Four-unit votive slip with double black border. Depicts five male children sitting in a circle on a red carpet looking at votive slips. Upper right corner contains square with writing against sections orange and greens horizontal stripes. Text in upper left and bottom left with red seal.
Two boys in soap box cars race down a street as a crowd of people watch from the sidewalk. Both boys wear helmets. Visible in the background are spectators, utility poles, dwellings, and trees. On the cracked pavement of the street one horizontal line, and two vertical lines merge in the foreground of the image. It is a sunny day and appears to be summertime.
Boys sit in soap box derby cars that are lined up on the side of a residential street. Each boy wears a helmet. The words "Ford's Tire Service" is visible on the side of the first car, and "Cunningham Sheep Co." can be seen on the side of the third car in the line-up. Spectators can be seen standing on the side of the street. In the distance a large concrete wall, a house, a brick wall, electrical poles, and trees are visible. It is a sunny day and appears to be summertime.
A blurred image of a boy riding in a soap box car as he crosses a finish line. The boy in the soap box car is hunched forward. He wears a helmet, white tee-shirt and jeans. Three small wheels are visible on the soap box car. In the background is a crowd of spectators, a wooden table, and a metal table. On the concrete racetrack are two thin white hortizontal lines intersecting a wide vertical white line.
A wooden sculpture of a boy with a fishing pole, holding a fish on a wooden platform., The Boy Fishing; Russell Childers; wood; 21x5.5x9 inches; ohsu movable, In 1970 Childers had a one man show that opened in the University Of Oregon Museum Of Art and has toured colleges, galleries and libraries in the Northwest including a very successful exhibit in Sapporo, Japan. His wood carvings are being purchased by museums and private collectors who gladly pay up to $2,000.00 for his pieces. Russell has truly gained recognition as a gifted artist. This was not always the case. On January 11, 1926 at the age at 10 has was committed to Fairview State Home for the Feeble Minded because of "fits" that quite possibly could have been epileptic seizures stemming from early childhood falls and several bouts with extremely high fevers. Records show that his first- and second- grade teachers regarded him as incorrigible. In those days that was enough reason to have a child institutionalized. While at Fairview he received several diagnoses including autism. Perhaps because of deafness he found it difficult to communicate so he was labeled as being retarded. As a former superintendent of Fairview, Merry McGee said, "When a person was labeled as retarded, all services ceased." Patients were fed and clothed but received no training. Russell spent the next forty years in silence. Russell is not sure when he started to carve but thinks it was during World War II. While thumbing through an issue of Life Magazine, he saw an illustration of a woodcarver at work and this triggered something in him. Woodcarving was Childers' only significant activity for most of the forty years he spent there. He was not allowed to have a knife for many years, so he sharpened bits of metal and with donated wood he eagerly created wooden cowboys, bartenders and bears for the ward attendants. He charged 50 cents for his work. In 1965, Pauline Lindell, one of the founders of Willamette Valley Rehabilitation Center felt that Russell was capable of "leading a more useful life" and helped in obtaining his release. Russell moved to Lebanon to reside in a foster home. At Willamette Valley Rehabilitation Center he was given a set of hearing aids, extensive reading and writing classes and a place to continue his carving. In his new open environment, Russell has thrived. He is paid a salary at the center, with which he shares the proceeds from his carvings. As he works at his bench, Russell will occasionally chat with workers who pass by, but his thoughts stay with the steady strokes of his coping saw as he shapes a piece of maple or oak into a delicate figure. His self-portraits and the poignant pre-Fairview family scenes are works of art. One of the most acclaimed is of Childers, a brother and an aunt who are sitting together on a bench the day before he was committed. As Jan Zach, retired professor of sculpture at the University of Oregon and a good friend of Russell, said a few years ago, "Russell's work is beautiful, it's absolutely astonishing." When asked, Russell thinks he does good work, but calls it a hobby -- one that he has pursued eight hours a day for a good part of his 73 years., http://prettisculpture.typepad.com/photos/russell_childers/russell_childers.html, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
A black-and-white photograph of a young boy sitting on his haunches, caught up in his play with a wheeled toy., Carrasco has photographed in Oregon, Mexico and Europe; she has photographed Chicano, Indian and Russian families. She was the editor of a US government newspaper for migrant farmworkers, many of whom were Mexicans, in Oregon. She felt very strongly about, http://www.americanartco.com/page.aspx?cid=207&id=424, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Mid-Valley Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.oregonlink.com/arts/index.html
A mysterious, historic black-and-white photograph of a young boy clinging to the side of a precarious rock formation., http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives/archive/pho/p218inv.html, The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Mid-Valley Arts. You may view their website at: http://www.oregonlink.com/arts/index.html
Black and white image. A young boy playing with small rectangular blocks stands next to a table. The boy is dressed in a long sleeved shirt with cuffs and a collar, shorts with buttons, shoes with a strap, and socks. On the surface of the table is a tablecloth and thin circular disks in rows that surround the stacked building blocks. Directly behind the boy is a wooden chair. lt is identified as the son of Gertrude Bass Warner, Sam.
Black and white image. This is an image of three boys climbing a steep rock cliff. The boys stand on narrow rock ledges as they turn to look at the camera. All three boys are dressed in short-sleeved shirts and trousers. Cracks and patterns line the surface of the cliff that fills the frame of the photograph.