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The Power Eastern Oregon Podcast explores topics which affect small towns and rural communities in eastern Oregon and beyond. With the help of business and community partners, we will discuss the foundations of healthy communities, innovative new technologies, and challenges we all face. We’ll also explore the value of cooperatives and member-owned utilities and how Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative contributes to the health and growth of our service territory.
Paige Witham:
Welcome to the Power Eastern Oregon Podcast,
where we celebrate the people and partnerships that make Eastern
Oregon thrive. I'm your host, Paige,
marketing and community relations coordinator at Oregon Trail
Electric Cooperative. And today with us,
we have Ginger Savage, executive director of Crossroads Carnegie
Arts Center, and board member of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition
of Oregon.
Ginger, welcome to the podcast.
Ginger Savage:
Well, thank you so much for having me.
Paige Witham:
Yeah. Happy to. I can't wait to get to know more about you and
the stories and the community impact you're seeing through arts
and culture. But before we kick that off,
let's do our safety share.
The summer months bring camping and outdoor fun,
but it's so important to always be aware of wildfire risks and
what we can do to avoid catastrophic wildfires that dramatically
impact rural eastern Oregon.
So make sure to always look at the burn bans for your area and
follow the drown,
stir and fuel method to ensure your fire is out cold.
You can visit otec.coop/wildfire for more safety and prevention
tips.
Ginger anything to add to that?
Ginger Savage:
No, but we know this year is going to be high fire warnings,
so make sure you do everything we can to prevent it.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely. So let's get into it.
Ginger, will you tell us a little bit about yourself,
and what first pulled you towards art and culture work?
Ginger Savage:
Well, Ginger Savage, I've been with Crossroads for 18 years as
the executive director.
And when they came to me with the idea of bringing me into arts
and culture,
it was an unusual. I have a business background.
My degrees are in business and psychology and all those sorts of
fun things,
and I had been working in banking and in insurance.
But it was this real rare opportunity.
The Carnegie Library had completed its restoration,
six year restoration in 2008.
And they offered me basically the first full time directorship of
this brand new building that they had spent all this time and
treasure to get together. And so I have not an artistic bone in
my body.
And so, it was a real rare opportunity to work into a completely
different sector and to use those skills that I had developed in
the community, writing grants and being part of a volunteer team
and being collaborative,
and it's just been such a joy. And I have grown so much as a
person in the last 18 years.
Paige Witham:
Wow. That is awesome. So in sort of that community feel,
what local tradition,
venue or community gathering place feels like home to you?
I feel like I might have an inkling of the answer here,
but.
Ginger Savage:
I, well who knows? Yeah. For me personally,
I love to do theater,
and I just wish I had more time.
But for Crossroads' mission, one of the things that sort of I
inherited when I took the job was a program called Make It and
Take It, and it is a Christmas kids craft event.
And they would, when Crossroads was in what people in Baker know
as Glacier 45,
the old Neuberger Highlander building. They did Make It and Take
It all these years.
And it would be the day of the Christmas parade in Baker.
And then right before that, they would have this free or
low-priced kids craft activity.
So the kids would then just boil out onto the streets to be able
to participate in the Christmas parade.
And so then when I took over the job,
and we're over in the Carnegie Library,
I got to take part and take over that event.
And over the years, we've moved it as part of Festival of Trees.
And it's one of those things that I always tell the person,
volunteer in this case,
our education coordinator who organizes the event,
I have to do that.
Because it is that point where I'm sitting at a table teaching
kids how to do the love of craft that I learned from my mother.
And it is like the most – it fuels my tank for all the other
things I do all year long.
And so it's always part of Festival Trees on Saturday during
Family Day.
So make sure you come and bring your kids and do crafts.
And we actually do, we'll have a craft table at Oregon Trail Days
in June,
and then we do an event with the Interpretive Center called
Haunting on the Hill. So we do Halloween crafts, so I get lots of
chance to get to do crafts with kids.
Paige Witham:
Oh, I love that. With two little ones myself,
it's like that, it's awesome to hear someone else have such a
passion for that. Let's talk about some community wins.
So what project, event or program are you most proud of from the
past year?
Ginger Savage:
Well, we're really, really proud.
So last year it came to my attention,
there was these notations and grants about America250.
