Formerly the city commissioner and the mayor of Portland, Sam Adams has spent his career spear-heading efforts to develop policies and plans to promote arts, culture, and arts education in Portland, Oregon. Sam Adams was also one of the founding members of Oregon ArtPAC, established in 2007 to advocate for public funding for the arts. Oregon ArtPAC, or Oregon Arts and Culture Political Action Committee, is inspired by one of Franklin Roosevelt’s sayings--“Art is not a treasure in the past or an importation from another land, but part of the present life of all living and creating peoples.” The organization’s sole mission is to promote and advocate for public funding for arts education, artists, and arts and culture institutions. Oregon ArtPAC also desires to raise public support for the arts in communities that partake in and enjoy the arts. To this end, ArtPAC supports candidates for public office who are committed to adequate public funding for arts and music education, local artists and art institutions. Driving Oregon ArtPAC’s mission is its recognition of the many benefits of arts and culture, including encouraging children’s confidence and creativity as well as enhancing their academic performance and promoting their critical thinking. The group also believes that the arts promote overall acedmic sucess, cultural tourism, stimulate economic development, improve the overall quality of life, and encourage innovation.
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Sam Adams of Portland Oregon has spent more than 25 years advocating for the city’s artists, people who lack have easy access to arts and culture offerings, and arts education. As mayor, a city council member, and government staffer. While serving as chief of staff for then-mayor Vera Katz, on her behalf, Sam Adams initiated an effort that led to repatriation of, giving back, a Native American artifact owned by the City of Portland. Since 1910, the large stone covered with ancient petroglyphs had sat outside an entrance to Portland’s city hall, accompanied by a plaque stating it had been a gift to the city from a local railroad. Suspecting that the stone had not been given freely by whoever it originally belonged to, Mr. Adams dug into the historic mystery. He learned that the artifact was actually a sacred stone belonging to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and immediately initiated a plan to return it to its rightful owners. With the strong support of Mayor Katz and work of the mayor’s ombudsman, and under the aegis of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the city returned the stone to the CTUIR in a 1996 ceremony. Today, the stone is the centerpiece of the Nix-Ya-Wii Warriors Memorial on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Mission, Oregon. |
Sam Adams of Portland
Sam Adams has cofounded several charitable organizations dedicated to solving problems related to sustainability and education. Archives
August 2018
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