Story by Jaclyn Morris
Photos by Jill Sockolov
Last Friday found people packed so closely inside the Oregon Arts Alliance (OAA) it was hard to move. The crowd chattered excitedly about the night’s featured art exhibit: Salmon Dance. With work ranging from photographs to mixed media, the event highlighted the art of several Native American artists who are raising money to restore salmon to the McCloud River.
Salmon Dance included a warm welcome to the crowd, free food, and a performance by the Native American dance company Icicle Creek. For the dance, the group called upon volunteers from the audience. Men were separated from women in two lines as a symbol of the way salmon travel up the river. The participants imitated swimming and jumping through waterfalls, ultimately uniting in one “stream” of dancers. The evening also featured a song by Tuck’ush, a medicine man from Warm Springs, and a silent auction of fourteen pieces of art displayed exclusively for opening night. The exhibit will continue to be displayed until Saturday, May 28.
Ethos sat down with both OAA executive director Robert Tomlinson and featured artist Lemuel Charley to talk about the exhibit and some of the reasons for hosting it.
Jaclyn Morris: What is the OAA?
Robert Tomlinson: The OAA is an eight-year old nonprofit organization. Our mission basically is one around economic development for artists all over the state now. It used to be just Lane County but now we’ve expanded. We offer a series of workshops and classes under the umbrella of the art of doing business. Our focus is supporting low- to moderate-income artists, but everyone is welcome.
JM: What impact has your organization had on the community as a whole since you started?
RT: I don’t know! I wouldn’t know how to measure that. I mean, certainly we’ve helped artists stay in their studio by learning the business side of art. Since September, we’ve had this wonderful gallery space, so we provide an opportunity to expose people’s work and sell it. We are generating income through sales for artists, but also there’s a sense of a peer group amongst the members. We’re also located in the heart of the Eugene ArtWalk so on First Friday we’re sort of the heartbeat of it.
JM: What made you choose to host this art exhibit?
RT: We felt that it was an important opportunity to support the effort to bring back the salmon. We’re excited to get to have the chance to support the Winnemem Wintu tribe and their efforts to do it.
JM: Lemuel, how did you get involved in coordinating this exhibit?
Lemuel Charley: I got involved through the Winnemem Support Group of Oregon. I’m the facilitator for them for this exhibit and auction. I was the one who actually did the art call out and was the connection to get the pieces here so we could have this exhibit.
JM: Tell me a little more about the reason for this exhibit.
LC: Back in the 1930s and 1940s, there was a food shortage worldwide. Because the salmon was very abundant here in the Northwest, they were transplanted to different regions of the world. At all the places that the salmon were transplanted, they all died and became extinct, except in south New Zealand because salmon, as you know, need really cold water in order to survive. But when the fish was actually transplanted (through the time the dams on the McCloud River were being formed), the salmon on that river actually became extinct.
The Winnemem Wintu were looking to bring the salmon back and thinking that their whole existence of who they are was dying with the salmon. That’s when the people in New Zealand called them up and asked, “Do you want your salmon back?” For many generations they actually thought that their salmon had become extinct until that phone call came to them. And that was the origin of what we’re doing here to get the knowledge out to they people saying to bring the salmon back.
JM: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
RT: One of the things that I think is remarkable is the amount of people that are involved in this exhibit that are giving their time and energy to make it happen. It’s been a really wonderful experience for me. And also, it’s been [a reminder] for me to remember how the spiritual is such an important component to art.
 

Gallery • 1 Photos

Robert Tomlinson and Lemuel Charley, Welcoming Back the Salmon