And I'm like, okay, you know, I literally had to go look it up.
And so of course, this year is the 250th anniversary of the
signing of the Declaration of Independence,
our country's birthday. And as a kid,
I remember the bicentennial,
and I was at that really great age that it was so impactful to
me.
And so I got really excited about America250.
So started last year with Crossroads,
and we were able, really fortunate to get some support from trust
management, the Braemer Charitable Trust,
to put together a video working with DDRC Marketing and La Grande
of local community members just reading a portion of the
Declaration of Independence,
highlighting the beauty of Baker County throughout Baker County
in different locations.
And so we started filming in October.
We filmed for four consecutive months over.
We were able to get up to Anthony Lakes with the snow that they
did have right in January,
and we got that done. And Oregon 250 Commission also gave us some
additional resources with the project.
And that video is actually out on the Crossroads YouTube page,
and it has just been so well received
of local citizens talking about the power of that founding
document to our daily lives,
our modern daily lives. And we just think it showcases the beauty
of Eastern Oregon that has just been
such a joy. And it just sort of sits out there,
and we hope you share it with friends and just spend some time
with our Declaration. And another project we're super excited
with our partnership with the Interpretive Center is the Oregon
folklife programing that we're doing. So we bring every month
culture keepers who are folk and traditional crafts people who
have learned from family or generational teaching around
traditional craft.
And so every month for three days,
we have a residency up at the Interpretive Center.
And so we've had Sara Barton from the Burns Paiute Tribe sharing
her basket weaving in April.
We just had AK Moss or Kathy Moss from Prairie City as a cowboy
poet.
And in June we will bring Roberta Kirk,
who is a Warm Springs bead worker.
So throughout the year, and we have that all out on our website.
It's just been such fun work and it's all kind of part of this
sharing the story of America250.
Paige Witham:
Yeah, I love that. And if you haven't seen that video yet,
please,
please take the time to watch it.
Every like clip I've seen or, you know,
watching the full video through,
it's emotional, and it's beautiful work.
Let's talk about a story that shows how arts and culture brought
people together in a meaningful way.
Ginger Savage:
Well, that's really easy. It was September of 2023,
and it was early in the morning and I just happened to have the
front door open. And the door opens and I go out,
and it's the local born artist,
Gary Ernest Smith, and his wife,
who had come to town for some business.
And he's looked around Crossroads,
and he said, "I have an idea.
Can I come back and talk to you?" And thus began the journey of
Gary's Show,
Gary Ernest Smith Towards Home,
the Art of Gary Ernest Smith, which we were able to unveil in
2024 for a six week exhibition. And to have that child of this
community
go on to be one of the premiere contemporary Western artists.
It was something we needed to celebrate.
And so OTEC was a huge part of our success,
and that way that we wove the story.
He's always, his whole career, he's in his 80s,
has painted the images of Eastern Oregon.
The real people who work in agriculture and who farm and who
ranch and who do that really
meaningful, hard, hard work of communities.
And, you know, many people still talk about we had Gary's work on
banners all along our main street.
You know, we had an ag dinner. We brought all the farm and ranch
community together to have dinner with Gary to sort of talk about
and thank them for all that they do.
The grand opening at the Interpretive Center,
which had just reopened and the grand opening at Crossroads,
it just really did this collective storytelling,
and people would just show up at the art center and sit and talk
to Gary. We had ice cream socials.
We just did this really hometown kind of thing and that
interweaving of art,
storytelling, community-based. It was just such an incredible
joy,
and it had such an impact on the community.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely. And it's wonderful to me.
Art is always storytelling, but it's really,
really special when it is from home.
So it was a really, really cool thing to see.
Let's talk about a moment when your organization and the
community supported one another.
Ginger Savage:
Oh, well, I, there's so much. It's sort of like it's an everyday
occurrence for each other.
But I will tell a little bit because it's not something,
and it's years back.
But it's a unique kind of slice of life.
So many people know that my husband is the Baker County assessor.
And so we were literally dropping a child off at the airport when
he gets a phone call that the pipes had broken in the county
courthouse, and his office was like one of the ground zeros of
cascading water everywhere.
Well, in his world, like one of the spots,
they had files on their desks that literally was under the
stream. And it was all of the address changes.
