Oregon Public Broadcasting Receives Prestigious Telly Awards

Oregon Public Broadcasting has received three prestigious international Telly Awards for its local productions. OREGON EXPERIENCE was honored with Bronze Telly Awards for two programs: "Logger's Daughter" and "Opal Whiteley." OREGON ART BEAT received a Bronze Telly for its half-hour special, "The Art of Collecting Art."

Founded in 1978, the Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions and web commercials. The 31st annual Telly Awards competition received over 11,000 entries from all 50 states and many countries around the world. It is a fantastic achievement to be selected for recognition.

"Logger's Daughter," produced by Eric Cain, follows an African-American woman who was born and raised in Eastern Oregon as she sets out to explore her family's past.

"Opal Whiteley," produced by Kami Horton, explores the life of one of the state's most mysterious and controversial figures. Opal Whiteley grew up barefoot and poor in Oregon's logging camps and gained international fame for her writings. The film investigates the question as to whether she was a princess or a fraud.

In "OREGON ART BEAT's The Art of Collecting Art," producer KC Cowan looks at why Portland (and Oregon) is such a great market for original art, why people collect and how to get started on a collection.

These and other OPB productions are available to watch online, anytime at watch.opb.org.

Oregon Public Broadcasting Names New Board Members

The Board of Directors of Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) has elected Fred A. Ziari and Gary Maffei to serve three-year board terms from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2013. John J. (Jack) McGowan will serve as ex officio director and as the chair of OPB's Community Advisory Board.

McGowan, who resides in Sisters, was executive director of SOLV from 1990 until his retirement in 2008. Ziari, who lives in Hermiston, is an engineer and founder and CEO of ezWireless, IRZ Consulting and OnSmart Technologies with offices in Portland, Hermiston and Pasco, Washington. Maffei is vice president of Merlo Corporation in Portland and Trustee of the Harry A. Merlo Foundation.

"We're pleased to welcome these tremendously talented individuals to our board," said Steve Bass, president and CEO of OPB. "We look forward to tapping into their diversity of knowledge to help us keep OPB strong."

Alex Lewis Awarded OPB's Tuttle Diversity Internship

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) has awarded the 2010 Jon R. Tuttle Diversity Internship to Alex Lewis who graduates this month from Northwestern University with a degree in Musicology. He begins his three-month internship in July and will work in radio, television, the Web and KMHD.

Lewis was chosen from a pool of applicants from throughout the country. He wants to gain more experience in radio production and storytelling towards his goal of pursuing a career in radio journalism. "The opportunity to learn and work with OPB's producers would be invaluable," he said in his application.

OPB established the internship in 1994 to encourage future generations of compassionate broadcasters and journalists. Historically, the internship enables an outstanding student to spend the summer studying telecommunications and broadcast journalism in a hands-on environment.

The internship is in memory of Jon Tuttle, one of Oregon's most-respected broadcast journalists who died in 1991 after a brief battle with leukemia. Tuttle was a working journalist and a lead producer for OPB's documentary unit. Prior to OPB, he worked for KGW TV.

The internship is made possible by a generous grant from the Charles J. Swindells family. Other contributors include the Portland Trail Blazers, the Jackson Foundation, Paula Craig, Patsy Smullin, Muriel Walsh, Madeline Nelson, The Oregonian Publishing Company and PBH, Inc.

For more information on the Jon R. Tuttle Diversity Internship go to opb.org/insideopb/internships/.

HISTORY DETECTIVES Puts a Question to the Nation: Is Andy Warhol's Art on the Moon?

Ex-Grumman Launch Pad Foreman Speaks Out for the First Time in 40 Years

Fans invited to help solve the mystery, “Who is John F?,” with a pre-broadcast online story release at pbs.org/historydetectives

Today, HISTORY DETECTIVES fans across the nation are invited to help solve a 40-year-old mystery: “Who is John F.?” — and did he really help send Andy Warhol’s art to the moon? HISTORY DETECTIVES has posted “Moon Museum” online today, two weeks before the segment airs in the June 21 broadcast premiere. Oregon Public Broadcasting and Lion Television, the producers of the PBS series, a summertime favorite, are releasing the story prior to the season launch in the hopes that online viewers will produce evidence to answer this question.

In “Moon Museum,” HISTORY DETECTIVES reveals the story of how six major artists — Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, David Novros, John Chamberlain and Forrest Myers — all contributed drawings that were then reduced onto a tiny ceramic “mini-canvas,” which NASA may have unwittingly smuggled to the moon aboard the Apollo 12 lunar landing mission in November 1969.

HISTORY DETECTIVES delves into the story and narrows the focus to “John F.,” allegedly an elusive Grumman engineer believed to be responsible for sneaking the artwork aboard the Apollo 12 mission by clandestinely affixing it to one of the legs on the lunar module.

For this intriguing investigation, series host and historian Gwendolyn Wright interviews several of the individuals close to these historic events, including retired Apollo 12 astronaut Captain Alan Bean. The story begins with Jade Dellinger, the Florida art curator who purchased a cryptic piece of art in an online auction and contacted HISTORY DETECTIVES to trace the story behind it. Most revealing is the story of Richard Kupczyk, the Grumman launch pad foreman for the Apollo 12 mission, who speaks out for the first time in 40 years and candidly reveals how, at no risk to the mission, some employees stowed various personal items and objects not approved by NASA onto the lunar module before launch.

Key to the story is an interview with renowned artist Forrest “Frosty” Myers, who created the “Moon Museum” and contributed a drawing. Myers relates to HISTORY DETECTIVES how Bell Laboratories scientist Fred Waldhauer reduced the artists’ sketches and imprinted them onto the ceramic wafer using the state-of-the-art technology of the time. Now deceased, Waldhauer is the man who knew a Grumman Aircraft engineer willing and able to place the artwork onto the lunar module.

While a select group of elite artists and some of their fans knew of the plan to send art to the moon, only the engineer can confirm whether the mission was accomplished. At the time, he promised to send a telegram to signal his success, and HISTORY DETECTIVES uncovers that compelling piece of evidence in the segment: the original, cryptic telegram sent to Myers from Cape Canaveral on the date of the 1969 launch, which simply reads, “You’re on. A-OK. All systems are go,” signed “John F.”

HISTORY DETECTIVES is giving people a chance to share clues and insights on the name and whereabouts of the mysterious “John F.” Beginning today, self-starting sleuths can watch the full story online and post all findings at the series’ website: pbs.org/historydetectives.

“Moon Museum” is part of the HISTORY DETECTIVES season premiere on Monday, June 21, 2010, 9:00-10:00 p.m. It is one of three segments in an episode that explores the ingenuity that fueled America’s foray into space.

More information is available at http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20100607_historydetectivesandywarholartonmoon.html.