Wallowa County Chieftain
News
wallowa.com
March 1, 2017
ARTIST
‘I
f you start
worrying
about brush
strokes, in a
way, you’re
putting the
cart before the
horse.’
Continued from Page A1
It was so natural. She got me
the paints because I was draw-
ing all the time.”
It wasn’t long afterward
that Collett realized his life
path. “I don’t know if I was
encouraged to pursue art as far
as a career goes, but my mom
was always encouraging. I
was always kind of known as
an artist. At the same time, I
had self-esteem problems. It
was a double edged sword.”
After graduating high
school, Collett attended Salt
Lake’s Westminster College,
where he studied with famed
realist painter Don Doxey.
From there Collett enrolled
as a graduate art student at the
University of Utah. Out of the
11 students who graduated,
Collett was the only realist
painter.
“I could do any kind of art
I wanted to, and I experiment-
ed in grad school, but I always
found myself going back to
what I enjoyed,” Collett said.
He was taunted for his realist
preferences. Others told him
that cameras made realist art
obsolete.
“I really believed it in
some ways because I was so
isolated,” he said.
Taking courses from
famed British portrait artist
Alvin Gittins helped keep him
on track. “He was phenome-
nal; he was magic in a way,”
Collett said. It also eventual-
ly gave the young artist fu-
ture employment as a portrait
painter.
While Collett was in grad-
uate school, the 60s hit in a
big way and even the school’s
faculty was torn by the tur-
moil. As Gittins was an elitist,
Collett found himself at log-
gerheads with his instructor
on occasion. Because themes
of politics, civil rights and
radicalism took over the art
program, Collett felt guilty
for years for staying with his
painting instead of marching
in the streets as a protester.
While Collett was sympa-
thetic with much of ‘60s coun-
terculture, it did not affect his
art a great deal. “I tried to, but
all the stuff I did in that con-
text was kind of contrived. I
found that if I focused in on
visual things and worked with
that, my underlying feelings
would manifest themselves,”
he said.
FFA
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By 2011 the FFA Founda-
tion was formed to seek better
funding, leaving the Student
Leadership Grant money avail-
able to the other programs.
Private donors stepped up
to take on the cost, with Les
Schwab and Wilco Farms as
leading early donors. But the
statewide program’s staff is
1.6 full time employees.
To keep FFA alive in Ore-
gon, teachers, volunteers and
Oregon FFA Alumni have car-
ried the weight of the program
and poured in time and mon-
ey. The Oregon Agricultural
Teachers Association (OATA)
estimates that contribution is
valued at $1.59 million in time,
talent and monetary resources.
OATA has noticed that al-
though the state has announced
a $1.8 million general fund
shortfall, general fund expen-
ditures have risen 40 percent
since 2011 – though not a dime
has gone to the FFA program.
With rising interest in sup-
porting career and technical
education (CTE) and Science,
Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) cours-
es, which provide the best if
not only hands-on, real world
application of technologies,
A9
Sam Collett
“I tell my students not to
worry about technique. If you
start worrying about brush
strokes, in a way, you’re put-
ting the cart before the horse.
I ask them ‘What’s the main
concept of the painting – what
are you trying to do?’ That’s
the important thing, and you
try to achieve that the best way
you can. Do that, and the rest
of those things will fall into
place.”
Teaching isn’t a one-way
learning street. Collette has felt
the influence of his students as
well, particularly when it came
to the nuts and bolts of art.
“Having students has influ-
enced my art most definitely,”
Collett said. As an example,
Collett knew color theory by
instinct, but when he tried to
explain it to students he was
lost. “Having to learn these
things has had a great influ-
ence, because now I thorough-
ly understand all the aspects of
what I do,” he said.
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Artist Sam Collett doing one of his favorite art-related passions: Teaching. Here he imparts his wisdom to one of his Josephy
Center students.
The struggling artist
After graduation Collett
struggled to make a living as
a full-time artist. He finally
took art-related work think-
ing it would help him keep his
hand in the game. He worked
as a production artist in graph-
ics. He freelanced, even seek-
ing work as a litigation artist
for courtrooms. He took work
as a medical illustrator at the
medical center of the Uni-
versity of Utah for about six
years. It didn’t help.
