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 286 profiles.
Dennis Best sits smiling in a boat with the windshield in the background. He wears a striped white jacket, sunglasses, and a baseball cap.
Dennis Best
Knotted Rope Mat Making/Storytelling
Dennis Best (Columbia) is a retired mariner who continues to make nautical rope mats and regale listeners with the stories of his time at sea. As a US Coast Guard Chief Officer, Best operated a thirty-foot surf rescue boat, as well as forty-one, forty-four, and fifty-two-foot boats and earned the title of Surfman, the highest qualification for small boat rescue operations. Best retired in 1994, though he maintains a Merchant Marines Masters License, has sailed his sailboat, the Andante, across the equator twice, and crafts traditional nautical rope mats.
Donald Webb stands in his home in Vernonia, Oregon with framed artwork and taxidermy on the walls behind him. He wears a purple collared shirt with black suspenders and a camo baseball cap.
Donald Webb
Taxidermy, Leathercraft, and Folk Art
Donald Webb (Vernonia) is a taxidermist and folk artist. After retiring from a long career in the logging industry, Webb devoted time to his craft, spending his time working on any number of creative projects from cribbage boards to welded horseshoe figurines and taxidermy.
Dorotea Lopez stands and holds a red, green, and white embroidered blouse. She wears a cream sweater and a patterned scarf.
Dorotea Lopez
Mixteco Language, Foodways, and Textiles
Dorotea Lopez (Cornelius) is a Mixteca culture keeper. Born in San Miguel el Grande, Oaxaca, Mexico, Lopez celebrates her heritage with a group of more than 50 local Oaxacan women who gather regularly to cook their traditional foods, speak their indigenous Mixtec language, and make traditional embroidered textiles.
Doug Caven sits outside next to a river surrounded by trees. He wears a blue collared shirt.
Doug Caven
River Guide, Fly Fisher
Doug Caven (Springfield) is a second-generation river guide who has been fishing the McKenzie River since 1962. He specializes in fly-fishing for trout and is a member and former president of the McKenzie River Guides Association. Fishing the McKenzie involves a special boat, specialty rods, and often hand-tied flies.
Duane Van Dyke bridles a white horse. He wears blue jeans, a black vest over a black long sleeved shirt, and a white and green baseball cap.
Duane Van Dyke
Traditional Farming and Horse-drawn Plowing
Duane Van Dyke (Yamhill) is a farmer and competitive horse-drawn plowman. For decades, he’s continued the tradition of raising draft horses and putting them to work plowing.
Dwight Cummins stands in front of trees. He wears a dark plaid polo that says "John Deere".
Dwight Cummins
Shearer and Logger
Dwight Cummins (Silverton) learned how to shear a sheep from his older brothers at their childhood home in Pedee. Cummins currently shears small flocks of sheep, llamas and alpacas part-time in the Willamette Valley, and logs in his spare time as well.
Ed Balfour stands on his boat wearing a black jacket and blue jeans.
Ed Balfour
Offshore Fisherman
Ed Balfour (Reedsport) is a traditional offshore fisherman. He is captain of the F/B Brandywine, a commercial fishing boat that operates out of Winchester Bay. Respected for his knowledge of the fishery, his insistence on careful preparation, and courage on the high seas, Balfour doesn’t blink when it comes to fishing for tuna 200 miles offshore.
Ed Edmo sits in front of green metal shelves. He wears a dark blue long sleeve shirt, a patterned vest, two shell necklaces, a medicine bag, and glasses.
Ed Edmo
Native American Storytelling
Ed Edmo (Portland) is a storyteller from the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. As a boy growing up in Celilo Falls, an ancient Native American site along the Columbia River, he heard stories from his parents and grandparents. Edmo brings his rich repertoire alive for audiences near and far.
Melendrez stands in front of a gallery, where his art is displayed.
Eddie Melendrez
Chicano Painting
Eddie Melendrez (Ontario) is a Chicano painter. He uses acrylics to paint on canvases and wooden boards, his work described as ‘bold and decisive.’ Melendrez enjoys painting members of his community, stating “I capture moments whenever I can.”
Eleeziaa Howard stands in front of tall bushes while holding a small pair of handcrafted moccasins. She wears a gray shirt.
Eleeziaa Howard
Moccasin Crafting
Eleeziaa Howard (Milwaukie, OR) makes moccasins that reflect the cultural heritage of her ancestral community, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. Her moccasins are a “round top” style; she makes each one from a single piece of leather and then beads them in red, black, and turquoise, colors that she says are typical of northwest tribes. Howard learned this artform from her cousin, and has begun to share her skills with others, both online as well as in person and at Siletz culture camps.
