OPB Provides Extensive Primary Election Coverage on Radio and Online

Oregon Public Broadcasting will provide extensive coverage of the Oregon Primary, including local, state, U.S. congressional and presidential races, beginning at 7:30pm on Tuesday, May 20 on OPB Radio and online at opbnews.org. Coverage of the Kentucky primary will begin earlier in the day starting at 4pm on OPB's All Things Considered. Election coverage will extend through May 21 with post-election analysis on Morning Edition and Think Out Loud, OPB's local online and daily radio show.

"OPB news staff has devoted hundreds of hours to bringing our listeners broad-based, in-depth coverage of this historic primary season," said Morgan Holm, vice president of News & Public Affairs. "We will have reporters at the major campaign events on election night in order to bring you the most up-to-date results of the evening, as well as analysis about what this means for our local communities and how Oregon's decisions may impact the national races."

OPB Radio's primary coverage includes:

Tuesday, May 20

* 4pm -- Election reporting begins with All Things Considered.

* 7pm -- Special election coverage continues. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is expected to speak sometime after the polls close in Kentucky.

* 7:30pm -- Think Out Loud hosts Emily Harris and David Miller lead our coverage from the OPB Radio studio. OPB political analyst Bill Lunch will join us in the studio, and Beth Hyams will update election results throughout the evening.

* Local coverage continues until 10pm or later, if results are still unknown.

Wednesday, May 21

* 5am -- Morning Edition features post-election analysis and reports.

* 9am -- Think Out Loud focuses on post-election analysis and campaign discussion.

For the most up-to-date local, state and national election results, visit opbnews.org.

To listen to Think Out Loud's special series of discussions with candidates in local, state and U.S. congressional races, visit opb.org/thinkoutloud/ and access our "Primary Conversations" online anytime. You can hear conversations with the candidates for Oregon Attorney General (John Kroger and Greg Macpherson), Portland Mayor (Sam Adams and Sho Dozono), Oregon Secretary of State (Kate Brown, Rick Metsger and Vicki Walker), Oregon U.S. Senate (Jeff Merkley, Candy Neville and Steve Novick) and Oregon Representative in Congress 5th District (Steve Marks and Kurt Schrader).

Oregon Experience: "The Art Makers" Premieres on May 22

Modern art is an old story in Oregon -- about 100 years old, by some accounts.

These days, active and diverse art scenes flourish throughout the state. Oregon's art-friendly reputation extends nationally and beyond. But all this has been a long time in the making. "The Art Makers," a new episode of OPB's Oregon Experience series, explores the art and the artists that paved the way. Tune in to Oregon Public Broadcasting on May 22 at 9pm and see the state of the arts in Oregon in a whole new light.

The arts in Oregon are alive and seemingly everywhere. The state boasts thousands of accomplished artists and hundreds of art galleries -- about 80 in Portland alone. Publications tout the big city's "exploding" art scene, and even small towns now have their own gallery walks, studio-tour weekends and seasonal art fairs.

But not too many years ago, touring Portland's art galleries on "First Thursdays" would have been unimaginable. For starters, Portland didn't have any galleries.

How did Oregon come to be such an art-friendly place?

"The Art Makers" presents a story rich with colorful characters and many wonderful paintings. Meet some of the artists, past and present, who've influenced the state's art scene, including:

Harry Wentz -- Hired to the new Portland Art Museum School in 1910, Wentz encouraged countless students to paint traditional subjects with fresh, modernistic techniques.

C.S. Price -- This onetime illustrator of Western magazines evolved his painting into uncharted expressionist and abstract territory. He inspired others to follow before passing away in 1950.

Louis Bunce -- His bold mural for the Portland Airport opened a hornet's nest of public opinion. But Oregonians acknowledged that modern art had "arrived," and Bunce became a celebrity.

"The Art Makers" features interviews with painters Lucinda Parker, George Johanson, Jack McLarty and the late Mike Russo. Dozens of archival photos and nearly 150 older paintings help tell their stories. And it all leads up to the arts in present-day Oregon, which surely owe much of their vitality to those "oldtimers" and the art they made.

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.