Watzek Library Exhibits: 14th Annual Ray Warren Symposium

 

Watzek Library has several exhibits exploring the idea of “Legacy: Race and Remembrance.”

 

On the top floor of the library, Lewis & Clark’s Special Collections will display for the first time its collection of material relating to Edward Curtis. Exploring the moral implications of the work, which the exhibit juxtaposes with images produced by Native American photographers contemporary to Curtis, the exhibition asks, “would it have been better had these images never existed?” Concerned with ideas of opportunity, appropriation, and self-depiction, this exhibition has been curated by L&C students Hector Brandt, Drew Matlovsky, Zoe Maughan, and Sarah McDonagh. This exhibit will remain on display through the end of the fall semester.

 

Displayed on the third floor near the Pamplin Room will be a selection of books from Watzek’s collection that explore the intersection of visual art, memory, and race. All items on this display are available to be borrowed.

 

Nov. 4 to Nov. 11, Watzek Library atrium
Vanport: A Story Lived. A Story Told.
A Vanport Mosaic “Out of the Box” Exhibit 

During its short life span, Vanport—Oregon’s second largest city and the nation’s largest public housing project—drew national attention and conflicting opinions. For the over 40,000 people who lived there, Vanport was simply their home. When the Columbia River flooded on May 31, 1948, the entire city was erased from the map and from much of Portland’s memory in a single day. 

Mixing archival photographs and historical records with personal testimonies of former residents, this pop-up exhibit presents the multifaceted story of Vanport and its vibrant community. It is a story of migration, housing, displacement, and perseverance. 

This exhibit was curated by Laura Lo Forti and Greta Smith of Vanport Mosaic, a community-driven and artist-led collective comprised of artists, historians, educators, and media makers who engage the public in remembering silenced histories of the Pacific Northwest in order to understand our present.

 

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