WEST LINN – The West Linn Public Library will feature a special exhibit from the Willamette Falls Heritage Foundation during the month of January. The exhibit will run January 4–29 in the Library’s Community Room which is open to the public when not in use, and always open on Sunday from noon – 5:00 p.m. An artist’s reception will be held on Sunday, January 4, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
The exhibit is titled Art Contemplates Industry: The Hawley Powerhouse, June, 2008. The exhibit is part of the Willamette Falls Heritage Foundation’s “Industry & Art” initiative, which aims to translate West Linn and Willamette Falls’ unique industrial heritage through the vision of fine artists. It publicly showcases the varying perspectives and visual interpretations of sixteen artists who participated in the juried, two-day open air art opportunity at the historic 1916 hydropower plant. The artists who applied to be a part of the event and were selected have captured hundreds of images to commemorate the building and its powerful nature setting.
This show was conceived to create an artistic memorial to the Hawley Powerhouse. The structure, as part of the dam at Willamette Falls, was torn down by Portland General Electric because of a decommissioning order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and its demolition began two weeks after the ‘art jam’ took place there. The structure was a visual icon at Willamette Falls for 92 years, present in thousands of snapshots and visible for nearly a river mile downstream.
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