum plans to create its first audio
tour for this new exhibit and will work with scholars, an education
consultant, and high school teachers to begin to address issues related
to the expanded exhibit impact on the K-12 curriculum, school groups,
and volunteer docent training.

The Crook County Historical Society in Prineville will receive $75,000
to design, fabricate, and install two permanent exhibits: “Ponderosa
Pine Capital of the World” and “Living Traditions: People and the
Land of Crook County.” “Ponderosa Pine Capital of the World” will
tell the stories of central Oregon’s timber and lumber mill heritage,
while “Living Traditions” will tell the stories of the region’s
Native peoples, ranching heritage, and dependence on water and
agriculture. 

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department will receive a $114,644
grant to design and create a new permanent exhibit telling the story of
Kam Wah Chung & Co., and the Chinese American experience in Eastern
Oregon, within the context of the larger national and world events that
shaped their lives in the American West. In addition, an audio tour will
be scripted and recorded for the historic Kam Wah Chung & Co. building
in John Day, which is the best-known example of a Chinese mercantile and
herb store in the United States. 

In addition, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry will receive
$145,621 for “Earth Lab: Hands-On Experiences for Environmental
Literacy.” The goal of the project is to increase understanding of
fundamental earth science concepts that are essential to broader
environmental literacy.

For additional information about the grant program and this year's
recipients, visit http://www.imls.gov/applicants/grants/forAmerica.shtm.
The next deadline
for applications is Nov. 1.


EXHIBIT INCLUDED IN PLAZA'S CELEBRATION

The Oregon Nikkei Endowment continues celebrating its 20th year in 2010
with an exhibit featuring the history and story of how the Japanese
American Historical Plaza came to be.  The exhibit will open July 30.

Through the trials and tribulations of building the first memorial to
Civil Rights, the Japanese American community came together to realize a
dream, and the Plaza
was dedicated in August of 1990.  The exhibit will be on display until
Nov. 14 and will be part of the 20th anniversary rededication activities
July 30-31.  Additional programs and events will run through the course
of the exhibit, and will be listed at www.oregonnikkei.org 
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which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us