Everybody's Art – An Oregon Art Beat Special - Premieres May 22 at 8pm

What do you think about public art? From Portlandia in Portland, bronze sculptures in Joseph, whale bones in Newport, and art on our college campuses, we're surrounded by art in public places. We walk or drive past it, love it or ignore it -- but did you know that we all own thousands of pieces of art? Our tax dollars have commissioned them, and each one impacts the visual landscape of Oregon.

But how do we think about this public art, and do we value it? And what does it add to our communities, our culture and our state? "Everybody's Art," a half-hour Oregon Art Beat special, takes a look at the topic, from artists who work with committees to create public art, to communities impacted by installing art, as well as a look back at the history of our "Percent for Art" legislation from the late 1970s. "Everybody's Art" is airing on the stations of Oregon Public Broadcasting on Thursday, May 22 at 8pm (and Sunday, May 25 at 2am and 6pm).

Frank Boyden is an internationally known ceramic artist and sculptor. Brad Rude is two decades younger, with years of experience in foundry work and metal sculpture. The two are collaborating on a commission for TriMet, which provides public transportation to the Portland metro area. Their groundbreaking interactive installation, designed for five towns served by TriMet's new suburban rail line, is the first of its kind in the nation. Because they're creating art paid for with public funds, a committee is involved in every step of their creative process. During "Everybody's Art," an Oregon Art Beat special, we follow Frank and Brad from their initial meetings through design and construction through the final approval of their work. Can innovative art come from a process that involves so much committee input? The two artists think so, and we follow them from their studios, to committee meetings, and back again as they work towards their delivery deadline.

"Everybody's Art" also takes a look at public art around the state, paid for with public funds and privately sponsored, and explores the role of art in building community in urban and rural settings.

"Everybody's Art" visits the eastern Oregon town of Vale where ranchers drive pickup trucks past huge, historic murals on downtown buildings to explore the question of whether public art has helped stimulate a projected economic boom for this tiny community.

We take a tour of Portland's public-art collection with Eloise Damrosch, executive director of Portland's Regional Arts and Cultural Council (RACC), and artist Victor Maldonado, as they discuss the impact of public art in a city, as well as the challenges of maintaining a public art collection.

We explore the 30-year history of Oregon's Percent for Art legislation and examine the impact it's had on the state's art collection and artists in the state, as well as hear from people who think that no government money should be spent to subsidize art.

At the Oregon Art Beat Web site, viewers are encouraged to get involved in the public art process. Log on to see Frank and Brad's installation and provide feedback. Also learn how to join a committee, attend a neighborhood meeting and critique a public art proposal.

Video clips of the stories featured on "Everybody's Art," as well as archived Art Beat stories, can be viewed online immediately following the broadcast at www.opb.org/artbeat/.

It's an engaging look at something that affects all of us, every day. After all, in Oregon, public art is "Everybody's Art."

Oregon Experience: "Lola G. Baldwin" Premieres May 15

On April 1, 1908 Lola Greene Baldwin was sworn in to perform police service for the city of Portland and became the nation's first policewoman. The next installment in Oregon Public Broadcasting's Oregon Experience series examines the life and work of Detective Baldwin who made it her mission to crusade for the moral and physical welfare of young, single working girls and prevent them from being lured into lives of prostitution and crime. Tune in to the stations of OPB on Thursday, May 15 at 9pm.

Baldwin was born in Elmyra, New York in 1860. She dropped out of high school to support herself and two sisters when her father died unexpectedly. She would go on to earn a teaching certificate and taught school in Nebraska where she met and married dry goods merchant LeGrand Baldwin. After the birth of her two sons, Lola got involved in social work, volunteering at homes for unwed mothers and prisoner's aid societies.

In 1904, the Baldwin family moved to Portland where Lola was appointed supervisor of the local chapter of the Traveler's Aid Society organized to help protect young women coming to Portland in search of jobs during the 1905 Exposition.

During the fair, Baldwin reported helping more than 1,600 young women find safe lodging and employment. She was so successful she later convinced Portland's City Council to fund her position under the police department's jurisdiction. That required a civil service exam, and when she passed, Lola Baldwin was sworn in as the nation's first municipally paid policewoman.

Other cities around the country noticed Portland's grand experiment with women police. Baldwin was instrumental in helping Tacoma, Seattle and other cities set up their own Women's Protective Divisions. After 14 years of service she retired in 1922 but continued to lobby fiercely for equal benefits for women police. Lola Greene Baldwin died in 1957 at the age of 97. She pioneered a new profession for female cops and her legacy lives on in the thousands of women who followed in her footsteps.