Medford-based artist Summer Ventis will exhibit “Emigrant Lake[s]” in the Governor’s Office of the Capitol Building in Salem from Aug. 1 to Sept. 28.

Oregon’s arts and culture sector contributed $687 million and 22,299 jobs to Oregon’s economy in fiscal year 2015, according to the latest Arts & Economic Prosperity study from Americans for the Arts. Released June 17 at the group’s national conference in San Francisco, Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 includes first-time data from rural Oregon.

In celebration of the uplifting power of art and its value to Oregonians’ quality of life, Governor Kate Brown today announced she is reinstating the Governor’s Arts Awards in honor of the Oregon Arts Commission’s 50th Anniversary. Established in 1977, the once-annual awards have been on hiatus since 2007. A call for nominations is now posted on the Arts Commission website.

Salem, Oregon – Agnieszka Laska, a Portland-based dancer/choreographer and the founder of Agnieszka Laska Dancers, is the 2017 recipient of the Oregon Arts Commission’s honorary Joan Shipley Award. Laska leads a group of seven Oregon artists selected for the Arts Commission’s 2017 Individual Artist Fellowships. The 2017 fellowships support artists working in the performing arts; visual artists are reviewed in alternating years.

Salem, Oregon – Portland artist Wendy Red Star will exhibit “Works” in the Governor’s Office of  the Capitol Building in Salem from March  15 to May 11.
Red Star works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American ideologies and colonialist structures, both historically and in contemporary society. Raised on the Apsáalooke (Crow) reservation in Montana, her work is informed both by her cultural heritage and her engagement with many forms of creative expression, including photography, sculpture, video, fiber arts and performance.