“Those jobs depleted me
of my creativity, and I always
did my worst artwork during
those periods, or I didn’t do
any art at all. I decided those
art related jobs weren’t for
me,” Collett said.
Physical labor in construc-
tion helped Collett focus on
art. He also rented a studio
at the Guthrie Art Studios,
which helped.
“When I worked physical-
ly and went to the studio, I
was really there and really en-
ergized. In those other jobs I
was drawing or designing, but
I wasn’t doing any artwork.
It’s not self-directed. It looked
like I was really drawing and
painting, but I wasn’t,” he
said.
Not all of Collett’s time
in Salt Lake City was fruit-
ful in the ways of art. “I went
through a number of years
when I didn’t work (at art).
A divorce happened during
those years. Raising a son
by himself and working con-
struction took all of Collett’s
time, and the artwork fell by
the wayside. When he re-
turned to the art world, he
found that some of his skills
had diminished.
“I got it back, but never
back to the level it was be-
fore. I had to teach myself in
order to improve my work and
improve my craft. It was very
hard and frustratingly slow.”
Teaching
Collett taught art off and
on during his many years in
Salt Lake and continues to
this day. The teaching started
while he attended grad school.
A high school friend got preg-
nant and asked Collett to take
over her classes at the Salt
Lake Art Center.
w Hat are legislators saying ?
Of the supporters of the
House Bill, Democrat Rep.
Jeff Barker is not rural. His
constituency Beaverton/
Aloha.
But Rep. Barker is a big
believer in CTE and STEM
programs because of his
own experience as a youth
in Benson High School,
where students learned a job
skill in addition to academic
subjects. “I’ve always been
impressed by the quality of
the kids I’ve met in FFA.”
Another metro represen-
tative supporting the bill,
Rep. Bill Kennemer serves
south Clackamas County.
Kennemer said. “I think this
is a great bill and I think we
need to be supporting get-
ting our young kids educat-
ed and giving our kids what
they need to be productive
in the rural and near rural
areas”
Democrat Rep. David
Gomberg of the Central
Coast was not in FFA him-
self, but serves a rural dis-
trict. “I recognize fully what
great work they are doing to
prepare the next generation
of farmers,” Gomberg said.
“I think appearing at the
hearing is an excellent way
to help support this bill.”
Sen. Bill Hansell points
out that his FFA experience
benefited him in every en-
deavor – including training
him to be a legislator. “With
these bills we want to make
sure that when it comes
to the money provided
through Measure 98, that
FFA is a part of the discus-
sion,” Hansell said. “We’re
saying to the Department
of Education, ‘when you’re
setting this funding up and
establishing it, we want FFA
to be a priority’.”
the time seems right to request
state funding for a program
that is recognized as providing
excellent training in leader-
ship, business and agricultural
education.
The value of CTE and
STEM programs is under-
stood. As a result, Oregonians
overwhelmingly
approved
Measure 98, which taps lottery
funds for that purpose.
The measure provides $800
per student per year to help
high schools drive graduation
rates higher by mixing three
strategies shown to make a dif-
ference: CTE, STEM courses,
more college credit classes,
and doing more with dropout
prevention programs.
According to records kept
by the Oregon Agricultural
Teachers Association, in 2015
FFA students generated $13.8
million back into Oregon’s
economy through their SAE
programs.
In Wallowa County, where
the drop-out rate for 2014-15
was zero, that money may be
more ideally be directed to-
ward highly successful pro-
grams such as FFA and to ex-
pand CTE and STEM courses
provided through Ag/Tech
programs.
At the Hermiston legisla-
tive hearing, Chelcee Mans-
field of Union and Aspen Birk-
maier of Imbler spoke.
Their message was person-
al and clear.
Schofield summed it up:
“There are 5,800 FFA students
in Oregon now and the only
way to keep FFA growing is to
provide more funding.”
HOLDING
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The area lies between elk sum-
mer and winter range in the Wallowa
Mountains, and spring chinook salmon
also use the upper reaches of Hurricane
Creek for spawning.
