Amanda Waldroupe

Dec 23, 2024 | orartswatch.org | Amanda Waldroupe

At the Tillamook County Library, demand to check out Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents shot up this past fall. In late October, all five copies of the 1991 novel were checked out, with 15 additional holds, representing people wishing to check the book out. “That is quite a number,” Don Allgeier, director of the Tillamook library, said.

Dec 22, 2024 | orartswatch.org | Amanda Waldroupe

Earlier this month, the Grants Pass School District approved removing two books from the Grants Pass High School Library: All Boys Aren’t Blue – George M. Johnson’s celebrated memoir about the author’s black and queer identity, which is among the most frequently challenged and banned books in the country – and Lucky, Alice Sebold’s 1999 memoir about being sexually assaulted. The residents who submitted challenges did not have children attending schools in the Grant Pass district.

Nov 4, 2024 | orartswatch.org | Amanda Waldroupe |Cara Giaimo

The natural world, the environment, and the future of the planet were a main theme of multiple author talks at this year’ s Portland Book Festival, which took place Saturday along the South Park Blocks. Hans, a Eurasian eagle-owl, stole the show in the morning’s first presentation in the Winningstad Theatre, “Atlas Obscura: Wild Life.” Hans was introduced to the audience by Sidney Campbell, a bird handler and trainer with Cascades Raptor Center.

Nov 1, 2024 | orartswatch.org | Amanda Waldroupe |Cara Giaimo

Did you know that palm cockatoos will bang drums against hollow trees as they build their nests, a type of drumming that can be heard up to 100 yards away? Or that a species of nettle found inside limestone caves in China can survive on less than one percent of full daylight? Or that a type of moss grows in the Himalayas due to a type of fungi that grows on it?

Oct 19, 2024 | orartswatch.org | Amanda Waldroupe

Jordan Schnitzer is turning his attention toward arts education for students in kindergarten through 12th grade in Oregon’s public schools. A week ago, he hosted the opening gala of the Oregon Art Educators Association, the professional organization of K-12 arts teachers, at the Schnitzer Collection, home to his vast collection of contemporary prints and multiples. THE ART OF LEARNING: An Occasional SeriesThere, Schnitzer addressed approximately 40 teachers.