Bob Boyd receives Ben Westlund Memorial Award

The Deschutes Cultural Coalition of the Oregon Cultural Trust presented its fifth annual Ben Westlund Memorial Award to historian Bob Boyd from Bend on Wednesday October 12 at the High Desert Museum.

The award was established in 2012 to honor the memory of former Oregon legislator and state treasurer Ben Westlund, who championed the creation of the Oregon Cultural Trust in 2001.

“Ben was a passionate advocate for support of our arts and culture assets in Oregon and believed that all people deserve access to cultural programs and the fundamental benefits they provide. As a resident in Central Oregon he was an ardent supporter of the arts here. Bob Boyd embodies that spirit in his historic preservation and curatorial work in this region,” stated Deschutes Cultural Coalition Co-Chair Cate O’Hagan.

The award was presented by Deschutes Cultural Coalition member Kelly Cannon-Miller, the executive director of the Deschutes Historical Museum.

Upon receiving the award, Boyd commented “Over the past years, I have been fortunate to be a part of sharing and preserving the cultural heritage of Central Oregon: telling meaningful stories of our past in the classroom, Deschutes County Library programs, reviewing sites for the State Historic Preservation Committee, being a part of the High Desert Museum as it grew into what it has become today, and working with the Oregon Cultural Trust’s Deschutes Cultural Coalition have all been highly rewarding experiences.”

As the award recipient, Boyd received $1,000 to allocate to the cultural organization of is choice. He awarded the funds to the Deschutes Historical Museum to support their acquisitions program.

Previous recipients of the award are Brad Tisdel, Americana Project; Brad Porterfield, the Latino Community Association; Carol Leone, The Museum at Warm Springs and the City of Redmond. The Deschutes Cultural Coalition distributes grant funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust to qualifying nonprofit cultural organizations in Deschutes County on an annual basis. The Arts & Culture Alliance, as the fiscal sponsor of the coalition, is the contact for more information: www.artsandcultureco.org/cultural-trust or Jasmine Barnett, artsandculturealliance@gmail.com.