2017 TEDxSalem

S. Renee Mitchell: Art as survival

December 21, 2016 By Saerom

For S. Renee Mitchell, art is survival.

This is not an overstatement.

For 25 years, Mitchell worked as a successful newspaper journalist, most recently for The Oregonian. This highly public role covered up her inner struggle — the doubts, depression, self-loathing.

Then she rediscovered her creativity, and that saved her life, she says.

“Eventually, I came to a point where I needed to leave behind everything I pretended to be, all the roles I played so well, all the belief systems that no longer worked for me, and get back in tune with how to live my live authentically and with conscious intention,” she said in an email. “Art was in the center of that journey that brought me back to myself.”

Now, Mitchell is a full-time teacher artist, designer, poet and playwright, among many other creative roles.

Mitchell and the upcoming TEDxSalem event may be a perfect match. She calls herself a Creative Revolutionist, and works to help others find their creative centers so that they can “gather up and move on.”

Want to learn how to tap into your own creative powerhouse? Get your tickets here.

Meet Artist-in-Residence Kathryn Cellerini Moore

December 19, 2016 By Carlee Wright

Oregon-native and self-professed nerd Kathryn Cellerini Moore is a creative force transforming childhood memories into thought-provoking art installations. And this year she is the TEDxSalem Artist in Residence helping set the tone for our event, communicate its theme and convey an ‘idea worth spreading.’

Drawn to art for its therapeutic values, Kathryn holds a BS in Psychology and a BFA in Allied Visual Arts from Oregon State University. She earned her Master’s Degree in Studio Art with a focus on printmaking, sculpture and installation from Stony Brook University in New York. Although across the country, Kathryn wanted a program that would allow her to explore.

“Studio art was open enough for those like me who can’t decide on one medium,” she said. “I wasn’t good about making decisions, about focusing. I wanted to do what felt should be done for whatever the idea was.”

“I never felt like I was going to master any one material because I never stick with one for very long,” Kathryn said. “What you are mastering is how to take an idea and give it form. So I would say, I am mostly drawn to conceptual ideas where the idea forms everything else.”

“I am also very drawn to materials,” Kathryn added. “The sumptuousness, textures and colors.”

Inspiration for the artist derives from her childhood and the environment in which she grew up.

“My art is very seated in how I respond to my every day and connecting to that…asking the question ‘Why do I respond that way?’” Kathryn said, noting that how formative experience continues to impact our daily lives has been a thread through her work for some time.

For her TEDxSalem stage installation, Kathryn hopes viewers will see something unexpected. It’s a vision that’s chaotic and controlled at the same time, she said. But there is also a very personal level, a family portrait, to the installation.

“For me, this installation pays homage to the sweat and tears that goes into a revolution,” Kathryn said, “I am looking at revolution on a broader scale….as being a personal a‑ha moment, a breakthrough in perception that changes your life forever. I create artwork from direct personal experience with the intent and belief that the personal is universal.”

“Revolution is also from beginning to end…one full cycle…a destructive force,” Kathryn said. “Revolutions can be the basis for community and growth.”

In cooperation with the Salem Art Association through a new program catering to the Artist-in-Residence concept, Kathryn will be working on her TEDxSalem stage installation on-and-off at The Annex through Jan. 6. The Bush Barn Art Center and the Annex are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tues. to Fri. and noon to 5 p.m. Sat. and Sun., at 600 Mission St. SE in Salem. The buildings will be closed from Dec. 25-Jan. 3.Learn more at salemart.org/programs/annex.

Teressa Raiford: #blacklivesmatter was just the beginning

December 18, 2016 By Jay Shenai

It can be easy to overlook Teressa Raiford in a crowded room, and that seems to suit her quite fine. Short in stature, she is soft-spoken and unassuming in person, often with gaze averted and the occasional half-smile.

There’s a noticeable hint of loneliness in Raiford’s demeanor that the community organizer and leader of Don’t Shoot Portland does not try to hide, one of the ironies of leadership that she accepts as part of the job.

“I couldn’t love too much,” said Raiford, 46, speaker at TEDx Salem’s REVOLUTIONS event. “You’re not available to pets or family or anybody.”

“It’s really bad, but it’s mostly for the safety of the people we love.”

From online harassment and threats against her life, to an arrest and trial for disorderly conduct, Raiford accepts and puts aside the costs of doing her job. A generational Oregonian who traces her family’s roots in the state back to the 1880s, she spent her youth in and out of foster care from the age of 7 through 18. It’s one reason she often feels out of place, in the place she should call home, she said.

Yet at Portland City Hall, two months ago, there again was Raiford, helping lead the charge of protestors demanding to have a voice in deliberations between the city and the police union.

For her TED talk, Raiford will speak about the heart of protest — the importance of getting involved and making a difference. And she will share why she does it.

Specifically, it was one day in September 2010 that changed the life of this former accountant, the day she learned of the shooting death of her nephew, Andre Payton. It was a loss that forced her to come to grips with the plague of gun violence, a community issue that seemed to get no traction among city leaders who would seem on the surface to be receptive to such a progressive cause. Portland is sympathetic, but is also mainly white, she said.

