in 1871 Illinois botanist Elihu Hall took the train to Oregon to collect botanical specimens. Sometime in the 1850’s Hall had discovered there was a market for specimens of native plants from the west…plants that had never been collected or identified. His first collecting trip was in 1862 to Colorado, accompanying Dr. Charles Parry (the […]
I’ve always had a studio in my adult life, and have come to appreciate the “solitary apart-ness” of such a place. Visitors may come in (or they could before Covid-19), of course…and are welcomed…BUT…the space is my space, arranged the way I want it, where I can work for hours, sit and stare, think. A […]
This is the second state Capitol Building here in Salem…the one that burned on April 25, 1935. Many many photographs of the views of the surrounding town were taken from the top of this cupola. One of the early views of Salem though was a drawn as an aerial map …before photos were readily available… […]
Here is an iconic moment in time for Salem, and for our neighborhood. On April 25, 1935 (85 years ago from this writing) a raging fire consumed the roof and copper dome of this, Oregon’s second State Capitol building built in 1874. It was designed by the Portland firm of architects Justus F. Krumbein and […]
The Court Chemeketa Residential Historic District (CCRHD) is one great neighborhood. It’s close to downtown, to Willamette University, to the State Capitol and campus, walk-able and tree lined…but best of all it’s just a neighborhood of exceptional people and staunch GARDENERS. Last week in the middle of a beautiful but scarily warm and sunny fall […]
In cleaning one closet out this weekend and throwing away lots, taking a box to Goodwill, some things to file…I found a stack of cards that a local funeral parlor (now the site of a Starbuck’s) made up in the 1950’s and handed out. They are all photos of Salem from the early 1900’s and […]
The installation “MKGuth: Paying Attention” opened last night at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, and runs until April 1, 2018, giving you plenty of time to get over and take a look at a show that is fascinating on many levels. The opening featured Guth herself and a host of other readers…students, […]
On the whole this is NOT a season of good news, though at last the debates are finished. The other day we noticed that something super-nice is happening downtown though…from the point of view of preservationists like us. The building which housed the S&H green stamp store in the 70’s and 80’s is being restored! […]
Francis John Newton was a curator at the Portland Art Museum from 1953 to 1960. In 1960 he became Director of the museum until he retired in 1975. He was very involved in the Portland art community, and well remembered. We came to Oregon in 1970 and as “new kids from a different neighborhood (Salem)” […]
We made a quick stop at the Multnomah County Library the other day for research purposes. Up in the Rare Book Room we were able to look at some WPA photos of the Oregon Federal art Projects. First, in these images of the Portland office, R noticed three Louis Bunce paintings on the wall (Bunce […]
On The Way 