News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters Country artist and arts advocate Kathy Deggendorfer will serve for the next four years on the board of directors of the Oregon Cultural Trust.
The trust is dedicated to increasing public and private support for the arts and for Oregon's heritage, with the goal of creating a permanent $200 million endowment for culture.
Deggendorfer will join Pamela Hulse Andrews as the two east-of-the-Cascades residents serving on the 12-member board. She considers representation critical to promotion of arts and culture in the region.
"I'd like to advocate for cultural events and music, art and historical preservation in the eastern half of the state," she said.
Deggendorfer is an advocate for community partnerships that boost arts in education as well as in an economic role in communities. She notes that state funding for the arts in schools has steadily dwindled, forcing communities to figure out ways that non-profits and the private sector can fill the gap.
Deggendorfer was instrumental in creating the Sisters Folk Festival's Americana Project, which has succeeded in linking the Sisters community together in support of music and the arts.
"I think the Americana Project is an excellent example of community-based arts education and preservation," she said.
As a board member, Deggendorfer will sit in on grant distribution. Those grants include:
•Grants to county and tribal planning groups for cultural activities and priorities, helping them shape programs that increase access to culture.
•Grants to expand and stabilize cultural organizations throughout the state.
•Funding for cultural agencies to strengthen programs and support new partnerships.
The artist noted that heritage preservation is a key part of the trust's mission. For example, the trust funded restoration of a 1920s-era garden in Salem.
Oregon citizens can make gifts to the Oregon Cultural Trust and claim the entire contribution as a tax credit. This is an attractive feature of the trust for Deggendorfer.
"As a taxpayer you can get really frustrated paying your tax dollar and not knowing where it goes," she said. "Where else can you direct your tax dollars? At least you can direct it to your region."
Deggendorfer is an artist whose work shows at High Desert Gallery. She was selected to create the Oregon ornament for the National Christmas Tree in 2008. She is a former chair of the Sisters Folk Festival board of directors, founder of the My Own Two Hands art fundraiser, an author and an advocate for the arts and for Oregon farmers.
For more information on the Oregon Cultural Trust, visit http://www.culturaltrust.org.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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