THE LAYOUT FOR THE MEDICAL
CENTER IN RUTH VAN ORDER’S
VISION BORROWS FROM HOSPITALS
WHERE SHE WORKED AS
CAREGIVER FOR 35 YEARS
B
urris races around his cluttered office like an
over-caffeinated bumblebee, juggling dozens of
colorful paintings, illustrations, photographs, carvings
and sculptures by artists involved in an exhibition titled
“We Live Here.”
On display in an office foyer on Benton Plaza’s
ground floor, the show collects works of curious vision
and astounding talent, made by a small number of self-
taught artists and craftspeople who live in the building’s
inexpensive upstairs units.
Shortly after moving to Corvallis a few years ago,
Burris set up an art program out of the Collaborative Em-
ployment Innovation offices in Benton Plaza. CEI is a hu-
man services organization that helps people with disabili-
ties find jobs and then assists them in meeting workplace
challenges.
Burris’ ArtWorks program does roughly the same
thing, but with the purpose of helping clients find oppor-
tunities to engage with the art world. “I don’t really like
to work, so why would I want to put anyone else in that
situation?” Burris asks.
The idea for “We Live Here” began percolating in
Burris’ mind after an auspicious conversation months ago
at CEI headquarters with artist and writer Patrick Collier.
As Burris and Collier chewed the fat in CEI’s recep-
tion area, a series of familiar faces strolled by, one after
another, artists each, Benton Plaza denizens all.
That’s so-and-so, Burris said to Collier, he’s a talented
photographer who lives in the apartments upstairs. And
there’s such-and-such, he’s an incredible writer also liv-
ing upstairs.
As the list grew, Collier finally interrupted to ask just
how many Benton Plaza artists there are.
Burris consulted with on-site social worker Mary
VanderLinden, who has worked with the supporting liv-
ing program at Benton Plaza for almost four years. She
estimated there to be as many as 20 resident artists —
more than 30 percent of the building.
“We’re so lucky! That’s the kick: Like, if this is what
we can see,” Burris says, gesturing to a painting on one
of his office’s art-cluttered tables that depicts a cosmos
of blinking stars and swirling nebulae over a sea of blue-
black infinity by Benton Plaza resident Victor Nyland,
“then what the hell are we missing?”
Out of nowhere one day, Nyland picked up a paint-
brush and began the first of what would be a series of four
vibrant, hectic outer space vistas. His knack for mechani-
cally precise detail work and replicating meticulous pat-
WILLIAM ‘REEDYMON’
STEINLE TWEAKS A FEW
KNOBS AND PRESSES
THE KEYS NECESSARY
TO CREATE A PULSATING
MARTIAN SOUNDSCAPE,
OVERLAID WITH POETRY THAT
BALANCES BHAGAVAD GITA
WITH ‘IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA’
A SMALL SONGBIRD CARVED FROM
WOOD PERCHED ON A STUMP
ABOUT TO ATTACK A MCDONALD’S
FRENCH FRY CARVED BY WILLIAM
STEINLE
eugeneweekly.com • February 9, 2017
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