A guitar player with a friendly smile, wearing a festive hat and a traditional serape shawl.
Oregon Culture Keepers Roster
About the Oregon Culture Keepers Roster

Search the online Oregon Culture Keepers Roster—an ever-expanding, juried selection of folk and traditional artists—and connect with cultural experts documented through our regional surveys and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.

Rostered artists and culture keepers can provide educational presentations, hands-on demonstrations, or performances to a variety of audiences. We recommend a fee of at least $250 plus travel expenses unless otherwise noted, for such appearances. We do not serve as a booking agent, so please contact the artists directly.

Search the roster by county or keyword to find

  • highly skilled traditional artists for your classroom,
  • storytellers for your library event,
  • cultural experts for your humanities program,
  • performers for your festival stage, or
  • craft artists for demonstrations.

Check back often—we regularly add new folk and traditional artists!

Apply

Interested in applying to be on the roster?

First, review OFN’s definition of a Culture Keeper:

  • A Culture Keeper is a folk or traditional artist, who actively practices, passes on, and preserves the living cultural traditions of the cultural community to which they belong and is recognized by that community. Folk and traditional arts do not include folk-inspired art, which is produced by individuals and groups who are not part of the cultural community that originally produced/created/developed the art form, even if the quality of the art is excellent.

Second, fill out and send in the application form and all required work samples.

Or contact us at 541-346-3820 | ofn@uoregon.edu for assistance.

