GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARDS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER ,  MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR

KATE BROWN Governor Dear Arts Supporters,

I am honored to welcome you to the 2017 Governor’s Arts Awards.

The Arts Commission has made sure art is a part of our daily lives for the past 50 years. In honor of this historic anniversary, I am proud to reinstate the Governor’s Arts Awards and to once again honor artists and organizations that make outstanding contributions to the arts in Oregon.

Art is a fundamental ingredient of any thriving and vibrant community. Art sparks connections between people, movements and new ideas. Here in Oregon, the arts enrich our quality of life and local economies, helping form our great state’s unique identity.

Not only that, art education is key in fostering a spirit of creativity and innovation in our youth.

I want to thank each of you for being a part of this community, making Oregon more beautiful, more alive every day. Each of today’s Arts Awards recipients has touched the lives of thousands of Oregonians in meaningful ways. They were selected through a highly competitive process from a field of 110 worthy nominees and are extremely deserving of this honor.

I thank them for making Oregon a better and more beautiful place and ask you to join with me in celebrating their achievements.

Sincerely,

Governor Kate Brown PROGRAM

WELCOME Christopher Acebo • Chair, Oregon Arts Commission

PERFORMANCE BRAVO Youth Orchestras & Darrell Grant

AWARDS Presented by Governor Kate Brown

COMMUNITY AWARD Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Arvie Smith

PHILANTHROPY AWARD The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Esther Stutzman

ORGANIZATION AWARD Portland Opera arts. Its vision is an Oregon where the arts thrive in supportive communities and educational systems support the effectiveness of HONOREES teaching and learning in every classroom. The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation invests in strong leaders and business models and encourages strategic approaches that enable grant funds to have a significant impact. COMMUNITY AWARD The Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts’ mission is to provide a creative conduit for educational, social and economic opportunities for Native Americans through artistic development. Crow’s Shadow is celebrating its 25th Anniversary throughout 2017, culminating in a major retrospective of published prints at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon. James Lavadour (Walla Walla) founded Crow’s Shadow on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, where he is an enrolled member of the tribes. Housed in a renovated Catholic mission schoolhouse, the arts center and print studio hosts myriad workshops each year of traditional Indigenous arts such as basket weaving and beading and contemporary printmaking. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Arvie Smith was born in the Jim Crow South where he lived with his grandparents and great grandmother, a former slave. As a teenager, he moved to live in the de facto segregated areas of South Central Los Angeles and Watts. These early years laid the groundwork for his life’s work as a painter, a spokesperson for injustices toward people of color and an advocate for social justice for all oppressed people. Smith’s work has been shown in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New Orleans, Los Angeles, , Portland and Florence, Italy. His paintings are in collections of the Portland Art Museum, The Reginald Lewis Museum of African American Art and Culture, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, the Nelson Mandela Estate, the College of Art and the City of Portland, among others. Smith is Professor Emeritus of Painting at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland. PHILANTHROPY AWARD An independent private foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation was established in 2002 to enhance the quality of life for Oregonians through support of the arts and education. The Foundation’s mission supports classroom education and performing, visual and literary arts. Its vision is an Oregon where the arts thrive in supportive communities and educational systems support the effectiveness of teaching and learning in every classroom. The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation invests in strong leaders and business models and encourages strategic approaches that enable grant funds to have a significant impact. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Esther Stutzman is a native Oregonian and traditional American Indian storyteller of Kalapuya/Coos heritage. She learned stories from her grandmothers and has been telling stories of the ancient ways for more than 50 years. She is a descendant of the Headman Camafeema (Halo) of the Komemma/Kalapuya and is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. Stutzman works with Title VII Indian Education programs and Arts in Education programs throughout the state of Oregon as a cultural resource specialist with children as well as with teacher in-service programs. She is the primary storyteller for Mother Earth’s Children, an American Indian theatre group that has performed for school assemblies and a variety of events and conferences over the past 42 years. She has been a long-time presenter for the Oregon Chautauqua History Series and is a recipient of several Oregon Historical Society Folk Life awards. ORGANIZATION AWARD Founded in 1964, Portland Opera shares and celebrates the beauty and breadth of opera with our communities. In addition to presenting both grand and intimate opera from the baroque period to the present day, Portland Opera offers K-12 arts education programs, free public performances in community spaces, partnerships with local libraries, parks, and businesses, radio broadcasts and free events for the public, reaching 350,000 people annually across the region. Portland Opera reaches thousands of children and educators through a K-12 arts educational tour that travels over 5,000 miles across Oregon each year. Portland Opera to Go (POGO) presents 50-minute English-language versions of classic operas and provides in-class workshops and lessons about opera and music. Over 12,000 children experience opera through An independent private foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller POGO each year, many for the first time. Foundation was established in 2002 to enhance the quality of life for Oregonians through support of the arts and education. The Foundation’s mission supports classroom education and performing, visual and literary ABOUT THE AWARD MARIE WATT, MAKER,  OREGON GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD Marie Watt, Companion Species (Ancient One), 2017 Cast bronze, reclaimed wool blanket (artist’s grandmother’s), unique western walnut base. Ed of 10; 1/5 through 5/5 made for the Oregon Governor’s Arts Award; plus three artist proofs. Courtesy the artist and PDX CONTEMPORARY ART.