People had sent their little slip when they had paid their taxes,
and it was all of these address slips that were just soaking wet.
The ink was bleeding, and it was like,
we just don't know what to do and how do we dry this out?
And I said, "Well, dear, you know,
somebody who runs an art center.
We have a room full of tables. We have light boards.
We have counters." You know, and the first thing I did was here
they were in this mess,
and there was no coffee because the water had been shut off.
So I made a pot of coffee, and I said,
come and get coffee, so your staff has.
And so we dried out documents from the county for days.
I mean, the staff would come in and flip them and spread them
out.
And so and it again, and then I helped him with the grant that
would sustain the assessor's office with their ability then to
digitize those documents, because it was just this weird sort of
little sad moment.
You know, the courthouse is now beautiful and all that again.
But we have a unique set of tools at Crossroads,
and you never know when we might be able to be helpful with
certain things. So this is just one of those little side stories
of something unique that people don't see. But, you know, every
day our community is supporting Crossroads,
supporting our arts program and,
you know, helping us with the Interpretive Center project. So
it's kind of varied and deep.
Paige Witham:
Yeah. That's awesome. So let's talk about some innovation and
training in the space of arts.
What is one creative trend or new approach that you're excited
about right now,
either in your community or in the arts world?
Ginger Savage:
Well, I know because it just wrapped up yesterday,
and I've been part of the managing team for the New Destination
Baker Community Tourism promotion that's being done through the
city of Baker City.
They've hired Hub Collective to bring together how we market
getting people and travel and tourism guests to come visit
Destination Baker. And you really see that's where arts and
culture interacts,
you know, just in every aspect of our life.
And, you know, fonts, colors, design choices are all part of
that.
And we're really excited about that new opportunity to highlight
this community.
So one of the things that I was asking my art director about it,
so like with our shows at crossroads this year,
just this year alone, there are these unique collaborations
brought forth for featured shows,
predominantly of women. And they're working together to create a
vision for a show.
And in fact, there will be 11 women featured just through our
natural selection process for our art shows this
year. So it's a real opportunity to come in and not only see some
really great art,
but how women connect in their creative process to put something
up on the wall.
And the other really kind of oddball thing,
you're talking about something new that's happened right now.
Paige Witham:
Yeah.
Ginger Savage:
Okay. So we've been dealing with this one.
So there was a huge news story across the country that somebody
found a Picasso in grandma's garage or something,
you know? And so the number of people who've walked in our door
at Crossroads with like,
is this really something? You know,
is this like big time art, you know?
And so yeah, that's how, we laughing about it because we've had
multiple visits,
like, because people are now looking at everything in the back
room thinking is this,
you know, the unknown art treasure.
And so we always, unfortunately,
we really can't help them a lot.
We're not art assessors or anything like that,
but we can always give them resources.
But that's just been the, just happened recently,
so it's kind of been top of mind for the staff.
So we have our hands in lots of different things at Crossroads.
Paige Witham:
Totally. And I will say I looked at the new website,
it is beautiful.
And when you're talking about color choices and font and
everything, as the marketing coordinator here,
that's like the world I live in,
and it makes my heart so happy to see a project done so,
so well.
Ginger Savage:
Yeah, we're really excited about it. Let's just hope that
everybody can come and visit us in Baker City.
Paige Witham:
Yeah, absolutely. So let's talk about how you are helping people
build skills,
youth, adults, volunteers, emerging artists.
There's a lot of things you guys do.
Ginger Savage:
So I always, I always start at the beginning. In 1963,
when this organization was sort of generally put together,
the very first thing that happened was sister Rose Lima.
This is in our history. Sister Rose Lima was one of the nuns,
here in Baker City.
Her first, the first class was Sister Rose Lima's watercolor
class.
It was like $2 a class. So, I mean,
we have been doing classes and education programing since
inception. And so I'm really blessed to have a fantastic
education coordinator in Melody Chaves who's really growing our
programs. And so we do, we kind of.
it's Baker, so we do it all. You know,
we have youth classes, we have adult classes.
And it's such a core part of our mission.
So our class schedule, we now put it in every mailbox,
every quarter.
We just had one go out. So if you have not got it,
you need to talk to somebody in your household who might have
thrown it away, but you should have gotten it.
And so we also have those available online.
We also have them at the Art Center.
