Makaela Kroin On Tuesday, May 2nd, a crowd of people packed the Vernonia Public Library to join in a community conversation with retired timbermen Don Webb and Fred Heller. The event was one of a series of public presentations that wrapped up OFN’s folklife survey of the Portland Metro Area. Folklorist, Makaela Kroin, launched the… Continue reading →
Makaela Kroin OHS has a festive afternoon planned for June 11th, 2017, 2-4 pm. Five featured Portland Metro Area folk artists will perform or demonstrate a variety of cultural traditions, from traditional Kenyan cooking techniques to Estonian folk dance. Rounding out the program will be interactive demonstrations of Oaxacan weaving, Coquille/Coos canoe paddle carving, and… Continue reading →
Brad McMullen From April 20th-22nd, the Oregon Folklife Network hosted the annual Association of Western States Folklorists meeting. This gathering brings together public folklorists throughout the American West to discuss their current work and learn new skills. This year was especially exciting because the Western States Folklore Society (WSFS) also had its annual conference in… Continue reading →
Alina Mansfield We are pleased to announce the release of Oregon Folklife Network’s first publication: Culture Keepers of Eastern Oregon. In the Spring of 2016, Folklorists Douglas Manger and Joseph O’Connell visited communities throughout the Eastern Oregon region and interviewed cowboys, ranchers, quilters, water witchers, stone masons, old time musicians, community poets, fly tiers, fishing… Continue reading →
With deep sadness, we mourn the passing of dear friend and colleague Carol Spellman, 1951-2017. Carol was a folklorist’s folklorist. The Oregon Folklife Network, the state of Oregon, and the entire field of folklore would be the poorer without Carol’s impressive body of work for the Oregon Folklife Program. “All who knew Carol are invited… Continue reading →
The Oregon Folklife Network is a proud partner of the FisherPoets Gathering. Each year we journey to Astoria at the end of February to bask in the reflected glory of these commercial fishermen (and women!) who celebrate their occupational tradition in poetry, prose, and song as well as visual art. OFN interviews several fisherpoets each… Continue reading →
With great pleasure, we announce the opening of our newest exhibit, Gorgeous Sounds: Music Along the Columbia River, in the Window Gallery of our Knight Library office at the University of Oregon, Eugene Campus. Gorgeous Sounds celebrates several of the musicians that fieldworkers Nancy Nusz and Deborah Fant documented during the 2015 Folklife Survey of the… Continue reading →
From February 2-4, the 33rd annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (Elko, NV) hosted over fifty poets and musicians, plus vendors and folklorists, and the works of dozens of traditional artists. The event celebrates the living heritage of working ranchers, cowboys, and cowgirls. Morning to night, songs and stories spilled out from the Elko Convention Center. Audiences browsed… Continue reading →
The 2016 Portland Metro Folklife Survey is the fourth in a series of OFN’s regional surveys to identify and document folk and traditional artists in Oregon. We are grateful for funding from a Folk & Traditional Arts Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as for additional support from the… Continue reading →
We are currently accepting applications from master artists and their apprentices for our Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP). One of the Oregon Folklife Network’s cornerstone programs, TAAP assists master artists to teach and pass on their living traditions to promising apprentices from the same cultural background. Master artists receive stipends to cover costs of focused,… Continue reading →
