Art, Ecology and Environmental Restoration

KLAMATH RIVER: Freeing the Waters

The Klamath or “swift” River Basin extends over 265 miles in Southern Oregon and Northern California. The river and its tributaries course through one of the most bio-diverse regions in North America. Ecological restoration efforts are centered on four dams that foster growth of toxic blue-green algae and impede salmon and steelhead from reaching spawning grounds. For the First Nations living in the river basin over 7000 years, loss of native fisheries beginning early in the 20th century has been disastrous. Restoration of this river is likely to occur in this decade and the next in a unique collaboration of tribes, farmers, ranchers, environmental scientists, and others who care for this beautiful river. As it unfolds, this eco-restoration will be the largest ever undertaken in the United States. For more information see the Klamath Riverkeeper website. and Friends of the River website.

Klamath River dam removal and its attendant river and fisheries restoration will take many years and will require a great deal of cooperation throughout the entire watershed. River renewal is integral to the tribes living on the Klamath and two California tribes and the Intertribal Fish Commission are particularly active in this effort at this time. Please refer to tribal websites for updates on their work. For more detailed information visit The Karuk Tribe and The Yurok Tribe.

Phase 1: August and September 2008. A group of artists exhibited their work expressing the Klamath River in a series of pilot shows. The shows were accompanied by original music performance and a screening of Stephen Most's film, River of Renewal. Studio 5 hosted the shows throughout August and September. Some of the most active environmental groups working on Klamath River issues provided information, literature, and ways to actively participate in saving and restoring the Klamath River Basin.

Klamath River Project Gallery

Partial list of participating organizations:

PHASE 2 PROJECTS

The second phase of the Klamath River Project aims to continue to raise awareness on the many diverse dimensions and issues of the Klamath River Basin, and as a benefit for the on-going fisheries and environmental programs of the First Nations of the Klamath River. All events will include an educational outreach by environmental groups and teachers, speakers, and documentaries/films. We anticipate this series to extend over the next two years.

The following projects are currently underway:

1. River Circles Community Fiber Art Project. The River Circles group meets each week with the aim of producing a set of 52 fiber art circles, one for each 5 miles of the Klamath River, to be shown in an exhibit in January 2009. Pieces are created from recycled fabrics and gathered natural fibers. Examples and photos from the River Circles group may be viewed here. River Circles. For more information or to be added to the email list for weekly gatherings please contact us.

2. Over the River Oral History Project

This oral and collective biography history project was conceived as the result of hearing so many moving stories of early river preservation and restoration pioneers. Life stories of early watershed saviors are inextricably bound with the health of our rivers and, in turn, with the public health. Most of these water protectors that I have met or heard about are unknown to the general public. Surprisingly, they are often unknown within organizations working on the same rivers for which they were the first to step forward. In nearly all cases the first step to save the watershed was spontaneous, coming from deep roots in and love for the river. The spirit, viewpoint, and cultivated wisdom of these men and women are part of our heritage, not to be lost to us because we are too busy earning a living or working feverishly to stop environmental destruction that continues in so many places around this country. The ecological crises of our times demand that we all become environmentalists if not activists. Yet we need to stop and listen, to learn from those who have gone before us. For more information and updates see Over the River Blog

This series focuses on four river/watershed systems: The Bronx River, an urban, multi-cultural story in which the beaver return after 200 years of watershed destruction; the Upper Mississippi near the confluence of the Missouri, where ancient, indigenous cities lie buried near surges of immigrants, levee builders, and floods; the Chattahoochee, where the river’s history of waterborne diseases, industrial and agricultural contamination, and problems of over-population flows past the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta; and the Klamath in Oregon and California, the site of over one hundred years of struggle between farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and tribes that now centers on dam removal in an effort to protect dwindling stocks of wild Pacific salmon. In all of these places, river preservation and restoration, the health and safety of populations human and wild, depends on cooperation, on unlikely partnerships, and on the determination to set aside hardened opinions to work for the common good. We are still seeking interview participants from each of these sites.

3. Exhibit of Klamath River Artists

This exhibt is currently under development. Please contact us for information.

4. Jefferson Nature Center Collaboration

This project will begin after January 2009. Please check back with us for information at that time.

5. Multi-arts Projects.

We are seeking proposals for multi-arts project. Works of art can take any form and draw on any aspect of the Klamath River Basin: its current ecological challenges including pollution and dams, natural beauty and history, its watershed and tributaries, connected marshes, fish and wildlife, and people—especially the Yurok, Karuk, Hupa and Klamath tribes. Visual, movement—including on-site and videotaped, music, installations, and spoken word artists and their works may be integrated into events. Community group pieces and schools-based projects on the same theme will also be considered. Madrona Arts staff and board will select from submitted proposals. When larger shows are possible, a jury of recognized experts will be convened. Time and space, types of works and how they might be grouped in shows will be taken into consideration.

Please contact for information or to volunteer for our projects: Diana Hartel, 541-552-0703 or if you have an idea for a show, works of art, or a community-based project relevant to the issues of the Klamath River Basin. We are happy to work with you to make it happen.