Participants of 2019 Master Artist Gathering in Bend, OR. Photo from Oregon Folklife Network.

In mid-April, Oregon Folklife Network will host a “Roster Artist Gathering” in Bend’s High Desert Museum.  Twenty-five traditional artists with profiles on OFN’s Oregon Culture Keepers Roster responded to our invitation to convene for a weekend to build community, share traditions, and discuss values and concerns affecting culture keepers today. Fifteen Oregon counties will be represented along with nineteen unique cultural arts/traditions. The Oregon Folklife Network is looking forward to hearing directly from culture keepers how we can provide better programming and resources to Oregon’s diverse cultural communities.  One product of the event will be the creation of a Culture Bearers Advisory Board — an advisory council of traditional artists and cultural services administrators to help guide our 3-year strategic plan and 10-year vision of statewide folk and traditional arts programming. Resources produced during this event will be available to all artists on OFN’s Oregon Culture Keepers Roster later this spring.

This activity is made possible by the Oregon Cultural Trust, the Oregon Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Western Arts Federation.

This is an event closed to the public; however, if you are a traditional artist and opportunities like this event are of interest, contact Program Coordinator Kait Glasswell at kaitg@uoregon.edu and we can ensure that you are made aware of opportunities like the Roster Artist Gathering in the future.