Traditional Arts of the Oregon Country, 1998-1999, 1998-1999

The Traditional Arts of the Oregon Country collection consists of color slides, B&W and color photographs, cassette recordings (both oral histories and performances), fieldnotes, a touring exhibit, a student magazine, artifacts and ephemera. The Traditional Arts of the Oregon Country (TAOC) was a collaborative project between the Oregon Folklife Program and the Oregon State Library System, with additional funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Arts Commission. The project started with a statewide survey. Laura Marcus, project coordinator, compiled the material gathered by three fieldworkers into a touring exhibit. The photo exhibit traveled to twelve public libraries around the state. At each site a performance or demonstration by a traditional artist, a slide journey through Oregon's folk arts, and a community-writing workshop brought traditional arts to the public.

Images encompass a wide variety of objects and practices including Plateau-style cradleboards, quilts, Tarascan straw weaving, Iu-Mien traditional dress, Cantonese musicians and instruments, Filipino parole or paper lanterns, chainsaw carvings, saddle making, rawhide work, ropemaking, fish net mending, foodways, musician performances, and festivals. The images held in seven binders were organized primarily by region: 1) TAOC exhibit; 2) TACO best of; 3) Coastal Region; 4) Coastal B&W; 5) Central Region; 6) Eastern; and 7) Willamette Valley and Southern.

A student magazine, Traditional Arts ofthe Oregon Country, was created as a part of the Oregon Folklife Series, and accompanied a touring exhibit with the same title. This instructional unit won the 2001 Dorothy Howard Award from the American Folklore Soc