OCH News: December 2007

Help OCH "Kick It to Culture"

Because OCH is one of five partners of the Oregon Cultural Trust, I'm pleased to invite each of you to join us for a kicker party celebrating Oregon's art, culture, and humanities, sponsored by the Cultural Trust and the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, on Monday, December 10, 2007, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts (1111 SW Broadway).

The event--which will include free food and drink, and musical entertainment by Clampitt, Gaddis & Buck--is to encourage Oregonians to use part of their state kicker checks to "kick some dollars to culture." Admission is a donation of any size to OCH or any of the many arts and culture nonprofit organizations at the event. That gift makes you eligible for a tax credit if you then make a matching gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Even if you can't make it to the party, I hope you'll keep OCH in mind for holiday giving. I want to share with you some very tangible examples of how your gift can have an immediate impact on the lives of your fellow Oregonians:

$40 can pay for bus tickets so that one HIP student can get to and from class for five weeks.

$50 can pay the travel expenses for one Oregon Chautauqua scholar to visit a rural community.

$75 can make it possible for eighteen Oregonians to receive Oregon Humanities magazine.

$120 can pay for course books for one HIP student for an entire year.

$600 can pay for the cost of one Oregon Chautauqua presentation in an Oregon community near you.

$1,000 can pay for one teacher to attend a summer Teacher Institute, which positively affects the education of hundreds of Oregon students each year.

Please make a gift today, either online, by phone at (503) 241-0543 / (800) 735-0543, or by mailing a check to the address listed below. If you would like to make arrangements to make a larger donation and pay monthly, call our office and talk with our development staff to arrange that gift. I promise that your end-of-year gift will ensure that OCH continues providing programs and publications that help Oregonians manage social, cultural, and political challenges, and, ultimately, shape the future of our communities.

Sincerely,

Cara Ungar-Gutierrez

Responsible for her words

HIP student Cosmo Shay Rosovsky turns to the Greeks for direction and meaning.

Cosmo Shay Rosovsky grew up in a military environment, one that she described as having a stringent structure but lacking in the kind of integrity she craved. Her experience with formal education was similarly conflicted and ended during the ninth grade, when her teacher hit her and called her a homophobic slur. A self-described poet, her reaction to this atmosphere was to seek a kind of "creative chaos"--leaving home at fifteen for the streets of New York City, then Portland, doing manual labor for thirty years until her body told her it was time for a change.

After seeing a HIP flyer at Sisters of the Road--a nonprofit organization that serves homeless people--Cosmo knew HIP was for her because she'd always wanted to study philosophy and writing. She identifies with Thucydides and Pericles, and values the Greek concept that knowledge leads to understanding. "I love the ideal of Athens, and I do the best I can do--I try to understand the society I'm in," she says. "Thucydides would say, 'Look at your society right now.' Society needs to undo the knots, do some self-reflection, and make some sacrifices."

HIP has been Cosmo's version of intellectual boot camp, giving her the education she needs to create change in a society that she views as "needing to look within itself" for lessons and guidance. After personally equating freedom with excess during her homeless years, Cosmo wants to share the ideas of equality and empathy she has learned from the ancient texts with others. "Thucydides talks about the moral words. Words have a meaning and power that can't be turned on and off," Cosmo explains. "I want to learn to be responsible for my words."

Gift-giving ideas at the OCH online bookstore

HIP student Desiree Smith finds courage and inspiration in the humanities

Almost one hundred people attended The First Oregonians reading at Powell's bookstore in Portland last month to hear writers Minerva Soucie, Wil Phinney, and George Wasson (pictured, left to right), and editor Laura Berg read from the book and describe their work on the project.

There will be more First Oregonians' events scheduled throughout the state next year, but you can visit the OCH online bookstore now to buy a copy of the book for yourself or as a holiday gift for a friend or family member. While there, you can also buy copies of OCH's Commonplace Lectures chapbooks, which range in topics such as rural development, how science and democracy can work together, and the impact of Oregon's Russian and Ukrainian population on the state. Check the bookstore again in early January to purchase a copy of the latest lecture, Mark Trahant's "Roads, Interstates, and the Oregon Trail," which explores at the challenges faced by urban Indians.

Venture out and learn something new

Although winter is a natural time to turn inward with a good book, a nice fire, and a warm drink, it can also be a great time to venture out to talk and think with neighbors, friends, and even strangers. An Oregon Chautauqua program can be just the thing to get your mind humming and conversation flowing. Through the end of February, OCH will offer more than fifty Oregon Chautauqua programs around the state. Please visit the OCH calendar to find one near you.

Interested in serving as an Oregon Chautauqua presenter? OCH is currently accepting proposals for new Oregon Chautauqua programs for 2008-09. We are particularly interested in programs that can help OCH enhance its "Borders and Boundaries" programming theme, which seeks to explore notions of nation and state, race and class, identity and community. Download the guidelines and application forms for more information. The deadline for proposals is February 1, 2008.