July 28, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Musicians from the Oregon Symphony will immerse themselves in the Estacada, Ore. community this season during the first of two years in a recently announced Community Music Partnership (CMP) between the Symphony, the city of Estacada and Estacada School District 108. CMP funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts,the Ford Family Foundation and the PacifiCorp Foundation for Learning. Estacada won the partnership with the Symphony through a competitive application process.
The CMP calls for the Symphony’s extensive roster of musicians and staff to work with students, educators, local arts organizations and business leaders to strengthen existing programs while integrating new arts programming into Estacada’s school curriculum and greater community by offering resources in music education, performance and arts advocacy.
“All three of our final CMP applicants presented strong proposals and enthusiastic presentations,” said Director of Education and Community Engagement Emilia Smith. “However, Estacada presented both the greatest potential and readiness for a successful partnership.”
“Estacada is slated to double in population over the next ten years,” Smith continued. “Their Steering Committee has made it clear they intend for the arts to play an important role in that transition. We hope the CMP will serve as a continuing stimulus to maintain the excitement and momentum about the arts that has been growing in Estacada over the past few years.”
The town of Estacada, located approximately 30 miles southeast of Portland along the Clackamas River, has a population of 2,650. However, its school, library and postal districts encompass approximately 750 square miles and serve a large, rural population of 18,000. The wealth of community arts resources and organizations already in place in Estacada, and the town’s interest in continuing to make the arts a central part of local life as its population grows led to Estacada’s selection, Smith added.
Among Estacada’s leading arts organizations is the Estacada Arts Commission, established in 1988, whose mission is to provide “the spark that inspires, facilitates and promotes arts and culture for our community and its artists.” The Commission successfully lobbied the City Council to pass a Percent for Arts ordinance, making Estacada one of only two communities in Clackamas County to do so. The Commission also presents an annual Arts and Culture series, as well as the Estacada Summer Celebration, a free three-day arts and music festival in the downtown core which has been a catalyst for increased development downtown. Another non-profit arts organization, Estacada Together, partners with the Arts Commission to present the Summer Celebration; it also brings live music and theatrical performances to the Estacada Auditorium. Together these two organizations will serve on the CMP Steering Committee and help guide planning.
Other arts resources include Estacada High School’s Music and Drama programs, which present consistently high-quality arts experiences for students and the community at large; The Artback, a 15-member artists’ cooperative which paints an annual mural for the Summer Celebration; the Performing Arts Group of Estacada (PAGE), a community theater group that writes and produces its own plays with original music; The Spiral Gallery, a cooperative art gallery with over 30 members which holds a monthly First Friday open house; the Estacada Madrigal Singers and a chamber group, Con Brio, some of whose members teach music locally and the newly built Estacada Public Library and Community Room, which provides a venue for concerts and children’s musical activities.
“Estacada is in the process of reinventing itself. We’re transitioning from a small, economically distressed former logging town to a vibrant, interesting community that will still retain its small-town character,” said Jane Reid, Chairman of Estacada Together. “One of the major things the CMP will do is to reinvigorate arts education, which is crucial to strong schools. The first thing it will do is expose our students and community to world-class musicians, which is a life-changing experience. The Symphony and the CMP will play a crucial catalytic role as they bring all parts of our community together: students, teachers, artists, businesses and residents.”
The first year of the CMP is expected to result in more than 350 music education and community events and activities beginning in January 2007 and continuing through May 2007. These will include youth and community concerts by the Oregon Symphony in Estacada, as well as collaborations among Estacada students, teachers, staff, residents and individual Symphony musicians. Year Two of this partnership will focus on sustainability activities, such as teacher workshops and planning for continued community involvement.
“I believe the CMP will help continue the evolution of our community’s culture and enhance the experiences we’ll be able to provide for our K-12 students, as well as our citizens,” said Dr. Howard Fetz, Asst. Superintendent of Estacada School District 108. “The word ‘enhance’ is key, because our community has been very progressive in its authorization of funds to build a new school and upgrade a number of existing facilities. Included in this upgrade is the refurbishing of our school district/community auditorium, which will be the site of many of the performances and activities related to the CMP.”
Communities west of the Cascades (the CMP alternates its sites east and west of the Cascades each year) with populations of 30,000 or fewer were eligible to apply; last season the Symphony began the two year partnership with Baker City, Ore. Previous partnerships include the cities of Klamath Falls, North Bend and Redmond, Ore.
“The CMP goal is to have a lasting impact on music education in Oregon’s rural communities,” said Smith. “The Symphony will combine its resources with the community’s existing goals for arts education in its schools. Another important component is helping the community of Estacada develop sustainability plans for the future.”
Smith and her department are now working with an Estacada Steering Committee to identify Estacada’s goals and to plan partnership activities. Professional training for teachers will begin in the fall. Symphony musicians are expected to begin monthly visits to Estacada in January; the orchestra concerts are scheduled for May of 2007.