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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2016)
wallowa.com Entertainment/Business April 27, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain THE SCENE Arts crucial to our economy Outdoor recreation to get national attention in 2016 A16 BIZ BUZZ Kathleen Ellyn W Saturday, April 30 • Colton Haney, 7 p.m. at Terminal Gravity Friday, May 6 • Open mic, 7 p.m. at Terminal Gravity Thursday, May 12 • Ural Thomas and The Pain, 7 p.m. at the OK The- atre; Tickets are 25$ and are available at eventbrite.com or http://theoldok.com. Sunday, May 22 • Wallowa Valley Music Alliance spring fundraiser: Fourth Annual Hootenanny and Shoo-ly Pie Social; 4 p.m. at the Enterprise Odd Fellows Hall. Admission is $10. Monday, May 30 • American Forest, 7 p.m. at Terminal Gravity Please submit Enter- tainment Calendar event information to rday@ wallowa.com N hen I say art is busi- ness in Wallowa County, I’m not telling Wallowa Countians anything they don’t know. In addition to offering em- ployment to many craftsmen and women, we know our bronze foundries are world class and helped put the area on the map for outsiders. We know that the bronzes that dot Enterprise and line the street in Joseph are a big draw for tourists. We know that the galleries that line the street in Joseph help seal our reputation as an “art community” in addition to a ranching, farming, natu- ral resource-based, stunningly beautiful community. I haven’t even gotten to the many photographers who are making national and even international reputations with their work in Wallowa Coun- ty: David Jensen, Kendrick Moholt, Ellen Morris Bishop, Leon Werdinger, Brady Raw- ls and many more. And then there is Stewart S T R E E T r i l l M A I S Mother’s Day ’ R Special Menu LEA G P u b & Fresh Halibut Crepes Florentine Flat Iron Steaks • Certified Black Angus Gourmet Salads & Dessert FLOWERS for all Mothers! Open 7am to 2pm, 5pm to Closing | 111 Main Street, Enterprise 541-426-3300 | www.learspubandgrill.com Courtesy photo It looks simple, but the difference between a pressed silver disc and a silver disc hand turned on a rose engine lathe is apparent to the professional eye and to the eye of the buyer. This is the work, by Stewart Jones, that was appraised and likened to that of the finest jewelry houses in history. Jones Designs right down- town in Joseph at 2 S. Main St. Not only do the Joneses offer a gallery space for the work of ine artists such as Tom Clevenger, Shelly Curtiss, Kyle Kraiter, Tim Nielsen, Robin Woodsmith and others, but Stewart just keeps winning awards and being featured in press across the nation. Recently, Stewart Jones sent a hand-crafted silver piece he had designed and produced using his 1860s Rose Engine lathe to an international appraiser, Leanne Parks of Atlanta. Parks likened the work to that produced by the ine jewelry houses of Frederic Boucheron, Louis Cartier and Charles Lewis Tiffany. Does it get any better than that? I think not. Our artistry here in the county is a showcase for hand-craftsmanship at work across the board, and what makes Wallowa County artists even more unique is the fact that they often came from working-class back- grounds. Stewart Jones, for in- stance, is a master craftsman because he works with his hands and very basic tools, not with modern machines. The rose engine lathe, for in- stance, is one of only a few in existence made in the 1860s. It comes with no manual for operation — a jeweler must learn for him/herself. As for design, Stewart Jones started out in architec- tural school, and his designs continue to show that past training. Men are as impressed as women by his jewelry designs — suficient enough that he is booked out 10 months in advance for custom pieces. And when Jones irst showed his rose engine lathe to the public in 2010, his store was packed with men — in Carhartts, in overalls, in cowboy boots — and they were impressed with the machine. And possibly impressed with themselves, since nearly every man who is successful at farming and ranching is a machinist. It’s exciting to see how industrial tools create art. In other art-is-business news, earlier this year the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture joined Americans for the Arts’ national study of the economic impact of spending by nonproit arts and culture organizations and their audi- ences. The study is called “Arts & Economic Prosperity 5,” and the Josephy Center will collect detailed information about local nonproit organi- zations, including festivals and arts education organiza- tions. The data will be used to see just how much economic impact the arts have across the nation. I think Wallowa County might come in “heavy” on this study. One thing the Americans for the Arts group already knows is that 32 percent of arts attendees travel from outside the county in which the arts event takes place and that they spend nearly $40 per person while they’re in town. The project is in partner- ship with Art Center East in La Grande and Crossroads in Baker and was made possible by the support of the Northeast Oregon Econom- ic Development District (NEOEDD). One of our great local musicians needs to write a catchy little ditty about NEOEDD to help us remem- ber what that acronym means and how much this organiza- tion does for the development of business in our area. Next week, with some luck, I’ll tell you about all of the doggy day care and grooming facilities available in the county. If you operate a doggy day care or grooming facility, send me an email at kellyn@wallowa.com. Senators want data sharing between agencies Wallowa County Chieftain Following efforts of U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Amy Klobuchar (D- MN), the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that the agency will work with the U.S. De- partment of Commerce to produce a national report detailing the economic ben- eits of the outdoor econo- my. Last April, Klobuchar and Wyden sent a letter to Secretaries Jewell and Pritzker, Co-Chairs of the National Travel and Tour- ism Strategy Task Force, urging the Administration to undertake a new nation- wide study that will provide businesses and policymak- ers with the data they need to make informed deci- sions and ensure our out- door economy continues to thrive. In that letter Wyden and Klobuchar encouraged data sharing between agencies including the Bureau of La- bor Statistics and the U.S. Forest Service and close collaboration with industry stakeholders – the people who lived and worked in and around outdoor recre- ation including business owners in high natural re- source areas. The senators under- scored the timeliness of the study by pointing out that the National Park Cen- tennial of 2016 would see a growth of visitors from around the world and could be considered an opportuni- ty to look more deeply into how outdoor spaces could be preserved and made more accessible in the next hundred years. “Sen. Klobuchar and I urged the Interior Depart- ment to study outdoor rec- reation’s economic impacts to open doors for entrepre- neurs looking to create or expand outdoor business- es, and to underscore for lawmakers just how vital it is to protect recreation opportunities,” Wyden said. “Outdoor recreation is a major economic driv- er in Oregon, with visitors and locals alike exploring trails, rivers, and ishing holes across the state. And the fun doesn’t stop when the sun goes down, because visitors make their way to local stores, restaurants and brew pubs. That’s also why I included a similar study in the recreation bill I recently introduced.”