Culture on the Bay

When we're not cutting wood, hauling wood, stacking wood, building fires with said wood to keep warm, or quilting or knitting or attending classes or church or dodging rain and hail to do yard work or feeding the Duck Squad - we have time to feed our souls with CULTURE!

We have two artsy venues here in our little town (pop. 1200). The Art Space "People's Museum of Art", and the Art Place in the old converted Masonic Hall. Each has a distinct venue and style. The Art Place does hands-on classes, local concerts, pancake breakfasts, hangs shows from the highschool art classes, and so on. The Art Space has a small bistro along side a bona fide art gallery, with surprisingly good exhibits.

Last week the two art space/places combined forces along with the Oregon Cultural and Heritage Commission in presenting a unique opportunity to enjoy the photographic work of Dorothea Lange. A show of a partial collection of her work in Oregon during the Depression has been held over at the Art Space three times now, it is gaining in popularity and appreciation.



Lange was hired by the Farm Security Program, one of FDR's tools to reboot the country from the depression of the time, to focus her lens on the lives of ordinary people. It was a two month long commission. A number of other photographers were involved, in various regions of the country. They produced a total of 200,000 images, including 500 from Dorothea Lange. The collection is housed at the Library of Congress, which you can access on line. Type in Dorothea Lange in Oregon, to view more of her works. They are public domain, you can download and make copies of most of them.

In what was supposed to be a closing of the exhibit here in Bay City, the Art PLACE hosted an afternoon program that featured slides of 27 of Lange's photos, combined with a moving narration of her extensive field notes addressed each particular photograph, accompanied by era related music. It was a moving, informative and delightful hour of going back in time.

The image most associated with Lange's work is this iconic "Migrant Mother", living in a camp of migrant workers in central Oregon. The workers made less than $800 a year (about $11,000 in our coin), following the crops.

Following the program we all walked the three blocks, in sunshine I might add, to the Art Space for a reception. About 60 folks enjoyed viewing the exhibit with new information and appreciation.

One of the things the exhibit makes you realize is the strength and resilience of those folks who participated in the FSA program, rebulding a life out of the dust bowls of Oklahoma and other places. This mother talked about how they were building their house stick by stick, they had a bit of land, and felt they were "doing swell". Dorothea captured the dignity of the laborer.

The image of this young 11-year old boy is one that really captures me everytime I see it. He is working in a hop yard. It was 105 degrees when this photo was taken. The hops are grown on wires strung to 20 foot high poles. When the hops are ripe, the wires are lowered so the workers can harvest the prickly fruits. They often made less than a dollar a day.

I am a frequent visitor at the Art Space, which is where we also hold our monthly Raw-Some Potlucks. It's a cozy, welcoming place, worth a stop for the tourists. You can snuggle in with a cup of tea and a magazine, work on writing a book, sketch from views of the bay outside the big west windows, chat with the owners on a wide range of subjects - it's the alternative tavern scene for those of us who don't drink beer.

The building was a part of my childhood. It used to be a grocery store, for one thing. Mom remembers when the postoffice was in one part of the building. Their dog Wolf accidentally locked himself in little post office overnight one time. Don't you love these kinds of tidbits from the past! Wolf also got locked in the tavern one night - a worldly dog. I understand my dad picked out the window putty, removed the pane, dragged Wolf (a German Shepherd cross - not a small bundle) out, then left a note for Brownie, the tavern owner explaining what happened. Apparently Wolf came to be a tavern regular, scarfing sausages from the guys while they were enjoying their beer! There are more Wolf stories, I need to get them written down. This was all before I was hatched.

You can see the original flooring, lovingly tended.

Although it's hard to choose just one, this is one of my favorite photos of the exhibit. FIELD NOTE: Irrigon, Morrow County, Oregon. Farmer and wife in field, digging sweet potatoes. They have a small irrigated farm on reclaimed land. Northern Oregon. Came from Idaho 1919, and cleared the land from sage brush. Raised 10 children here, 5 now at home. Melons and turkeys are their cash crop. Farmer: "We done everything you see here. We haven't had one cent of this relief money, but we've had to work 24 hours a day to day off. You can, if you'll work."

So many of these people were proud to work their way to a new life, rather than accept what they often viewed as "charity", or a handout from the government.

"The question is not what you look at, but what you see." Thoreau.

This is another photo I look at every time I'm in the gallery. She reminds me of someone....

The final music from the program was a song written by Steven Foster in 1854, sung by Mavis Staples (from the 40s), titled "Hard Times Come Again No More." Followed by silence from a profoundly moved audience, then applause of thanks.

The exhibit opened in Portland on Oct.29, the same date Dorothea snapped her last photo and packed up to return to the East. The exhibit came from Portland directly to Bay City. It will be here at the Art Space until May 31, held over once again. It's next showing will be in Forest Grove, in June. Then it may return to the coast later in the year, along with a film on Dorothea. We'll look forward to that.

There you have it. Social life in a small coastal town, from the 40's to the turn of the century!