“Portland is a fake progressive town,” she said.

Seeing the inaction forced Raiford to recognize that more needed to be done to make minority voices heard, and more would be asked of her than just fundraising and marching, she said.

“The only way that I could empower my community was by protesting,” she said.

Getting the courage to lead the community in protests didn’t come too hard, though. The oldest of 11 siblings, Raiford had had to take charge of her life and fight through her situation from an early age, as both her parents ended up serving time in prison.

“It was always on me to take care of siblings and cousins, and even my mother,” she said. It’s what drives her to each protest, each rally, each planning session.

“It hurts to go out there. It hurts. All this stuff is bad. Mass incarceration, foster care audits. The pain of my experience, and the value of my age, and knowing that I can fight for that child. I have to have courage.”

And in the end, it’s what gives Raiford her identity, no matter how tired, or scared she might be.

“[The community will] come get you,” she said. “They won’t let you not serve them.”

“I am the people that I serve,” she said. “Doing something is revolutionary. And it’s necessary.”

“We might not always know exactly what we have to do, but if we don’t do anything, then that means that we don’t matter. And that’s telling the world that it’s okay that we don’t matter.”

Get your tickets for TEDxSalem IV

Tickets are on sale now for Salem’s annual TEDx event Saturday, January 7, 2017. Tickets are $50, $40 for a student. The all-day event includes talks, performances, refreshments, lunch and a swag bag. Follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date news from our community, and check our website regularly for new information. You can also reach us at info@tedxsalem.us.

Warren Binford: Child advocate braves subject few discuss

December 11, 2016 By Stefanie Knowlton

Warren Binford works to improve the lives of children wherever she goes.

The Willamette University professor taught middle school in South Central LA before Teach for America was a thing. She served abused and neglected children as a Court Appointed Special Advocate, and she even picked law as a career to protect kids.

“They are so precious, and they have so much potential,” said Binford.

But that potential is fragile if it isn’t safeguarded.

One threat that few except Binford are brave enough to discuss: the impact of internet porn on developing brains. It’s a subject she will tackle next month at TEDxSalem 2017.

It’s a tough topic, but Binford doesn’t pull any punches. She’s not talking about your father’s Playboys either, but the kind of porn that includes children, violence, animals and group sex. It’s all three clicks away, she said, regardless of how old you are.

“They see stuff that they shouldn’t even be thinking about at an age before they have even kissed somebody,” she said.

The consequences can be profound for boys as they mature. Overexposure to internet porn can dull sexual pleasure, reduce sexual function, increase risk for anxiety and depression and lead to regressive attitudes toward women and even violence, she said.

But there are steps that parents can take including using filters, keeping computers in a shared spaces and talking to kids about what they do and see online. Binford hopes the United States will also adopt age restrictions similar to those in the United Kingdom, which make it harder to stumble upon pornography online.

“I’m not an anti-porn advocate,” Binford said, “but there should be zero exposure to extreme porn in childhood. It’s like toxic waste, and it can compromise a child’s health for the rest of their lives.”

Binford started the child and family advocacy clinic at Willamette University and has stood up for child victims around the world. Listen to Binford’s ideas on how to protect children at TEDxSalem this January.

Get your tickets for TEDxSalem IV

Tickets are on sale now for Salem’s annual TEDx event Saturday, January 7, 2017. Tickets are $50, $40 for students. The all-day event includes talks, performances, refreshments, lunch and a swag bag. Follow us on Facebook for the most up-to-date news from our community, and check our website regularly for new information. You can also reach us at info@tedxsalem.us.

Eight tools to block internet porn from WEBROOT.com

Set your search engine to “safe search” mode: For Google users go to http://www.google.com/familysafety/; Bing users go to http://www.bing.com/preferences.aspx; and, if you use another search engine, go to the safety settings and find this feature. If you child uses services like YouTube, be sure you have set the “safe” mode on those platforms as well.
Use the family safety tools provided by your computer’s/device’s operating system: Both Windows and Mac operating systems provide family safety settings. Android and iOS also have family safety tools.
Use family safety tool services: Sometimes called parental controls, these tools allow you to set specific filters to block types of content you find inappropriate. This isn’t just something to apply to youth; plenty of adults prefer to filter out pornographic and other types of content – like hate and violence. The appropriateness of some types of content will change as children mature; other types of content may always be unacceptable. To find the tools that best fit your family’s needs, search for parental-control or family-safety-tool reviews.Keep in mind that these tools need to be installed on every device your child uses to go online: game consoles, cell phones, tablets, personal laptops and computers. Some services have coverage for all types of devices, others are limited to just computers or phones. You may find that using a single solution on all devices makes your monitoring much easier.
Periodically look at your children’s browser history. There are a number of phrases youth use to get around pornography filters – like “breast feeding” and “childbirth” – and some fast-changing slang terms that filters may not have caught up with like “walking the dog,” which is a slang term for sex. If you see odd search terms, give the sites a quick look.
Have your children restrict access to their social networking sites to only known friends, and keep their sites private. A great deal of pornography is shared among private albums on social networking sites.
Scan the photos on your child’s cell phone once in a while. While the youngest kids aren’t sexting, by the time they’ve hit their tweens they have begun participating in this type of behavior. Let your children know that every so often you will sit down with them and go through the pictures they have stored on their phone.
Review the applications your child has downloaded to their phone or tablet. Mobile content filters may not catch all the potentially inappropriate apps.
You are your strongest tool. No technical blocking solution alone is enough to protect a determined child or teen from finding pornography online. Have the “talk” on an ongoing basis with your children and spouse about the content your family finds appropriate and inappropriate; this exchange should never be a one-time conversation.

