“Only in community with others has each individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in the community, therefore, is personal freedom possible.” Karl Marx The German Ideology (1846)

It was Print Day at Maryhill Museum. Eleven wondrous woodcuts, each sized 6×4 ft, were inked, aligned in a row and printed by a steam roller, producing the largest contiguous woodcut print that we know of. They depict the length of the Columbia River flowing through The Gorge, with geographic precision regarding the river, and imaginative representation for everything else.

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August 24th, 2019 turned out to be a memorable day beyond creating a gigantic work of art: it was proof positive that institutions like this museum (under the direction of Colleen Schafroth who was a happy woman greeting the hundreds of attendees) enrich our civic lives.

It was proof positive that initiatives of individuals can blossom into something larger (Louise Palermo, Curator of Education, was the driving force behind the project, both figuratively and literally.)

And, importantly, it was proof positive that collective actions both create and benefit community. Institution, artists, community partners, sponsors, volunteers and those of us observing from the periphery all gained from each others’ engagement, enriched the creative output and – ideally – will carry something into the future that will be decisively constructive.

There was a lot of work to prepare for the printing itself. The boards came out, tools were readied, ink and rollers saw action, paper was aligned.

In a group effort, the boards were aligned, nailed down, the felt, or other covers applied, the paper affixed.

And then: the run!

People worked hand in hand, got to know each other, improvised, cheered on by the many spectators who had come, filled with curiosity.

Press was there, drones and all.

Kids could make art and get involved themselves.

Others explored better viewing opportunities:

The enthusiasm and joy was palpable and evenly distributed.

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The “common good” refers to those facilities—whether material, cultural or institutional—that the members of a community provide to all members in order to fulfill a relational obligation they all have to care for certain interests that they have in common. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Maryhill Museum is an institution that preserves the past, educates about the present and works to provide access to art for future generations. The artists’ wood blocks, as different as they were stylistically, shared with the institution and among each other a similar commitment to the common good. They focussed, in varying degrees of explicitness, on the obligations that we have towards the community at large: to protect and preserve the environment, to honor the lessons of the past, and to use art as a vehicle to reach hearts, brains and souls of all who can help with these tasks.

Here are the boards, not necessarily in the order they were aligned to represent contiguous parts of the Gorge:

And this is how the prints unfolded after the paper was peeled off the boards:

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The project reminds us that we need institutions like Maryhill Museum to initiate efforts on this scale and see them through, being uniquely placed to access both the world of artists and the people in the region, who benefit from the resulting vision. These institutions cannot go it alone, however. They need our – renewed or continuing – support, our advocacy and commitment, even or particularly if they are located in remote areas that deprive them of walk-in visitors and hamper visibility of their continual accomplishments. Lend them a hand.

The project also makes clear that small regional studios, like LittleBearHill under the tutelage of Dylan McManus, artistic director of the Exquisite Gorge project, provide an important hub for regional and national artists with residencies and opportunities for creative exchange, much of which affected the final artworks.

The project as a whole, made possible by Maryhill, produced more than an unusual piece of art. Importantly, it brought people together who had not known each other before, bridged divides among groups that had often contradictory views and created a national network of artists that now consider themselves as part of a team. It brought attention to the issues of environmental decline, economic hazards, climate disaster and, above all, a sense of shared love and admiration of this precious piece of land we inhabit, understanding that we cannot delegate its protection, no matter where we come from or how we relate to it.

Let me end with a quote from another NorthWest treasure, the late Ursula LeGuin:

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art – the art of words.” 
— Speech at the National Book Awards upon receiving the US National Book Foundation’s media for distinguished contribution to American Letters on 19 November 2014.

Join me in cheering the museum, the arts, courageous words and all those who stand up, as a community, for change necessary to serve the common good.

The print will be open for viewing from September 3rd to the 25th, 2019 at Maryhill Museum. Maybe by then I will have learned to drive this thing…..