And that's everything that we offer in any one quarter.
We have this beautiful pay what you can program that we're very
excited about.
So it's like, yeah, I'd take a class Ginger,
but you know, my family budget just can't afford it.
Well, you can just, you can either call,
you can log in, you can enroll yourself,
and you can pay what your budget allows.
And it's like, we honor that. No scholarship form to be filled
out.
Nothing like that. We just want you to take classes.
We have a full set of pottery programs.
We have art, watercolor. We have open studios,
so those are kind of drop-in like,
I want to do art classes, but I just don't have the capacity in
my schedule to do,
you know, every Tuesday for six weeks.
Well, we have drop-in classes, when it works for you.
We have programs for kids. Missoula Children's Theater this
summer.
So it is. Our Arts Speak program,
as I always say, is our beating heart.
And it was founded by Debbie Friedman,
our principal dance instructor,
almost 30 years ago, where we provide free programing for at risk
or disenfranchised
communities. And so, we are constantly doing that work,
and we work with assisted living.
We work with kids after school. It's just such a huge part of
what we do.
So do not think that there aren't art opportunities in Baker
because there are lots of arts opportunities in Baker.
So reach out to us at Crossroads.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely. So let's talk about the elephant in the room,
AI.
I am both a creative and a person who occasionally uses AI to
help gain efficiencies so that I can have more time for
creativity. So if you had to give one way you'd encourage people
to embrace technological advances we're making without relying on
AI to create for them, what would that be?
Ginger Savage:
Well, I think you're right. And again,
it's like, so part of me is like,
I'm sort of anti-AI in that because it is too easy right now to
take artists
hard, hard skill based knowledge and just sort of make my own,
like sad version of it.
Paige Witham:
Yeah. Definitely.
Ginger Savage:
But at the same time, I'm using AI.
You know, I can set, and I can write my grant narrative with my
3,000 characters with spaces,
and I can just write the story. I can tell the crossroads story,
and I can drop it over into AI and say,
"Now collapse this. Now, you know,
make sure my punctuation is great." You know,
and it's such a time saver. So using AI as a tool to assist our
process does sort of free up the
space to do that. But also just remember that there's a lot of
artists in this region.
And so instead of doing the easy,
which is telling AI to make a flat,
like my poster for my project. The art is limited.
Will AI evolve? Potentially. But remember that there are talented
people who that's their
income and yeah. We could go on and on because it's complicated,
and it's deep and like,
we have to start putting rules in place that no art will be
accepted for an open show that is AI generated.
Right? So it's, you know, and is it original work?
And so it's definitely creating lots of conversations in the arts
and culture sector.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely. You know, it's kind of interesting.
I was at a conference not too long ago,
and one of the projects that I have done for OTEC is a wildfire
education song. Wrote the song,
recorded it.
We're working on an animation for it,
some wonderful things.
And someone else submitted an AI generated song as one of the
like topics for submission.
And it was just kind of this – I've always felt pretty passionate
about AI generated artwork,
but when it's your own lane of artwork,
it feels not great.
Ginger Savage:
Yeah. No. Yeah. And it's, the technology is such that,
you know,
artists, I think feel a little,
I don't know, ganged up on or anxious because it can actually
take your beautiful voice. Just read it,
and it can then just –
Paige Witham:
Replicate!
Ginger Savage:
AI can say have Paige Witham sing,
you know, Queen, whatever.
Right? And it's like, whoa, I didn't do that.
I didn't authorize it. And so I definitely am seeing it in the
news,
you know, lots of stuff. But it's also very,
very much a reality with visual arts.
And there is that difference between the use of digital tools
with your own work versus just telling a
prompt to build me, to create me a painting.
Paige Witham:
Yeah.
Ginger Savage:
And so, like I said, we find we're dealing with it daily anymore.
And like poster contests and stuff like that.
We really want kids to actually explore the pencil and the paper
and doing the work and get the skills.
And then it can be a tool to help us.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely, absolutely. So let's talk about partnerships.
So what partnership or, you know,
can you snag out that's made a big difference in expanding
participation or keeping programs going?
Ginger Savage:
Well, you know, when you live in a small town,
I always say, I don't do anything without my partners.
Right. I mean, it's just like everything we do,
it's just staffing capacity,
dollars, resources, volunteers,
all of that.
