Outdoor events roundup: Mother's Day at Silver Falls, Black Pioneers exhibit at Champoeg
Late spring is here and there are a variety of outdoor events happening in May.
Here's a roundup of some of the latest outdoor events and news around Oregon.
Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site open for 2024 season
The Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site has opened the Interpretive Center and Museum for the 2024 season in John Day.
The National Historic Landmark was a center for Oregon’s Chinese community for over 60 years and now hosts tours of the museum.
The Interpretive Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Free 45-minute tours will run at the top of every hour and the last one begins at 4 p.m.
The Interpretive Center is located at 125 NW Canton St. in John Day. For information, call 541-575-2800.
Festival at Silver Falls State Park planned for Mother’s Day weekend
The annual Mother’s Day Birding and Wildflower Festival will host a variety of free activities at Silver Falls State Park on May 11 and May 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The activities include a wildflower show, educational discovery tables, bird watching and guided hikes. There will also be a native plant sale. Guided hikes will take place every hour with a break from noon to 1 p.m. and live raptor demonstrations will take place at noon and 1 p.m.
The full schedule can be found at bit.ly/44nL6cy
Champoeg hosts traveling Oregon Black Pioneers’ exhibit in May
Champoeg State Heritage Area is hosting an Oregon Black Pioneers exhibit through May showing visitors Black history in Oregon through a variety of topics.
The exhibit is open at the visitors center daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The exhibit includes eight interpretive panels that highlight Black residents who came to Oregon from 1840 to 1870. Topics include Oregon trails, Black exclusion, slavery in Oregon, challenging the laws and land ownership.
The traveling exhibit was created by Oregon Black Pioneers, a historical organization dedicated to preserving the history of Black Oregonians.
The exhibit can also be viewed online at oregonblackpioneers.org/exhibit/the-black-pioneers/
Scientific illustrator selected as Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument 2024 artist-in-residence
Scientific illustrator Serena Richelle has been selected as the Bureau of Land Management 2024 artist-in-residence at Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
The program gives creators the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature and create works that reflect the landscape, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area, according to a press release from the BLM.
“(Richelle) combines science and art to raise awareness about the relationships that exist between species, their importance, their endangerment, and what we can do to preserve them,” the BLM said.
Richelle will spend two weeks at the monument in June. She will also host a public presentation during that time.
High Desert Museum receives grant for exhibit
The High Desert Museum in Bend will receive $500,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support the museum’s revitalization of its permanent exhibition "By Hand Through Memory."
The exhibition is dedicated to the Indigenous cultures of the region and first opened in 1999 with support from NEH funding.
The museum was one of 10 in the nation to receive funding for the competitive public humanities projects in the exhibition category. The agency has awarded a total of $1,045,000 to the museum for the project.
“The revitalized exhibition will be centered in Native voices and knowledge, sharing the rich stories of Indigenous communities throughout the Plateau region,” High Desert Museum executive director Dana Whitelaw said. “The NEH funding is vital for realizing our vision.”
Emma Logan is an outdoors journalism intern for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached atelogan@salem.gannett.com or on X @emmmalogan
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Mother’s Day events planned for Silver Falls State Park