Photo: Kevin McConnell

ABOUT THE SCULPTURE “This she-wolf figure rests on the last blanket that my grandmother (our family matriarch) regularly used on her bed prior to her passing at age 93. My children referred to her as Uk’sodUk’sod GowanGowan, which in Seneca language translates to “ancient one.” Seneca and Haudenosaunee people believe animals to be our First Teachers. As I reflect on the symbiotic relationship we have with First Teachers, I consider our relations—our ancestors, relatives and communities—as part of the conversation. This sculpture, like the Governor’s Arts Awards, speaks to the enduring role of the arts in reflecting and sharing stories about our individual and collective ties to one another, our communities, our state and the globe at large.” -Marie Watt ARTIST BIO Drawing from Iroquois protofeminism and Indigenous principles, Marie Watt's work is concerned with the intersection of history, community and storytelling. She addresses how multigenerational and cross-disciplinary conversations create a lens for understanding connectedness to place, one another, and the universe. Watt holds an MFA in Painting from , and degrees from and the Institute of American Indian Arts. Watt lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, the graphic designer Adam McIsaac, and her daughters, Maxine and Evelyn. She exhibits internationally, and is represented in Portland by PDX Contemporary Art, and in Seattle by Greg Kucera Gallery. AWARDS SELECTION COMMITTEE The following volunteers reviewed 110 nominations and made recommendations for Governor Kate Brown to consider. Christopher Acebo • Arts Dámaso Rodríguez • Artistic Commission Chair and Associate Director, Artists Repertory Artistic Director, Oregon Shakespeare Theatre (Portland) Festival (Ashland) Rosie Shatkin • Legislative Aide to Lauri Aunan • Policy Advisor, Sen. Arnie Roblan (Florence) Governor's Natural Resources O ce Chantal Strobel • Communications (Corbett) and Development Manager, Deschutes Candice Kita • Cultural Work and Public Library (Bend) Development Coordinator, Asian Anne Taylor • Arts Commission Vice Pacic American Network of Oregon Chair, Violinist (La Grande) (Portland) Wendy Red Star • Artist (Portland)

COMMISSIONERS Christopher Acebo • Ashland, Chair Anne Taylor • La Grande, Vice Chair Libby Unthank Tower • Eugene, Immediate Past Chair Avantika Bawa • Portland Michael Dalton • Corvallis/Newport Jenny Green • Bend Alyssa Dawamana Macy • Warm Springs Nichole Maher • Portland Josie Mendoza • Lake Oswego OREGON ARTS COMMISSION STAFF Brian Rogers • Executive Director David Huff • Assistant Director Meagan Atiyeh • Visual Arts Coordinator Kat Bell • Grants & O ce Coordinator Carrie Kikel • Communications Manager Eleanor Sandys • Percent for Art Registrar and Research Specialist Deb Vaughn • Arts Education Coordinator Brian Wagner • Community Development Coordinator THE GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARDS are funded in part by The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and The Oregon Community Foundation.

CELEBRATING THE OREGON ARTS COMMISSION’S TH ANNIVERSARY

Mission: To enhance the quality of life for all Oregonians through the arts by stimulating creativity, leadership and economic vitality.

Vision: The Oregon Arts Commission envisions a future where communities celebrate creative expression, artists and arts organizations thrive through robust public support, the arts are recognized as an essential economic driver and Oregon is recognized as a leader for equity and inclusion in the arts.

Business Oregon houses the Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. The Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust administer both federal and state investments in arts and culture.

The Arts Commission expresses its sincere gratitude to former Arts Commissioner Julie Vigeland for her work in making this event possible.