So like our partnership with the Interpretive Center,
the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center,
has really transformed crossroads to a certain degree.
It's allowed us to grow our budget. We operate the Lone Pine
Mercantile up at the Interpretive Center,
but it also allows us to support the Bureau of Land Management in
Arts,
Culture, Heritage and Humanities up at the Interpretive Center,
like the New Folklife Program.
But like we're housed in the Carnegie Library that's owned by the
city.
So the city of Baker City is a huge part of it.
Because we're in one of the historic structures of one of the
grand historic buildings of Baker City and a town filled with
lots of beautiful buildings, we naturally partner with all of our
museums because they have the same challenges caring
for old buildings and old collections and all that kind of stuff.
So there's a passport program. We work regularly with Baker City
downtown.
I mean, because we're one of those old buildings in the downtown
district.
We work with OTEC a lot. You know,
so we have you know, I always say every day I'm,
you know, this morning. Two fire trucks ran out the door right
next door.
So, you know, our programing often is like around the noise that
comes from the guys next door.
So we just constantly have that level of programing and
partnerships.
CASA, the list goes on and on. Right,
and so that interchange of how those partners can allow an art
project to be in front of their folks that will engage them in a
new and different way.
You know, we're really blessed that we have so many amazing
partners who will help support arts and culture.
Paige Witham:
Yeah, that's something that I love about a lot of our
communities,
but living in Baker City specifically.
It is. There's a partnership around every corner,
and everybody's happy to do it.
Like it never feels like you're twisting someone's arm,
which is really cool.
Ginger Savage:
Yeah, absolutely.
Paige Witham:
Let's talk about why investing in arts and culture is important
for the long term health and strength of rural
communities.
Ginger Savage:
Oh, do we have two hours?
Paige Witham:
I know, I know.
Ginger Savage:
So the crossroads story is an interesting one.
We're like the oldest continuously operating art center east of
the Cascades. And so arts has,
and if you look at the lore of the history of this one rural
community,
at one point there were three opera houses in Baker.
And I mean, and there's the Carnegie Library,
you know, and that great story about five women who wanted to
bring couth and culture to the community.
And Crossroads, having been around for so long.
And so it's just sort of interwoven into the fabric.
If you drive through our historic Main Street,
you see arts and culture everywhere in the architecture,
in, quite frankly, the city planning that went in to,
you know, our big wide boulevard.
The banners, the light poles, all of those weave that story of
the history of this community,
making our downtown vibrant and walkable.
We just, we know we can do more.
We've got an emerging public art intersection right now in Baker
City,
but it's also about the artists that have moved to Baker City.
Because while we sometimes feel like housing prices in Baker are
high,
but for many of these artists, our prices are very affordable.
Paige Witham:
Right.
Ginger Savage:
Artists look at a rundown downtown building or a rundown home in
a neighborhood,
and they have the talent, and they're willing to put that
investment into that property to give it new life.
There's been some really great stories around that,
but they also look at a rough downtown business and see
opportunity, not challenge. And there's so many communities
throughout the country that have used arts and culture as
that driving economic development piece of the puzzle to change
and transform their economies.
The Paducah, Kentucky model, which I have multiple papers that I
kind of work on.
And so it's amazing how much from,
you know, the flower baskets will go up on Main Street
here in the next couple of weeks.
Just adding flowers, it makes you feel better.
It's that intersection of design and color,
and so yeah.
No, I could go on, and I could go on,
but we don't have enough time. So it is so important to,
you know, to all communities that they embrace arts and culture.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely. And like you say, it's a huge economic driving factor
between both people living,
relocating for an arts and culture environment,
but also tourism.
The arts and culture tourism industry is huge,
huge, huge, huge.
So again, we could probably talk about that.
We would have like a three hour long podcast.
Ginger Savage:
Yes, we would.
Paige Witham:
So let's talk about when times are tough.
You've got stress, isolation, wildfire seasons,
economic pressure.
How do arts and culture help people stay connected and resilient?
Ginger Savage:
Oh, here's another three hours,
but we'll try to keep it short.
So Crossroads is here to help. So when you've had that bad day,
it's like,
do you knit? What's your thing that sort of just takes the top of
the stress off in your life?