Vanessa Timmons: Resiliency throughout domestic violence, activism, survival and revolution

December 8, 2016 By Laura Fosmire

Sometimes, the word “revolution” brings to mind a kind of violence, the kind associated with wars and revolts and massive uprisings. But for others, the real revolutionary work is the work that goes into preventing violence — and helping its survivors heal.

One such person is Vanessa Timmons, executive director of the Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, a nonprofit organization that works throughout the state to end violence in all communities. Timmons is also a mother, a grandmother, a survivor of sexual abuse, and one of the speakers at this year’s TEDxSalem.

“I really see domestic violence work as revolutionary work,” Timmons says. “Revolution happens in a community when all individuals are able to thrive.”

For Timmons, the revolution lies in the community, not just in the individual. She sees healing as a community-wide action, not just something that individual assault and violence survivors must do.

“My talk is focused on resiliency for activists and self-care as acts of revolution,” she says. “It’s really looking at how we sustain bravery and be engaged in revolutionary acts. How do we keep our bravery and resiliency and vision vigorously engaged while we’re in that effort of changing the world.”

Timmons further explains that a lot of her work is characterized as anti-violence, anti-racism or anti-oppression. But it’s also pro- work, too; it’s working toward a better world for everyone.

“The weariness of people as we’ve gone through this election cycle, in a lot of ways that weariness inhibits our ability to sustain and maintain our efforts,” she says. “I am really hoping that people walk away from my talk with some practical skills that I use to sustain my own bravery and resilience in times of difficulty.”

Get your tickets for TEDxSalem IV

Brianna Miller: Going “retro” with last year’s artist-in-residence

November 30, 2016 By Jay Shenai

Some people are said to be born too soon for this world; artist Brianna Miller may have been born about 30 years too late.

The 24-year-old Miller could be a child of the 1960s spiritually — she shares a passion for Cat Stevens music, and movies like Harold and Maude and the 60s-inspired films of Wes Anderson. She claims the works of 60s avant-garde artists like Andy Warhol and Yayoi Kusama, among others, as her main artistic inspirations. The Portland-based artist and graduate of McNary High School in Keizer also recently discovered the Moog synthesizer tones of Mort Garson’s 1976 album “Plantasia,” she said.

Speaking from her current home in Utica, New York, where today she is the artist-in-residence at the Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute, Miller reminisced on her time with TEDx Salem last year.

Her biggest hope, she said, was “to create a piece that moved people.”

“I had a lot in mind,” she said. “I wanted something visually stimulating.”

Those who came out to TEDx Salem’s FEARLESS event last October 2015 will remember the uniquely colorful backdrop, evoking the polka-dot motif of a Kusama piece, that hovered over the stage in a constellation of colors to give the stage an iconic feel.

Through the piece, Miller hoped to encourage each viewer to face his or her fears, and continue to daydream, she said.

“Everyone took something different away from it,” she said. “That was one of my goals.”

TEDx Salem’s first-ever artist-in-residence, Miller had applied for the job on a lark, based on a friend’s recommendation, she said.

“I didn’t even know that Salem was a part of [TEDx],” she said.

Her experience helped her reconnect with the Salem community, she said, and also served as inspiration for her art career.

“It’s encouraging me to go even bigger,” she said. “[Being a TEDx Salem speaker] makes it easier to talk about my art.”

Since then, Brianna Miller has followed a similar path from Oregon all the way to upstate New York, where she serves as a Community Arts Education instructor and also works on her independent art project – a combination of printed media “zine” and installation of papier-mache that is “still evolving,” she said – that should be complete before summer of 2017.

She remembers her time with FEARLESS fondly. A quiet, soft-spoken person, Miller had to face her own fear of public speaking to share her art with the community.

“Talking in front of people is always kind of scary,” she said.

“My biggest worry was making sure I created a piece that was fitting to the theme,” she said, but “not too distracting.”

Before leaving, Miller was able to meet this year’s artist-in-residence, Kathryn Cellerini Moore. With the benefit of hindsight, she imparts the following advice:

“This is a chance to experiment and not play it safe,” she said. “I wish I would have done a little bit more. I think I was worrying too much, and got too much into my head.”

“Take risks.”

Learn more about Brianna at her Web site here, and learn about her current work here.

Get your tickets for TEDxSalem IV

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