Pre­serv­ing Oregon’s Artis­tic Heritage

“Part­ner­ing with indi­vid­u­als and insti­tu­tions across the state, the Salem Art Asso­ci­a­tion is pro­duc­ing a series of doc­u­men­taries and an online cur­ricu­lum that exam­ines how some of the state’s lead­ing artists have gone about their cre­ative lives. The his­tory of Pacific North­west art is of increas­ing inter­est to schol­ars, crit­ics, col­lec­tors, and view­ers of all ages. This video series con­tributes to a wide­spread effort to doc­u­ment this rich his­tory. It also pro­vides a unique ele­ment that exhi­bi­tions and books can­not pro­vide: footage of the artists speak­ing in their own words and demon­strat­ing their artis­tic processes them­selves.“
–Roger Hull, Pro­fes­sor of Art His­tory, Willamette University

Each 40–60 minute film fea­tures an indi­vid­ual who has cre­ated art in Ore­gon for a gen­er­a­tion. The doc­u­men­taries explore how liv­ing in the North­west has affected these indi­vid­u­als and how they have affected the cul­ture of the region. The series will inter­est a vari­ety of audi­ences includ­ing those already inter­ested in Ore­gon art and his­tory, to gen­eral audi­ences seek­ing an intro­duc­tion, and to teach­ers and stu­dents study­ing the his­tory and cul­ture of the state.

Teach­ers will find on this site les­son plans and other resources to com­ple­ment using the films in their class­rooms. Lessons have been designed for grades 4–12, but many are adapt­able to a wider vari­ety of age lev­els. The cur­ricu­lum not only explores the artis­tic processes pre­sented by the artists but also con­nects to top­ics in Sci­ence, Math, Social Stud­ies, and Lan­guage Arts.

Salem Art Association

With a his­tory of over 85 years, Salem Art Asso­ci­a­tion (SAA) fos­ters the visual arts, arts edu­ca­tion, and his­toric preser­va­tion in Mar­ion, Polk, and Yamhill coun­ties. With this project SAA has extended its reach statewide. Dur­ing its long his­tory, SAA has become one of the largest and most respected com­mu­nity arts orga­ni­za­tions in the state of Ore­gon. Located in Bush’s Pas­ture Park SAA over­sees the his­toric Asa­hel Bush House, a sales gallery and the A.N. Bush Gallery, the Visual Art Cen­ter, the annual Salem Art Fair and Fes­ti­val, and a vari­ety of arts edu­ca­tion pro­grams through­out its tri-county area. For more infor­ma­tion please visit the SAA web­site – www.salemart.org.

The Artists | Online Cur­ricu­lum | Video Doc­u­men­taries | Cred­its