The Salem Art Association is celebrating 100 years. You're invited.
Abby LuscheiSandra Burnett thought the pillars looked humble lying on the trailer.
It'd be a different story once they were secured in the ground.
Burnett, the executive director of the Salem Art Association, was one of about a dozen people gathered outside the Bush Barn Art Center that Thursday afternoon.
They watched Devin Laurence Field, a Portland-based large-scale sculptor, as he guided the three copper-colored components of his sculpture in place.
"Sentinels" now stands 20-feet tall in Bush's Pasture Park, permanently commemorating the Salem Art Association's centennial.
And the public is invited to join them on Friday, Sept. 6, for the sculpture's dedication.
It's been quite the year for the nonprofit. In 2019, the art association celebrated the 20th Clay Ball, 70th Salem Art Fair and Festival, and now, their organization's 100th anniversary.
Clay Ball and the Salem Art Fair are the art association's most significant annual fundraisers. Both events, and the community's support, have allowed them to continue their mission of connecting the community and art.
And now, they celebrate a century of working to fulfill that mission.
It's no small feat, and Burnett knew they needed to honor it with a statement.
Finding the right artist
His work is featured around the world — Mexico, Sweden, Korea, China and Japan, to name a few.
Field, 52, is a fifth-generation artist who's studied in New Zealand, England, France and the United States. He started out making smaller works and transitioned to creating public large-scale sculptures, something he's been doing for about two decades.
He enjoys the challenge of building such large work.
"The effect of large scale on impact and presence is profound," Field said. "They allow the viewer to move around and within the spaces of the artwork in a way that smaller work just cannot."
Field was one of the artists commissioned to create a sculpture for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. One of the most unique projects he's done was in Arboga, Sweden, where he built a peace monument out of a war machine, he said.
You may have seen his work scattered across Oregon in places like Springfield, Eugene and at the Salem Convention Center.
Field was recommended to Burnett last summer when she was looking for an artist. He came up with three concepts for the centennial sculpture.
"This was the one everyone who looked at it latched onto," she said.
Honoring the past
In 1919, a group of art enthusiasts came together to found the Salem Arts League, which would later be called the Salem Art Association.
Since then, they've seen many changes like being entrusted with operation of the Bush House Museum, relocating to a renovated horse and carriage barn now known as the Bush Barn Art Center and the addition of the annex.
"Sentinels" honors the people who helped the art association get to today. It's a contemporary piece featuring three components of varying heights made out of structural steel.
"The sentinels are looking to the future (and) represent those who have passed the baton over a hundred years," Burnett said.
Field said it took about nine months to come to fruition, but only three months to make and install.
The sculpture has looked upon the Bush Barn Art Center since Aug. 22, but its official dedication will be on Sept. 6. Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett will be officiating on behalf of the city.
After the dedication, several exhibits will open including "Environment/Structure," "Western Oregon University Award Exhibition," "Susan Trueblood Stuart" and "Environment & Memory: Selections from the SAA Permanent Collection."
A milestone year
In February — before any of the anniversaries had happened — the Statesman Journal asked Burnett how it felt to have three significant milestones in one year.
It was a lot to process at the time, and she said she'd like to be asked that question again once they were over.
The art association didn't want to celebrate with a single moment, but instead, have it unfold naturally throughout the year with each event reminding the community what they bring to Salem.
"It has fallen into place beautifully," Burnett said. "It feels really good to have it all manifest like this."
As their year of milestones comes to a close, a rebranded Salem Art Association is ready to go into the next 100 years with a new presence.
Abby Luschei is the arts and entertainment reporter for the Statesman Journal and can be reached at aluschei@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6747. To support her work, consider subscribing. Follow her on Twitter @abbyluschei or facebook.com/luscheiabby.
Interested in telling at one of the upcoming Salem Storytellers Project events? Submit your story: www.storytellersproject.com/tell
If you go
When: Begins at 5 p.m. for SAA members only, open to the public from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6
Location: Bush Barn Art Center, 600 Mission St. SE
Cost: Free
Information: salemart.org
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