Found 285 profiles.
Members of the Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association dance together in a room with white walls and a large blue tapestry that says "Northwest Tibetan Cultural".
Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association
Tibetan Dance Group
The Northwest Tibetan Cultural Association (Portland) is a non-profit organization with the mission of preserving and promoting the rich cultural traditions and values of Tibet. A key part of Tibetan culture is dance, and the organization has both children’s and adults’ dance groups. Folk musicians play traditional Tibetan music on native instruments while dancing with the groups.
Novelyn Tavita sits on the floor in front of a mirror and fake plants and watches her students practice dancing.
Novelyn Tavita
Polynesian Dancing and Teaching
Novelyn Tavita (Redmond) is a Polynesian dancer and teacher of Hawaiian descent. She began dancing at the age of five, and now teaches at Hokule’s Ohana dance company. Her seven children also dance in the company.
A photo of Olga Dame
Olga Dame
Ukrainian Embroidery
Olga Dame (Cornelius) is a traditional Ukrainian embroiderer originally from Kyiv (Ukraine). Dame embroiders in a variety of traditional techniques, researches embroidery of different regions of Ukraine, and gives workshops and presentations on the tradition.
Three people sit playing kotos and wearing a different colored kimonos. One is purple, one is white, and one is yellow.
Oregon Koto-Kai
Japanese Koto Music
Oregon Koto-Kai (Portland) is a musical group featuring the unique sound of the koto, a traditional Japanese zither with 13 silk strings and movable bridges. The ensemble, which koto master Mitsuki Dazai founded in 2012, treats audiences to the beautiful sound of this rare Japanese instrument.
Pat Dougherty sits outside against a rock jack style fence with a dog on his lap. He wears a checkered button up shirt and a black brimmed hat.
Pat Dougherty
Rock Jack Fencing
Pat Dougherty (Enterprise) builds fences in the “rock jack” style that has become iconic of northeast Oregon’s cattle ranching heritage. Dougherty picked up his rock jack building skills as a working ranch hand, when he was still in high school, and has become a rock jack champion in local competitions. A forester, he also helps local cattle ranches with brandings, fence repair, and other one-off jobs.
Pat Horlacher sits in front of smithing tools and examines a small silver piece. He wears a gray long sleeved shirt and a headpiece with a magnifying glass.
Pat Horlacher
Silversmithing
Pat Horlacher (Burns) is a traditional silversmith who started his own business in 2009. He creates hand engraved horncaps for saddles, nameplates for the cantle, concho chokers for neck scarves, belt buckles, rings, pendants, and money clips.
Patricia Whereat Phillips stands outside with trees in the background. She wears a black shirt and a gray backpack.
Patricia Whereat Phillips
Traditional Storytelling
Patricia Whereat Phillips (Coos Bay), a Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw traditional storyteller and language keeper, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. Phillips, a 2015 Master Artist with the Oregon Folklife Network Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, learned Tribal history and traditions from her father and other Tribal elders. Stories are key to sharing the indigenous culture, heritage, and its relationship to the land.
Patti Jo Meshnik stands next to a table displaying her rosemåling work. She wears a traditional Norwegian dress with a decorative collar and a red vest.
Patti Jo Meshnik
Norwegian Rosemåling
Patti Jo Meshnik (Eugene) is a traditional Norwegian Rosemåler. Rosemåling is the decorative art of painting objects with stylized flower and scroll motifs. Meshnik's original patterns are created after study of Rosemåling from the rural areas of Norway. With a focus on balance, brightness, and depth of color, Meshnik's work is done mostly on wooden pieces such as boxes, plates, bowls, Christmas ornaments and sleds, while her more unusual pieces include enamel tea kettles and skate boards. The passion to follow her Norwegian heritage led to her involvement with Eugene’s Sons of Norway Sonja Lodge, where she was elected president in 2018.
Keith Barnhart stands outside with trees and a small wooden building in the background. He wears a red plaid buttoned shirt and a white cowboy hat.
Patty and Keith Barnhart
Outdoor Cookery
Patty and Keith Barnhart (Lakeview) are traditional cooks who make a variety of dishes for visitors at their Willow Springs Guest Ranch. The two have been preparing “pioneer” meals in Dutch ovens for more than 25 years. Signature dishes include pork chops and applesauce.
Prajwal R. Vajracharya sits indoors in front of a red couch with decorative pillows. He wears a gray long sleeved shirt.
Prajwal R. Vajracharya
Buddhist Dance
Prajwal R. Vajracharya (Portland) carries on the tradition of a thousand-year old Buddhist worship dance with origins in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. For many years, the dance was passed down in secret from generation to generation; only recently has Vajracharya’s father allowed it to be performed in public and by people from outside of his family.
An image of Prekshita dancing.
Prekshita Jain
Bharatha Natyam Classical Indian Dance
Prekshita Jain was born in the culturally rich city, Bangalore in Karnataka state in South India. Being from a traditional South Indian family, she was exposed to a lot of classical music and dance forms early on in her childhood. Jain has been learning and performing classical and folk dances for past twenty years with over 100 performances both in India and in the US.
Preston Thompson stands outside his guitar shop holding an acoustic guitar. He wears a black vest over a black long sleeved shirt.
Preston Thompson
Luthier
Preston Thompson (Sisters) builds world-class acoustic guitars with a small team of skilled luthiers. After moving to Bend from Texas in the 1980s, Preston witnessed a boom in Central Oregon instrument making. His work is part of an emerging occupational tradition of skills, knowledge, and experience among the numerous guitar builders in this part of the country.
Rafael Castrejon with Mariachi Centella
mariachi musician and maestro
Rafael Castrejon (Talent) is a mariachi musician and the maestro of Mariachi Centella. The band, which Castrejon founded in 2011, plays for a variety of events (celebrations, holidays, quinceañeras, birthdays, funerals, weddings) all over northern California, southern and western Oregon, and up to Seattle, WA. He himself sings as well as plays 3 instruments and has also written/recorded his own songs on CDs with Mariachi Centella.
Ramona Hulick stands on a stage and talks into a microphone during an auction. She wears a black button-up shirt with gold embroidery, a large gold belt buckle, and light blue jeans.
Ramona Hulick
Auctioneering
Ramona Hulick (Redmond) is a rapid-fire auctioneer who grew up on a ranch west of Fresno, California making regular trips to the cattle auction with her dad. After moving to Central Oregon, she developed her skills in this male-dominated field, and is now lead auctioneer at the largest and oldest Western auction in the world, selling an item a minute for six to seven hours at a stretch.
Randi Johnson stands outside next to a brown and white painted horse. She is wearing a brown jacket, blue jeans, and a tan hat.
Randi Johnson
Cowboy Poetry
Randi Johnson (Hines) is a cowboy poet. Motivated by a love for history and word play, Johnson set her mind to writing poetry in the 8th grade. Johnson takes a spontaneous approach to poetry, and enjoys sharing the sights and sounds of the Johnson farm through verse.
Richard Stapleman sits in his workshop. He wears a blue and white striped button-down shirt and a white cowboy hat.
Richard Stapleman
Bootmaking
Richard Stapleman (Pendleton) is a boot maker who makes custom-fitted boots. Stapleman’s was a bull rider for over 20 years and travelled on the rodeo circuit.
Rick DeFerrari stands outside and leans against a table. He wears a dark gray vest over a dark gray long sleeved shirt.
Rick DeFerrari
Coopering
DeFarrari (McMinnville) is a cooper, a traditional barrel maker, a centuries-old craft necessary to aging wine. First schooled in the renowned Burgundy region of France, DeFerrari has spent decades attaining a deep knowledge of barrel toasting. The results of his craft are the oak flavors wines acquire while aged in his vessels, and a product that keeps his services in demand.
Rick Pass stands in front of a lake holding a wooden duck decoy.
Rick Pass
Decoy Carver
Rick Pass (Astoria, OR) is a duck decoy carver whose work draws on his local roots. He grew up hunting with decoys on the Columbia River and seeing Charles Bergman’s masterful decoys displayed in homes around town. Pass’s decoys include “contemporary antiques,” birds that emulate works by Bergman and other regional decoy carvers.
Robert (Bob) Stevens sits in an armchair holding a mandolin. He wears a brown plaid shirt and blue overalls.
Robert (Bob) Stevens
Fiddling and Old Time Music
Bob Stevens (Hardman) is an old time musician who lives on a Century Farm, which his grandfather and great-grandfather homesteaded in 1904. He plays fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and stand-up bass.
Robin Alexander sits indoors with a television and a wooden wall in the background.
Robin Alexander
River Guide, Fly Fisher, McKenzie Storyteller
Robin Alexander (Leaburg) is a river guide, fly fisher, and storyteller. A member of the McKenzie River Guides Association, he has deep and extensive knowledge of the history and lore of the McKenzie River.

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