8A | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Lane Arts Council begins Ceramics studio hosts annual Mother’s Day sale
Arts & Culture Roundtables
E U G E N E — L an e A r t s
Council and community
partners are hosting a series
of Arts & Culture Roundta-
bles — community conver-
sations addressing diversity,
equity and inclusion in the
local arts community, with a
focus on racial justice.
The first two virtual
conversations will be held
Thursday, May 6, and Thurs-
day, May 20, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Facilitators Ritu Roy and
Eric Braman will guide these
conversations to better un-
derstand and acknowledge
the inequalities that exist in
Lane County’s arts commu-
nity.
The arts are an integral
and powerful tool in helping
communities reflect, grow,
and heal, but first, we need
to examine how our local
arts community excludes
some of the most relevant
voices of our time. The first
two community-guided con-
versations will:
• Take an honest look at
the issues and challenges in
our own arts communities
• Identify strategies to im-
prove equity, accessibility,
and representation in our
own practices, programs,
operations, and organiza-
tional cultures
• Recognize gaps and
identify existing resources
and support for artists and
arts professionals
• Cultivate space for the
voices of black, Indigenous
and people of color (BIPOC)
and other underrepresented
community members to be
heard
Following dates will be
influenced by the needs that
arise from these initial con-
versations.
The roundtables are free
and open to all with registra-
tion on Lane Arts Council’s
website, www.lanearts.org/
roundtables.
Arts & Culture Round-
tables are a partnership of
Lane Arts Council, Arts &
Business Alliance of Eu-
gene, Florence Regional Arts
Alliance, Minority Voices
Theatre and Wordcraft-
ers in Eugene. The series of
community conversations
is sponsored by Springfield
Arts Commission and Co-
lumbia Bank.
In 2020, Lane Arts Coun-
cil and community partners
began bringing together
Lane County artists and arts
administrators for facilitated
conversations around the
current issues impacting
our arts community, and
provide opportunities to
share challenges, questions,
ideas, and support. While
previous roundtable conver-
sations centered around the
COVID-19 pandemic, we
are shifting in 2021 to focus
on equity and inclusion in
the arts.
Lane Arts Council is a
nonprofit that works to cul-
tivate strong and creative
arts communities. It pro-
vides high-quality arts ex-
periences, engaging people
of all ages in arts education
and encouraging artistic en-
deavors.
DISTRICT from page 1A
pen to share a business of-
fice. … What I am seeing
here in this document is the
bias I have spoken about in
the past, which shouldn’t
be here until the feasibility
study is presented to the
board. Instead, we have
abandoned two separate
and unique plans in favor
of your dream and vision
to merge the whole thing —
lock, stock and barrel.”
Schick spoke next, stat-
ing, “I think that is unfair
and uncalled for, Director
Farnsworth. I was brought
in specifically to bring
these agencies together. If
the boards decide to go in a
different direction, we go in
a different direction. I have
no say in the process. It is
up to the board of directors.
I was brought in to bring
the agencies together and I
will do that and until I am
given different directions
by the boards.”
The Fire/EMS chief was
hired in May 2019 to lead
both districts.
At that point Webb
stepped into the discussion,
reminding the directors
that Schick was doing what
had been asked of him, i.e.,
to assist in determining if
the process of merging the
two entities should and
could continue.
SVFR Director Ned Hick-
son followed up Webb’s
comments by pointing out
there was an agreement and
interest in pursuing a con-
solidation of services — as
well as a potential merger
if deemed feasible — that
started long before Schick
was hired.
“I am a little surprised by
the tone that I seem to be
hearing in talking about a
further consolidation of our
services. This is something
we began working towards
before Chief Schick even
came here, back when we
hired Interim Chief Abel,
with the intention assuring
both our interim and per-
manent chiefs possessed
the skill sets necessary to
continue that direction,”
Hickson said.
The discussion then
turned to a proposal for a
public survey on the merg-
er situation and the way
questions were stated.
WLAD Director Cindy
Russell stated she believed
the words and concept of
merging the two districts
was overstated in the sur-
vey. Her comments were
supported by the ambu-
lance district board.
COVID protocols were
next on the agenda and the
boards agreed the safety
of employees was of para-
mount importance as they
approved and unanimous-
ly passed the Family First
Coronavirus Response Act.
The act was designed to
provide additional support
for WLFEA employees im-
pacted by COVID by allow-
ing for additional sick days
in the event a member of
either SVFR or WLAD has
family members who be-
come infected.
