Les Joslin receives Ben Westlund Memorial Award
The Deschutes Cultural Coalition of the Oregon Cultural Trust presented its 6th annual Ben Westlund Memorial Award to Les Joslin from Bend on December 13th at the Liberty Theater during The Arts and Culture Alliance’s Holiday Party.
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 board member/past BWMA winner Bob Boyd. The focus of the evening for the DCC was to honor cultural hero Les Joslin with the Ben Westlund Memorial Award for his leadership and dedication to preserving the cultural history of the people in our regional timber industry. The honor comes with a $1,000 cash award. If an individual is a recipient, they are invited to regrant the funds to a qualifying cultural nonprofit of their choice. Joslin announced his gift of the funds to the High Desert Museum for High Desert Ranger Station exhibit preservation.
Previous recipients of the award are Bob Boyd, 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 .