Is it do you paint? Is it do you do pottery?
What is, and everybody has their thing.
Leather work, right? I mean, we all.
Most people have some sort of a craft,
woodworking, whatever that they do to sort of bring down that
pressure. We know, oh man, the lessons we learned about the role
of arts in the Covid world,
right, and post-Covid. We provide that place in the community.
I want to get out of the house. I want to come and do an
activity.
I want to dance. I want to just make a cup in the pottery studio.
Crossroads stands ready to help you with that one.
But we are starting a new program,
and it should be unveiled in the next couple of months where
you'll be able to access a craft kit.
You can take it home. We're beginning to see that whether it be
mental health challenges,
depression, we are prepared. It can be physical health.
If you had a knee replaced, you just can't get into the art
center,
and until you can again, you might want to have a little kit that
can give you an activity at home.
So we're going to be unveiling craft kits in the months ahead.
But we right now, we are planning programing for what July and
August will look like.
We hope that we don't are constantly on fire,
but we're prepared for it.
And we're one of those great places that you can come in.
The air conditioning works. We have filtration systems that you
can come in and just be creative and cool off in the building.
We are beginning to really, as a sector,
uncover the role that arts and culture plays in mental health.
We're going to get better at it,
especially in the state of Oregon.
Talking about how arts, and it can be participation in the arts,
or just going in to
see an Eastern Oregon Regional Theater production.
And I sit to set, and I get to let go of all of my stuff and walk
into characters.
I get to go listen to music. Those opportunities are in our
community,
and that's going to help just deal with those challenges.
It's going to give you an opportunity to reconnect with a friend
or a spouse.
Yeah, I again, I could go on and on and on because it's a big
passion for us.
And so, we stand ready to help you with that.
Paige Witham:
That's awesome. You know, and that's something that I was talking
to my husband the other day because we talk about stuff like this
all the time. But I was telling him,
you know, art isn't escapism.
It's therapy. It's the difference between,
you know, I don't have anything against a good movie,
but seeing live theater, you're a participant,
even if you're not on the stage.
Going to an art show, you're a participant.
It's not just something that, you know,
you're scrolling on a screen or something like that.
It is impactful on mental health.
And I love that as a sector, we're all kind of uncovering that
and talking about it because I think it's important.
Ginger Savage:
And it's so funny. There are people who just don't see it,
right? That,
that don't buy that. And oh, but we've all had that moment when
we've been at that concert,
you know, or that show that we walk out and you just,
you know, you feel different,
right? You just feel better, or you've cried,
and you feel cathartic,
right? So we encourage people to embrace it.
And it's a muscle that if you haven't done it in a while,
you may not feel it right.
But it's like, grab a friend. Come to first Friday.
Just getting outside and walking around.
Maybe the art at that show doesn't speak to you,
but maybe the next one will.
Maybe you'll stop and have 3 or 4 conversations with people.
It's just getting that engagement point into the community,
and art is that little fiber that brings it all together.
Paige Witham:
Yeah. When you mentioned that, it actually brought to mind Lauren
Chaney's exhibit a little while ago.
And yeah, I walk in, and she's got this beautiful painting of
motherhood and,
you know, her story and everything,
and I'm getting choked up just thinking about it. But just it is,
it's impactful.
Ginger Savage:
Mhm. Yeah. And, and so it's something that everybody can do.
And if you're at home and you're isolated,
let us know.
We have, you know, we have programs where we,
you know, we're actively sending teachers into assisted living.
Because, you know, they can't get out to us,
or it's hard to get out.
And so we can bring that opportunity for you,
hopefully.
Paige Witham:
Yeah, I love that, I love that. So what would you say to someone
who thinks the arts are extra instead of
essential?
Ginger Savage:
I laugh.
Paige Witham:
Yeah.
Ginger Savage:
I mean, I really do. So it's because you don't think of it as
like,
well, having money to pay my bills is an essential,
right?
You know, being able, you know,
whatever, paying my mortgage, getting groceries,
you know. Yeah. But it is in those,
every part of every part of our life has got an arts and culture
touch. So like when I buy my box of Cheerios,
a graphic designer created that,
right? You know, and so it's, yeah,
it's so hard to explain, but when it is your sector,
sometimes I just get stuck on it.