There were also a few
tense moments around the
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Of the remaining board
members, SVFR Director
Sam Spayd agreed with
Farnsworth and both spoke
in favor of moving monies
to the accounts which paid
the highest rate of return.
The funds being consid-
ered totaled nearly $4 mil-
lion, which the joint boards
voted in favor of allocating
after receiving a future for-
mal resolution detailing the
investments specifics at the
next WLFEA meeting.
Next, WLFEA’s plan to
work with the Lane Coun-
cil of Governments on the
development of a strategic
plan presented the first of
a number of discussion
points.
Farnsworth
disagreed
with Chief Schick’s pre-
sentation, arguing that the
joint boards had asked for
a separate strategic plan for
both organizations as op-
posed to the plan presented
by Schick, which further
consolidated
emergency
services moving forward.
“I am confused. I thought
we were doing a Western
Lane Ambulance District
strategic plan and a Siu-
slaw Valley Fire and Rescue
plan,” said Farnsworth. “It
looks like we dropped both
of those in favor of a pre-
determined, pre-imagined
merger that looks more like
a WLFEA strategic play.
Are we going to publish a
strategic plan that is unique
to each agency?”
Schick responded that
there would probably not
be separate documents for
each agency, but the plan
would have highlighted
goals for each agency, al-
though the information
would be compiled in one
document.
Farnsworth’s responded,
“I think that is presumptu-
ous on its face because, at
the beginning of this pro-
cess, we were going to iden-
tify board members that
were going to work on this
with no bias and this docu-
ment looks full of bias.”
Farnsworth’s statement
was echoed by Director
John Murphey, who also
was under the impression
that there would be two
strategic plans presented to
the WLFEA board.
There was then a discus-
sion revisiting the idea that
a feasibility study should be
undertaken to determine if
an eventual merger of the
two entities was doable or
even desirable.
“Chief, the feasibility
study was supposed to find
out if a merger was even
possible,” Farnsworth said.
“Right now, we are oper-
ating as two separate and
unique agencies that hap-
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On Friday, May 7, and Sat-
urday, May 8, for two days of
Mother’s Day weekend, local
ceramic artist Mike Schwartz
will once again host his an-
nual sale at his Mudmusic
Studio.
To assure health safety,
this will be an outdoor sale
with entry into his studio
limited to two people at a
time. Schwartz will be mask-
ing and asks all visitors to do
the same.
“The current situation
means everyone working
together,” he said. “The sale
will be outdoors, rain or
shine, so that social distanc-
ing may be maintained.”
Since the weather may be
uncertain, the sale will be set
up at the front of his garage
just behind the overhead
door so that both visitors and
art will be protected from the
weather if necessary.
The artwork will be his
unique signature pit-fired
ceramic pieces. As the term
implies, pit firing is an an-
cient process in which the
pieces are not fired in a kiln,
but rather in an open fire. No
glazes are used; the dramat-
issue of PERS funding, as
there was disagreement
about the upcoming re-
quirements for future PERS
responsibilities.
Farnsworth and Schick
again interpreted date-re-
lated to future expenditures
differently, but the discus-
sion eventually settled on
a $500,000 allocation for
Capital Reserve funding.
As the meeting ap-
proached its finish, Schick
presented a tentative plan
to further the process of
moving the two districts
towards further consolida-
tion, suggesting a further
integration of emergen-
cy operations — not a full
merger.
Staffing, operations, ad-
ministration and budget
expenses were areas where
Schick suggested the inte-
gration could continue.
There was little discus-
sion of Schick’s final pre-
sentation, as the need for
a clear strategic plan had
become the path boards
decided needed to be taken
first.
The next WLFEA meet-
ing is scheduled for May 27,
beginning at 6 p.m.
All board meetings are
available for viewing at
www.svfr.com and western
laneambulance.com.
ic colors achieved are due to
the interaction of fire and
smoke working on salts and
metals applied to the ceram-
ics.
The pieces themselves are
thrown by Schwartz on his
potter’s wheel, so each is a
one-of-a-kind work of art.
A psychiatrist in his prior
professional life, Schwartz
moved to Florence in 1995
and learned to become a
potter to fulfill his view of
retirement.
Cur rent ly, S chwar tz’s
work can be seen in five Or-
egon coast galleries, from
Gardiner to Astoria. Locally,
his work may be seen at the
River Gallery on Bay Street
year-round.
Preview his art at www.
mudmusicstudio.com.
The two-day sale will be
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each
day. Mudmusic Studio is lo-
cated at 04899 Heceta Beach
Road, 1.3 miles from High-
way 101.
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