News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Donna Rice presents a $10,000 check to Lisa Leonard of National Forest Foundation, as quilters and public officials look on.
Quilters, city officials and representatives of the Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation (NFF) gathered on Friday to celebrate two things that help form the identity of the Sisters community: Quilting and the wonders of nature.
Quilter Donna Rice presented Lisa Leonard of NFF with a $10,000 check, proceeds from the sale of the "Two Rivers, Three Sisters" quilt installation - a 40-foot-long quilt made up of 17 quilt panels by Central Oregon quilt artists, celebrating the city of Sisters' natural surroundings and unique quilting culture.
The City of Sisters was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Oregon Arts Commission/Ford Family Foundation to acquire the collaborative quilt work. Additional funding for the purchase was provided by The Roundhouse Foundation, the Koons Family Foundation of the Oregon Community Foundation, and individual donors. Many of the quilt makers generously donated to the purchase of the piece.
The NFF is matching the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show's total donation 1:1 for a total of $24,500. There is still one waterfall quilt for sale for $1,500. Once that final quilt is sold, the total donation amount, with matching funds, will be $26,000.
According to the NFF's Leonard, "Specifically the funds are going to the future overlook site on Whychus Creek." She said the goal is to construct the overlook viewing area in October.
Seeing the installation in a permanent home at city hall brings great satisfaction to outgoing Quilt Show executive director Ann Richardson.
"I've been hoping for quite a while that this would happen," she told the assemblage on Friday.
She recalled that the first planning meeting for the quilt was held at city hall, with sketches of panels taped on the wall where the exhibit now hangs.
City Manager Andrew Gorayeb thanked the quilters for their work.
"I am a devout fly-fisherman," he said, "so it's very near and dear to my heart. I love this thing. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it... the depth and the complexity and the beauty of it are amazing. Thank you all for what is obviously a labor of love."
The city will have to miss the quilts for a few months. They will be on display at the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland during August and September. A First Friday opening reception is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on August 2 and is open to the public.
After a trip to Yokohama Quilt Show in Japan in early November, the quilts will return to their permanent home.
For purchase information on the remaining quilt, contact Ann Richardson at 541-549-0989.
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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