We had an amazing show years ago called Persistence in Clay.
And there was this one piece that a potter had made or
ceramicist,
and it was almost a full size woman,
and she was made of honeycomb and all done in clay,
right. And every day I would stop and look at her.
If I could have found a way, if I had a $10,000,
she would be in my home.
And it's that, I don't know why.
I cannot explain why that piece so deeply spoke to me.
And when you go and you go see the grandmasters.
I remember walking into the Metropolitan in New York.
I had a real pleasure to get to go.
And you walk around the corner,
and there's Pablo Picasso's portrait of Gertrude Stein.
It is just essential. I invite you to watch a movie like The
Monuments Men and understand how
important art is to all of humanity.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely.
Ginger Savage:
And so it is essential as breathing in our community.
And so there may be people rolling their eyes,
but trust me it is so.
Paige Witham:
Exactly. So we are wrapping up here.
What is one surprising thing that people may not know about arts
and culture in our region?
Ginger Savage:
So for Baker, you know, the first thing that comes to mind.
We have, this community has a deep,
passionate love affair with all things ceramics,
all things pottery, bowls, vessels,
art forms, all that are done with ceramics.
And yet we don't have clay based soil,
which is always kind of odd,
right? I mean, you know, most places they have clay tradition
that comes literally from the earth.
Paige Witham:
From the ground.
Ginger Savage:
In their community, right. And they go from there.
We don't, but it's just something I think it's,
we're rugged, and we're practical and,
you know. And so pottery seems stable and,
you know, all of that stuff.
But just in the OTEC region, there's arts and culture in every
part of the now emerging and
growing OTEC region. You know, you have Art Center East in Union
County,
of course, Crossroads in Baker City.
Grant County, you have the new Painted Sky Center for the Arts.
Harney County has got, I don't believe they have an art center
yet.
I'm sure it's coming, but they have some amazing arts and
educations.
The symphony program that was just sort of came from the ground
of Burns,
you know, really symphonic music in Harney County is remarkable.
And their museums. And now that you're going to be adding Wallowa
County,
you're going to get the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture.
In Malheur County, you have Four Rivers Cultural Centers,
and then you have distant Baker,
Eastern and Regional Theater. You have Churchill School,
all of our museums.
Right? So it's always surprising how much arts and culture is in
this very remote
part of the state of Oregon. YIt's everywhere in all of the OTEC
counties.
So there's no reason not to be participating somehow in where
you're at.
Paige Witham:
Absolutely, absolutely. And one thing that kind of I don't know
why it surprised me,
but it did, was EOU's art program.
Phenomenal. Anytime that there's a show,
make sure you take the chance to see it because it really is a
treat. So thank you for joining us.
Where can listeners find upcoming events,
volunteer opportunities,
classes, or ways to support your work?
Ginger Savage:
So you can go to our website at www.crossroads-arts.org.
Also, follow us on social media,
Instagram and Facebook.
You can follow the Lone Pine Mercantile on social media and
Facebook as well.
There is the new website that we assisted the Interpretive Center
with.
It's www.NHOTIC.com., National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive
Center NHO-TIC
as we call it. And so that's where they're going to be listing
all the activities up there.
The class schedule just went out to every mailbox for our summer
season.
And you know, we will, if we get new opportunities,
we always post them on social media.
And so those are sort of those ways.
But connect. Reach out to Eastern Oregon Regional Theater.
Go to Baker Heritage, find our museum partners,
because most of your small town museums,
Haines, Huntington, Halfway, Sumpter – they will all open,
usually Memorial Day.
I know the Sumpter Valley Railroad has got a massive milestone
year this year.
They're going to be doing lots of programing. So just make the
point of following those organizations on social media,
checking out their websites. That's going to be the easiest way
to really start being connected.
Let's see. Oregon Trail Days will be forthcoming.
down in Geiser Pollman Park, June 13th.
I'm hoping, I'm hoping that's the right day because I don't have
it right in front of me. It's that Saturday, whatever that is.
Yeah, so just, there's so much to do.
And we just really want people to engage in arts and culture.
And so find a friend and go out and explore.
Paige Witham:
That's awesome. So we'll have several of those links in the bio
of this episode,
so take a second to go check those out.
And we will talk at you next time at The Power Eastern Oregon
Podcast.