Rural Arts & Culture Map Practicum
Practicum Host Site: Oregon Folklife Network
Practicum Supervisors: Emily Afanador & Riki Saltzman
Practicum Guidelines
Steps to Rural Arts & Culture Map Process
Note: Links connect to Rural Arts & Culture Map (RACM) Dropbox or online resources.
1) Do Research
Find artists that are living and work in rural areas in connection with the OFN. Start off with Traditional
Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP) awardees as they have already been approved by the OFN. Search
may be broadened later.
Ways to find artists:
-Refer to Guidelines for Rural Locations and OSU website to define rural locations.
-Register at Special Collections (2nd floor of Knight Library) to be able to access Folklore Program
archives.
-See List of Possible Artists compiled by previous practicum students.
-Consult inventories for archived artist boxes 47 & 60 (held at Special Collections). Contact
Nathan Georgitis for updated inventories. These inventories list whether artists live in rural
areas, are TAAP awardees and if they’ve already been posted to the map.
-Search through artist boxes 48 & 49 at Special Collections. These boxes are in the process of
being inventoried by the Folkore Program, but have not yet been researched for this project.
-See list of current TAAP awardees on OFN website or access TAAP applications at OFN office.
2) Write a Draft of Postcard
After finding an appropriate artist, write a draft of a postcard for the RACM that describes the artist and
his or her artwork. See Example of RACM Postcard or the OFN profile on placestories.com for samples.
Basic format of postcards:
-2 to 3 paragraph description of artist and artwork
-Header with artist name, art work and location
-Image or video of artist or artwork (must get permission before posting)
-Writing should be promotional & personal rather than informational & formal
-Can start postcard with quote from artist
-Include OFN tagline and website at end of postcard:
Oregon Folklife Network:
Making a meaningful difference in Oregon communities by empowering our traditionkeepers to pass on their skills and knowledge.
For more information about traditional arts and OFN, visit:
ofn.uoregon.edu
3) Get Postcard Edited
Before sending a draft to Emily & Riki to be edited, conduct a peer editing process. Depending on how
many practicum students there are, students can exchange postcards via email or hold editing meetings.
Emily & Riki must edit postcards before they are posted to the RACM. The editing process takes about 2
weeks, so be prepared to work on the next postcard while waiting on editing.
4) Post to Place Stories
Once postcard is edited, it can be posted to placestories.com for the RACM.
Steps to Posting on Place Stories:
1) Log in to OFN profile on placestories.com
Username: OFN
Password: ofnuoregon
2) Click Stories tab, then Create a Story
3) Choose type of Story
- Postcard for image, YouTube or Vimeo for video
-use Classic Layout for Postcards
4) Upload images or post URL for video
5) Fill in description & location
-title format: Artists Name – Artwork
6) Add Rural Arts & Culture Community in Publishing & Tags section
-use Rural Arts & Culture tags that fit postcard
-All postcards must have these tags:
Folkore
Folklife
Oregon Folklife Network
Rural Oregon
Traditional Arts
Pacific Northwest
7) Publish story!
5) Contact Artist
Once postcard is posted to the RACM, contact the artist to inform him or her that the OFN has posted
about his or her art. Check with the artist to see if he or she would like any of the content edited.
Congratulations! You’ve just helped represent rural arts in the Pacific Northwest!
Suggestions for Future RACM Practicum Structure
The pool of rural artists connected with OFN is finite, thus if this practicum is to continue, the format
and research involved with the project will have to be broadened. Here are some suggestions:
1) Broaden artist search beyond TAAP awardees
2) Research the Folklore Program Field Work database for student work on rural artists
3) Use the Oregon Historical Society’s database of past Folkore Program artists
4) Change practicum to research based field work involving finding rural artists to represent the OFN