'Water Rising' Raises Funds for 1000 Friends of Oregon

PORTLAND, OR- 1000 Friends of Oregon, a nonprofit committed to conservation, will host a fundraiser October 12 at 5PM at First United Methodist Church in Eugene. Its focus? 'Water-Rising,' a collaborative art book, containing both poetry and water color portraits, which will be available for sale. The book is meant to serve as a tool to help members of the community engage in discussion about art, literature and the environment. The books artists are Leila Philip and Garth Evans.

Alyson Marchi-Young of 1000 Friends of Oregon comments on the book release, and the role it will play in helping 1000 Friends re-engage with its philanthropic efforts.

"It's a really cool opportunity to engage a section of our constituency in a different way; it will serve as a treat for donors and the Eugene community at large"," says Marchi-Young. "We have two goals: to keep our donors connected to the community, and to sell 20 books, with at least 50 people in attendance."

Leila Philip, an east coast native whose time spent in Oregon influenced her writing, talks about the role that the state played in her development as an artist.

"The incredible beauty of Oregon was not all that I took with me when I left," said Philip, "Oregon sparked my imagination and nurtured my desire to be creative."

During college, Philip spent 2 years studying poetry and translating medieval Japanese. It was during this time that she tuned into her love of language. Garth Evans, a sculptor, changed his medium to watercolor challenge himself during the construction of 'Water-Rising.'

"We've been working and living together for years, we studied collaborative art projects that we really enjoyed. Works by John Cage and Walker Evans. We set up our own rules of the game because collaborations work under certain restraints, to have a sense of the structure," said Philip.

"We were both stretching ourselves creatively; we worked for a year and we made work each month. We did not share the work with each other; periods of time where the artists work separately and then come together. 'Water Rising' contains 12 poems and 30 watercolors. We laid it all out to see if there were some connections; certain water colors and certain poems seemed to go together."

The idea of "ethos" influenced the artists- getting people to connect, and using the book to generate community discussion about the environment.

As for 1000 Friends of Oregon as a whole, each community event has its own unique goal. The overall purpose, however, remains the same: to serve the Oregon community. Learn more about upcoming conservation events, and how you can get involved with 1000 Friends of Oregon.

Image via Leila Philip; Alyson Marchi-Young, 1000 Friends of Oregon