This week on "State of Wonder," we hear live music from Helio Sequence and Kelli Schaefer, travel the country with photographer Holly Andres, look at the design of prosthetic limbs and harness the powers of karaoke to learn a language.
What’s the best way to learn a language? Some people might take a class or read a book, but our vote goes to music, which is exactly what Salish teachers are using to introduce their Native American language to new speakers. Every year, a conference that celebrates Salish, a language spoken by many tribes across the Northwest, culminates in an annual karaoke contest in Spokane, Washington. Contestants have to translate a song and perform it in front of judges. Northwest News Network correspondent Emily Schwing was backstage at the contest this year.
Language isn’t the only facet of Northwest indigenous culture receiving focused attention right now. The region’s museum curators are working to update their exhibits in a way that both modernizes stories of indigenous people and tells them more truthfully. But what does that mean? Emily Schwing visited two Northwest museums to find out.
The photo exhibition "Dreamers of Oregon" features big, dramatic black and white portraits of young men and women whose lives are really, really complicated right now. It went on view this week and is making the rounds in Washington and Multnomah counties — starting at Pacific University, moving to Portland City Hall and other spots.
The photographer of this exhibit, Holly Andres, describes herself as more of a farmer than a hunter: Rather than capturing moments of serendipity, like a hunter would, Andres creates them. She builds a set, casts characters and styles the lighting around her subjects, using as much intention and direction as a filmmaker might. What results is an emotional story richly saturated with color and ornamental backdrops. Her work’s been gaining momentum for years. She was shortlisted for a big industry award, the Ellie for Best Feature Photography, for an incredible spread that appeared in New York magazine.
Andres spoke with Dave Miller at the "Think Out Loud" 10th anniversary celebration at the Alberta Rose Theatre. You can find her full conversations here.
If you’re a regular "State of Wonder" listener, you know we partner up all the time with our friends at opbmusic. For 10 years now, they’ve been spotlighting the best in local and national bands, often bringing groups in for studio sessions just before they break big nationally. Everyone from Big Thief and Jay Som to, most recently, Haley Heynderickx.
To celebrate their 10th birthday, they’re organizing a concert at the Crystal Ballroom on March 23 with a couple of their favorites: Helio Sequence, Kelli Schaefer, and Natasha Kmeto. To prep you for the big show, we decided to spend a few minutes listening back to those sessions. Tickets for the show are on sale now.
Collection rates the city’s Arts Education and Access Fund, better known as the arts tax, haven’t been great since the tax’s inception in 2012, in large part because the terms voters agreed to have required the Portland Revenue Bureau to spend no more than 5 percent of gross collections over a five-year period. Now Portland City Council has removed that collection cap, although it will revisit collection costs every year. The revisions also expand some exemptions for the tax. The arts tax is due this year on April 17.
When designers talk about designing for humans, most often we think about things that will add a little to your life: a shoe that will make you run faster, a mobile app that will make your website easier to navigate. But some design can truly transform the human experience, and nowhere is that more apparent than at a new exhibit called “Bespoke Bodies: The Design And Craft Of Prosthetics.” It’s curated by the Design Museum Portland at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and it looks at prosthetics not simply as a medical issue, but as a design challenge.
Listen to Dave Miller's full conversation on "Think Out Loud."
Emily Schwing
/JR Bluff donned a wig and a white leisure suit and performed "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley. He translated the song into his native Salish language for the contest.
Photographer: William Anthony
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Omkaar Kotedia
/The "Bespoke Bodies" exhibit focuses on the design element of prosthetics.
Bryan M. Vance
/Photographer Holly Andres greets "Think Out Loud" host David Miller.
April Baer
/Collections have increased on Portland's arts tax over the years, however officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of accounts are still delinquent.
Emily Schwing
/Polly Olsen is the first-ever tribal liaison at the Burke Museum. A member of the Yakama Nation, she was hired last year to consult with tribal elders across the Northwest so that their stories could better be told when a new Burke museum opens its doors next year.
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