This quarantine has provided us with a lot of sad moments, a lot of “meh” moments, and a few very exciting moments. In May the Clifford Gleason and Bonnie Hull exhibits were due to open but…alas, Covid 19. Today though, today was one of those very exciting moments. Today was the first open day in […]
Category: Salem
And Then There Comes a Day…
Mostly this time since March 13th, when quarantine began here, has been…well…flat. A medical, cultural and economic crisis continues to whirl in the big world but we have been confined to a little world (and while I consider it to have been “flat”, the curator thinks it has been a reverie, a calming time of […]
Personal History
On June 24, 1970, Roger Hull and I drove into Salem, Oregon. It was Soap Box Derby day with the date painted in big letters on the bottom of the track in blue. I thought I might always remember that date, and I was right. It was a big month for us, June, 1970. R […]
1918
This photo came to light the other day and it fascinated me…the cycles of history…how we didn’t know this exactly…these young women were all Willamette students in 1918, and the photograph was taken at the Salem Train Station. On the back was written “Had to go home. Union Depot to catch train to Portland. Closed […]
“What is the Most Important Thing”
A rainy Salem Day… The mail brought a couple of interesting envelopes today…Natalie’s with a long-ago souvenir of Salem (the prison?? “Just From the Pen”) and Claudia’s with interesting things swept up from the drawer… and on the envelop this thought… Which led to our conversation during the little afternoon drive we took today in […]
“Memory As Myth”
It turns out my exhibit, “Memory as Myth”…due to open today at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, was perfectly titled. On June 6th Roger Hull’s Clifford Gleason exhibit “The Promise of Paint” was to have a grand opening and it would be the opening reception for me too. So we join artists and curators […]
A View from the Top
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… […]
April 25, 1935
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 […]
Rye Bread and the Kindness of Friends
Another random, nonsensical day filled with odd and wonderful moments. Today I thought that really the truth is we’ll all look back on this time of isolation as a magical time, a transitional time between “the good old days” and the difficulties that lie ahead, which we are beginning to understand will become more pronounced. […]
Finding Your Own Way
The days seem to “zoom” by… I’m not THINKING about this situation so much as just trying to survive it. I want to go have coffee with my drawing friends… and so on. So do you. So does everybody. I no longer think in terms of “inspirational messages”… only just in terms of getting through […]