Emma Jean Smith stands indoors holding up a light pink knitted cardigan. She wears a dark blue sweater.
Emma Jean Smith
Knitting, Sewing, Quilting, Storytelling, Gardening, Canning
Emma Jean Smith (Grass Valley) is a master of many traditional crafts and activities including quilting, sewing, knitting, canning, and gardening. Smith acquired her skills from her mother. Smith, a 4H teacher for 52 years, passed those same skills along to several more generations of students.
Eric Jepsen sits in a chair in front of a framed flower painting playing a fiddle. He wears a blue plaid shirt.
Eric Jepsen
Fiddling
Eric Jepsen (Ione) is an old time fiddler who plays variety of styles. He grew up on a wheat farm in Ione and began playing violin when he was about 5 years old.
Esther charismatically tells a story, gesturing upwards with both of her hands. She wears a traditional leather outfit made with shells and beads as well as a beaded cap.
Esther Stutzman
Traditional Kalapuya/Coos Storytelling
Esther Stutzman (Yoncalla) is a traditional storyteller and educator. Stutzman, who is Komemma Kalapuya (from the Willamette Valley) on her mother's side and Hanis Coos from the Oregon coast on her father's side, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. Stutzman works with schools, museums, libraries, and universities to share her culture and history. She is also a founding member of the six-woman Old West Cowgirl band, Slow Ponies.
Eva Castellanoz sits in front of a bookshelf wearing a red jacket.
Eva Castellanoz
Native American Curanderismo (Traditional Healing)
Eva Castellanoz (Nyssa) makes coronas, used for the traditional Mexican quinceañera (coming-of-age) ritual. A National Heritage Fellow (1989), she is also a curandera (healer), activist, teacher, and spokesperson for Oregon's Latino community.
Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim stands against a white wall holding up a piece of red and white embroidery. She wears a red and black embroidered outfit.
Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim
Palestinian Embroidery
Feryal Abbasi-Ghnaim (Portland) is a traditional Palestinian embroiderer and three time Oregon Folklife Network Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program Master Artist in 2012, 2014 and 2017. A National Heritage Fellow (2018), Abbasi-Ghnaim learned the technique of Palestinian embroidery and the stories behind the traditional patterns from her mother and grandmother.
Flo Calhoun stands outside next to an ocean themed quilt. She wears a blue polo shirt.
Flo Calhoun
Quilting
Flo Calhoun (Corvallis) started making quilts in 1976. An award-winning quilter, Calhoun has a repertoire that includes a variety of styles and patterns. Strongly influenced by her grandmother, she explained, “I learned to do a lot of things my grandmother did to prove myself to her.”
David and Claire stand against a white wall wearing traditional Norwegian folk outfits. David wears black pants, a red plaid shirt, white undershirt, and black jacket. Claire wears an embroidered navy blue dress over a long sleeve white shirt.
Fossegrimen
Scandinavian Folk Music Group
Fossegrimen (Eugene) is a Scandinavian folk dance band founded by David and Claire Elliker-Vågsberg in 1999. They have performed in Norway, Salem, Portland, and Eugene, and often provide the music for Scandinavian folk dances, weddings, festivals, and fairs.
Francisco Baustista standing in his workshop wearing a baseball cap, jeans, and a grey jacket.
Francisco Bautista
Rug Weaving
Francisco Bautista (Sandy) is a fourth generation Zapotec weaver from Teotitlán del Valle, a small village outside of Oaxaca City, Mexico renowned for its handcrafted textiles. Under the tutelage of his father, Bautista began learning his craft at age seven.
Frank Bettencourt stands and holds a small wooden vehicle replica. He wears a tan baseball cap, red sweater, and jeans.
Frank Bettencourt
Woodworking
Frank Bettencourt (Condon), is a woodworker who produces replicas of farm equipment, vehicles and old western buildings - all without patterns. His pieces pay homage to the aesthetics of his past occupation as farmer and cowboy.
Frank Murphy stands in a kitchen with his arms folded wearing a white chef uniform.
Frank Murphy
Chef, Storyteller, Teacher
Frank Murphy (North Bend) is an Irish chef and storyteller and teaches culinary arts at North Bend High School. Murphy, who grew up in Dublin and attended culinary school there, also learned to cook from his mother and grandmother. He tells a variety of stories, some tall tales and others more historical or anecdotal, about his youth in Dublin, his grandparents, and the nearby countryside.

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