Foundation rendezvous in Sisters

Sisters is a model of community engagement between the arts community, public agencies, nonprofits and schools. That made it a perfect site for an Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) rendezvous that carried the theme of "community engagement."

The rendezvous is a twice-a-year event conducted at one of the 18 sites that are implementing an innovative five-year OCF-funded project called Studio to Schools. Sisters Folk Festival (SFF) was awarded a Studio to Schools grant and is implementing the program in Sisters schools.

According to OCF, "Studio to School is a multi-year grant initiative supporting 18 collaborative projects between schools and community arts organizations to design and deliver sustainable arts-education opportunities that have the potential for replication. Activities can occur both during the school day and in out-of-school time. Through this project, The Oregon Community Foundation aims to increase arts opportunities for underserved youth in grades K-8 and to support communities in strengthening their networks and capacity to offer year-round arts education."

Last week's rendezvous was headquartered at The Belfry, with groups scattering around Sisters to the many locations used by the Sisters Folk Festival as venues to take in different ways communities can make connections.

"Sisters and what (is) going on there was always something we'd use to illustrate what we're trying to do," said Michelle Boss Barba of OCF.

One of the speakers was Milenko Matanovic, who advocated for the importance of creating spaces where people can gather to engage with one another and with the arts.

SFF Creative Director Brad Tisdel noted that, "Fir Street Park is exactly the kind of space he was talking about."

SFF is hosting two free concerts there this summer, and offering free music at the park during the festival in September.

Tisdel noted that the two-day rendezvous offered Sisters organizations like the Sisters Rodeo, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, SFF and the schools an opportunity to show community engagement in action.

Team members from each of the 18 grant sites gather at the rendezvous to collaborate, share ideas. She described the rendezvous as "a professional-development/teambuilding/network-building event."

There were speakers, panel discussions, and performances by Americana Project students and by Tisdel.

"Brad gave a wonderful closing to the whole two days," Boss Barba said.

Boss Barba said that she is starting to see more collaboration between communities as they work together to establish best practices for sustainable arts education.

She noted that the event was a nice opportunity for folks from across Oregon to experience Sisters.

"We had so many people who had never been to Sisters," she said. "It really provided a nice retreat for some, in addition to an opportunity to train."

"It was a powerful experience," said Tisdel. "And one that set us up well as a community and also as an organization to do some pretty remarkable work."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

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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