“The access to elk up higher during
hunting season is crucial to hunters,”
Richardson said.
That permanent access was in jeop-
ardy, however, as Richardson said a
private outfitter was also interested in
building a lodge on the property.
Instead, the elk foundation purchased
the land from the Hostetter family for
$520,000, with funding from the federal
Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Richardson said they appreciate the
family’s partnership to secure conserva-
tion on the land.
“It is open and available for public
enjoyment. I think that’s a huge success
story,” Richardson said.
The Eagle Cap Wilderness was es-
tablished in 1940 and now encompasses
359,991 acres.
It is the largest wilderness area in Or-
egon, and home to a variety of species
including wolverines, bald eagles, big-
horn sheep and mountain goats, in addi-
tion to fish and game.
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-
966-0825.
“She called and she was
going to quit and asked if I
would like to take over her
classes for her. I said sure, and
I taught there for years. It was
always the center of Salt Lake
culture, and I loved it there. It
was a small group of people –
the weird types,” he said with
a laugh.
He also taught at commu-
nity art centers and at the Jo-
sephy Center and other plac-
es after moving to Wallowa
County with his wife, Sue.
For a time he traveled around
doing workshops. “I’ve been
teaching like that for a long
time,” Collett said.
Over the years Collett
learned to teach his students
to rely on instinct as much as
possible.
Leaving Cheyenne, so
to speak
In the ensuing years after
his divorce Collett met and
married a fellow artist who
became Sue Collett. In the late
‘90s the atmosphere around
Salt Lake had gotten stifling
for the two. It was a time for
change.
“We were wanting to leave
Salt Lake, especially before
the Olympic games. We left in
‘98 when they were still get-
ting ready for them. We were
tired of it.”
Around that time a friend
entered Sue Collett’s drawings
into an Oregon show called
“The Wallowa Valley Festival
of the Arts. Her drawings won
several prizes. The couple de-
cided to investigate the area.
NEXT WEEK: The Col-
lett’s move to Wallowa
County • His wife’s passing •
Collett’s art philosophy • his
work today
H ow to comment on tHe bills
Individuals who would
like to comment on these
bills are encouraged to
contact Joint Ways and
Means subcommittee on
education, co-chairs Sen.
Rob Monroe (D-District
24) Portland and Rep.
Growing an already suc-
cessful program that is in line
with the principles of Measure
98 seems wise to the legisla-
tors who back the two bills
currently in play.
Support for re-establishing
funding is coming from both
sides of the legislative aisle
and not just from legislators
with rural constituencies.
Rep. Barreto relates his
prime sponsorship to teachers
in his district. “I got involved
because agriculture teacher
J.D. Cant of Union and other
teachers got together and put
this together,” he said. “J.D.
Cant is a constituent and asked
me to be involved and I was
happy to comply. The FFA pre-
sentation over here in front of
the Education Committee was
just stellar”
Then, support began pour-
ing in.
A member of Stand for
Barbara Smith Warner
(D-District 45) Portland.
The email for that commit-
tee is: jwmed.exhibits@
oregonlegislature.gov. Let-
ters written to that address
will be entered into the
public record.
Children has recently asked to
speak on behalf of the bill. And
Oregon Department of Educa-
tion officials and legislators
seem to “get it” he said.
“I had a meeting with Sa-
laam Noor, deputy superinten-
dent of the Oregon Department
of Education, and he spoke
very highly about FFA pro-
grams,” Barreto said. “I didn’t
even bring it up, he brought it
up. I think FFA is very highly
regarded around the state and
around the nation. And I think
the urban representatives, the
urban guys, really get it.”
The bill represents the sort
of reward for “best practices”
that educators and legislators
are always talking about, Bar-
reto said.
“This bill is kind of an in-
centive grant where the folks
with the best programs that
put in the most effort should
be rewarded.”
The sun tried to
break through
snowclouds
Dec. 17 above
Hurricane Creek
after days of
steady snowfall
in Wallowa
County. The
unplowed
section of road
that leads to
the popular
summer
trailhead is
an excellent
place for
cross country
skiers and
snowshoers.
Staff photo by Tim Trainor