Exhibit reveals struggles of salmon

An integrative arts-and-science education program in Sisters will host an artists' reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 4 at Sisters Art Works. The community is invited to come and learn about fish reintroduction in local streams and rivers.

The show title is Defenseless Through the Water, meant to depict the struggles that salmon and steelhead have faced in their reintroduction into Whychus Creek. Within the show are six projects, including: A collaborative watercolor making a salmon; an interactive project using Ph measurements; a fish print piece; a pair of waders filled with native plants collected on expeditions; a fish-skin installation from the Wizard Falls Hatchery, and a photo piece depicting a healthy riparian zone.

This spring, a portion of the Sisters High School IEE (Interdisciplinary Environmental Education) class spent four weeks exploring and taking data on rivers around Central Oregon. The project was a collaboration, with teacher Glen Herron collecting scientific data; and artist and instructor Laura Campbell taking the collected data and translating it into an artistic interpretation.

The group of seven girls that worked on the final art show were encouraged to explore new types of art such as installation and found-object. During multiple field studies along Whychus Creek, they were asked to look at the natural world through artists' eyes and scientists' eyes, melding the two disciplines into one.

The artist-scientists are Cammi Benson, Taylor Schneider, Hannah Ceciliani, Taylor Eagan, Kayla Neil, Rylee Hurtley and Shayla Curtis.

"We are very excited to be opening up our research to the public, and we all hope everyone who comes enjoys the show as much as we have enjoyed putting it together," the students proclaimed.

The program was made possible by a grant secured by Sisters Folk Festival Development Director Katy Yoder through the Gray Family Foundation.