OPRD release - The Oregon Heritage Commission has awarded $75,000 in grants to 12 museums throughout the state as part of the Oregon Museum Grant program. The grants will help fund a variety of projects including collection preservation, interpretation, and heritage tourism. Award amounts ranged from $4,259 - $8,329.  Funded projects:  Co-create three programs with Native educators, culture-bearers, and community members at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum at The Dalles.  Complete a comprehensive Market Research Study for the National Historic Baker Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker County.  Digitize 92 years of historic Elgin Recorder newspapers, through the Elgin Museum & Historical Society.  Complete conservation work on 27 cultural objects from the Indigenous Plateau at the High Desert Museum in Deschutes County.  Complete an exhibit about the logging industry and its role in shaping the Parkdale area at the Hutson Museum.  Enlarge the Oregon Fire Services Museum mezzanine at the Powerland Heritage Park in Marion County.  Provide wheelchairs, portable gallery chairs, walkers, sensory bags, and luminated magnifiers for visitors at the Oregon Military Museum in Clackamas County.  Present a hybrid program exploring Oregon’s Chinese American past through the Portland Chinatown Museum in Portland.  Purchase equipment and furnishings for the Rainier Oregon Historical Museum.  Develop and implement a K-12 student curriculum around a series of portraits as part of the Re-Imagining Bush House Museum Project.  Develop walking tours and outdoor photos to enhance the visitor experience at the Seaside Museum.  Revitalize and landscape the area that surrounds the 1909 Southern Pacific Caboose #507 and Rail Heritage Exhibits at the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem.  The museum grant program is offered annually by the Oregon Heritage Commission, part of the Oregon Heritage program at Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). The grant program began in 1965 when only 24 organizations were eligible for the program. The grant is funded OPRD lottery dollars.  The Oregon Heritage Commission works to secure, sustain and enhance Oregon’s heritage. The Commission sponsors heritage initiatives that educate the public about the value of heritage and celebrate the state’s diversity.  The Oregon Heritage Commission consists of nine members appointed by the governor and nine agency advisors. Members are chosen from state agencies and statewide organizations, and represent a diverse geographical and heritage background.  To learn more about the Oregon Museum Grant or the Oregon Heritage Commission, visit www.oregonheritage.org or contact Kuri Gill at [email protected] or 503-986-0685.