I once thought East Coast bias only applied to sports, but now I realize that it encompasses another large part of our nation. The majority of our country’s treasures reside on the East Coast, housed in the Smithsonian Museums, the National Gallery, and the National Archives. A significant portion of our population is never able to see these priceless artifacts that define our nation because they are so far away.
The problem is merely a geographical one, and could be remedied by several satellite museums dotted across the nation. These museums would house a portion of our nation’s collections for several years, and then the collections would rotate to the other satellites museums, as well as the main museums. This would allow everyone the opportunity throughout their lifetime to experience a large portion of our national heritage. In addition, Presidential Libraries and other sources would be encouraged to participate, expanding the depth and breadth of the collections.
I propose that the first regional satellite museum be built in Oregon. During the Great Depression, government money built several well know landmarks in Oregon, most notably Timberline Lodge and Crater Lake Lodge. Now is the time to resurrect the concept that brought them to reality by using recovery stimulus money to finance the building of a satellite museum. Oregon has been one of the hardest hit states in the current recession. The building of the museum and the subsequent tourism will bolster the state’s economy. Living on the Left Coast should not mean that we are Left Out. It is time for change.
The million dollars would be used to create a non-profit corporation with the sole goal of obtaining federal funding for the first National Satellite Museum. Local business, civic, and elected leaders would be recruited to be part of the campaign. Potentially, school children could be involved in a manner similar to the ‘Bring Keiko to Oregon’ campaign. A grass roots campaign that will generate excitement, civic pride, and once again put Oregon on the map for the best of reasons.

Various stone-wall-makers in the Portland area have created a livelihood building for homeowners; some of their work is elegant, some of execrable design. But the sort of grand and exquisite stone-wall and stone-embankment building that dominated Oregon public works in its heyday in the ‘20s is just no longer done. It is not for shortage of basalt blocks; it is because nobody considers it practical. But while practicality has been substituted for anything resembling beauty (read concrete), the suspicion lingers that the economics of revitalizing grand stone-embankment building might be more positive than meets the eye. Take $1 million; spend $10K on scoping resources and building a plan; hire a master mason and a master project developer for one year for $45K each; train 90 strong young masons, paying stipends of $10K each, thus developing capacity to repair existing embankments or build new ones, in the grand old style, in a swarming and age-old work-gang-oriented way; task the project developer with finding means and bidding jobs to sustain capacity beyond the first-year development period. Oregon loves trying to be perfect; why not give it the means to add aestetic perfection to the mundane. It can be done – it has been!

Revolver Digital Media Studio, LLC... (Revolver DMS) has created a highly innovative business model for serial web television which, if successful, will serve as their vehicle into the film industry. According to the Oregon Film Office in 2007 the film industry in Oregon made a direct impact of $ 709.6 million in output, $294.3 million in wages and business income (labor income) and 6,325 full- and part-time jobs. Compared to 2002, output increased 64 percent, wages increased 55 percent, business income was up 50 percent and employment increased 21 percent. A breakout of the direct impact from the indigenous films and video is $380.0 million in output, $102.3 million in wages, $60.8 million in business income and 4,000 jobs (An Economic Impact Analysis of the Oregon Film and Video Industry in 2007). Investing in production companies with high potential to break into the film industry therefore bringing million dollar projects back into the state would be a great service to both our state and the independent film industry. Revolver DMS’s latest project will put $65,000 dollars into the pockets of working actors and crew in the city of Portland and around $25,000 dollars into local businesses. If the project is successful not only will it allow Revolver DMS to produce another season of their show but it will put Revolver DMS closer to green lighting their million dollar horror feature which will be shot solely in the GREAT state of Oregon.

Making art is therapeutic. It is a healthy outlet to express ourselves and, in many cases, say creatively what we can not or choose not to articulate aloud. Art also builds communities and connects us to each other and our environment. It can ground us to our very core and help build bridges at the same times.

Native American veterans have a long history of fighting for this country. Many Native American men and women were fighting for the armed forces even before the United States considered them to be citizens in 1942. With the MMT funds, let us create a program that partners Native American Veterans with arts institutes and master artists for residencies. These residencies will allow for the opportunity to create a body of work (fine art or traditional art or a combination of both) that they will create in collaboration and with the assistance and guidance of another Master artist. The ultimate goal would be to three fold: teach a new artistic skill (printmaking, sculpture, painting, etc), create a body of work for exhibition, and assist the artists in marketing their body of work. The vision of this program would be one of healing and creating economic opportunities for our veterans.