Rex Derr
Director
STATE OF WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON STATE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
7150 Cleanwater Drive S.W. P.O. Box 42650 Olympia, WA 98504-2650 (360) 902-8500
NEWS Media Contact:
06-27 Mount St. Helens Visitor Center: (360) 274-0962
Sandy Mealing: (360) 902-8559
Telephone Device for the Deaf: (360) 664-3133
Smithsonian Institution exhibit featured
at Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake
OLYMPIA – May 17, 2006 – The Smithsonian Institution exhibit, ―Inspirations from the Forest,‖ will
be featured May 25 through June 5 at Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake. The exhibit
celebrates the centennial of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and extols the artistic
expressions inspired by our national forests. The center at Silver Lake is operated by the Washington
States Park and Recreation Commission.
During the exhibit run, special programs will include presentations by Plateau Tribal basket weavers, a
Northwest Coast Native American woodcarver, logger poets, Native American storytellers, a Forest
Service horse- and mule-packer and a naturalist specializing in nature journal writing.
Since 1905, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has been the primary steward of the
nation’s federally owned forest resources. Today, national forests and national grasslands encompass
193 million acres of land, an area equivalent to the size of Texas. In celebration of the Forest Service’s
centennial, the Forest Service collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution and the National
Endowment for the Arts to produce a series of programs and events celebrating the Forest Service’s new
century of service.
―The men and women who work in our forests and rangelands have very special connections to the
land. Through this exhibition, we are exploring the ways in which our national forests — timberlands,
grasslands, mountains and waterways — have inspired artists to create enduring works of art that
impress upon us the importance of preserving our natural resources,‖ said Jim Deutsch, curator of the
Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
The exhibit will visit 33 different locations, most of them in rural communities, in 21 states. The special
programs were organized by visitor center staff and the Washington State Parks Folk and Traditional
Arts in the Parks Program, a partnership program with the Washington State Arts Commission. Funding
for the events was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Southwest Region Office of
Washington State Parks, the Northwest Interpretive Association and the Western States Arts Federation.
Events are free with center admission of $3 for ages 16 and older from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is
free to all after 6 p.m. The center is at 2039 Spirit Lake Highway, milepost 5, Castle Rock, five miles
east of I-5 on State Route 504. For more information, call the center at (360) 274-0962. The exhibit also
is available online at www.folklife.si.edu/explore/inspirations.html. For additional center information,
visit online, www.parks.wa.gov/mountsthelens.asp.
“Inspirations from the Forest” special programs
May 27-28, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Northwest Coast Native American woodcarving demonstration by Haida artist and Governor’s Heritage Award-winning
carver Ralph Bennett Goo’la Slacoon of Duvall.
Mule- and horse-packing demonstration by Jim Hammer of the Methow Valley Ranger District, Okanogan National
Forest.
Artistic wood burning demonstration by Raul Johnson of Lacey and the Capital Woodcarvers Association.
May 27-28, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
An evening of old-time logger stories, songs and poems by retired Northwest loggers Hank Nelson, ―the Singing Logger,‖ of
Wasilla, Alaska, and Eathyl Rotschy of Yacolt, Wash. This portion of the program is co-funded by the Western States Arts
Federation.
May 28-29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Traditional Finnish music from the forests of Finland played on the kantele (traditional Finnish zither) by Governor’s
Heritage Award winner Wilho Saari of Naselle.
May 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Basket weaving demonstration by Sally Foister of Chehalis.
June 2, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Legends of the Chehalis and Cowlitz peoples by Chehalis Confederated Tribes elder Curtis Du Puis.
June 3, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Legends of the Cowlitz people by Cowlitz Tribe elder Rev. Roy I. Wilson.
June 3-4, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Demonstration of Native American basket weaving in the Klickitat tradition by National Heritage Fellowship awardee
Nettie Jackson of the Yakama Reservation.
Hands-on workshops on nature journaling by USDA Forest Service naturalist Heather Murphy of the Wenatchee River
Ranger District, Wenatchee National Forest. Includes nature walks along the Silver Lake Nature Trail.
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