Salmon in the City prepares for an artistic gathering

The salmon are running.

Maybe not in the Columbia River, but they will be migrating to the streets of Salem this week as Salmon in the City gets to the heart of its mission: A salmon art installation on city streets.

Following a Wednesday Catch and Release Party that is part of First Wednesday, 20 5-foot synthetic salmon embellished by area artists will be delivered to their sponsor businesses.

The salmon will be on downtown streets through August and will be auctioned at an Oct. 8 Carpe Salmon event to raise money for local educational causes.

"Some of the salmon parents (local businesses) are so darn excited they can't stand it," coordinator Krina Lemons said.

Sometime in July, 35 to 40 2-foot long salmon, also decorated by artists, will be hung in the alleyway between Ferry and State streets -- the alley that links the new conference center with downtown.

Individual artists each did five small salmon, for a total of 50: 10 to 15 of those will not be on display this summer because of space or design limitations. Some were held out so people could acquire an example from each series of five.

Those not hung as a permanent alleyway installation will be auctioned off Oct. 8.

Although this installation, combined with events such as the Independence Day Celebration and Salmon Festival are designed to raise money, there is a greater purpose.

Salmon in the City is bringing together business, the arts and education in a common cause.

"Our whole mission with Salmon in the City was to bring the community together in a unique way," Lemons said.

The event was inspired by the 2000 Kows for Kids, which brought together artists and cows in Portland.

Salem artist John VanDreal, who participated in the Portland event, brought the idea to Lemons, and he also has embellished one of the big salmon.

The idea sparked the project, which started a year ago.

"Is this the project we saw a year ago? No," Lemons said: It has grown and evolved with community input.

That's why she thinks Salmon in the City could become an annual or biennial event.

One idea is to do other events focusing on different state icons, such as the beaver and Oregon grape.

"The energy this community has behind it, I think it has the energy to be around for a while," she said.

Kickoff event

Wednesday's Catch and Release Party at the Ladd and Bush Branch of U.S. Bank will be a free event for anyone wanting to see all the art associated with the project. Refreshments will be served.

For this occasion only, the 20 5-foot salmon, 50 2-foot salmon and 50 1-foot fingerling salmon (exhibited earlier at Bush Barn Art Center) will be in one place.

At the Catch and Release Party, visitors can pick up a Fishing Guide -- including a map with directions to the fish -- information on the artists and details on upcoming Salmon in the City events.

The alley salmon will be suspended from the metal arches that support alley lights and consequently don't present any concerns for vandalism or theft, but the street salmon will be on view in the daytime only, chained securely.

Where appropriate, the salmon will be treated with a polyurethane coating for protection against the elements.

"They'll be wheeled in at night," Lemons said. "We aren't taking any chances with these."

Wednesday night, the 20 salmon will be taken out on the streets around 7 p.m. and will be on view through 8 p.m. as part of First Wednesday.

Associated events

With the South Salem Rotary, Salmon in the City will put on the Independence Day Celebration and Salmon Festival at Riverfront Park.

The expanded July 3-4 celebration will feature more fireworks each day, higher quality entertainment and new activities with an environmental and educational emphasis, including fly tying and casting clinics, Lemons said. There will be wine tasting in the park's new pavilion as well.

Another big event will be the Aug. 7 LollaPaSalmon, at Chemeketa Community College's Eola Northwest Viticulture Center, combining fine wine, food, entertainment and art.

"That's really the part that's cool about the festival," Lemons said. "It's a diversity of activities."

The artists

The artists have been energized by the project as well, transforming the stark-white Fiberglas fish with ceramic art, tile, copper, paint, gilt, jewels, even keys.

Marcus Lintner, a Portland artist who was the hit of the 2000 Kows for Kids event -- his cow was sold for $100,000 to raise money for kids charities -- is participating.

As such, his 5-foot "Zula, Queen of the Zambezi" salmon is a direct descendant of his "Boveena, the Afrikow Queen." Both drew on his experience visiting a Zulu village in Africa.

"Her dress and elaborate neckpiece were inspired by the attire of the king and queen of the village," he said of Zula.

"On Zula, I use hundreds of glass rhinestones, as well as metal studs and wooden beads, which were directly applied over many different layers of acrylic paint."

Mary Lou and Alan Zeek combined their efforts on a 5-foot fish with scales that are keys once used to unlock the doors of rooms at the old Fairview Training Center. It's titled "Sustainable Keys -- Fairview Unlocked."

Sara Swanberg, the gallery director at Bush Barn Art Center, also used found art in her 5-foot salmon: nails, tacks and washers to define gills, eyes, fins and tail. She calls it, appropriately, "Copper River Salmon."

John Van Dreal, who called his 5-foot salmon "Goldfish," turned it into a mermaid with the help of Coleen Campbell and in the style of artist Gustav Klimt.

"We sculpted Fiberglas into the existing salmon form in our effort to create the mermaid (or salm-maid) and used oil paint, gilded gold leaf and glass jewelling to complete the motif," he said.

Artist Eileen Cotter Howell turned to Japan for her inspiration for "Rebirth," a 5-foot salmon recalling the fashion of Japanese metal work with such symbols as the ho-ho bird (like a phoenix) and chrysanthemums for peace and harmony.

"One can't help but be struck by the beauty, strength and perseverance of the salmon," she said. "I felt that the best way to pay tribute to this fascinating creature was to try to capture some of the physical attributes of the fish as it moves into the last phase of its life cycle."

Many of the artists were moved by respect for the salmon as a species and the challenges the fish face in the modern world.

Perhaps the most overtly political are the 2-foot salmon created by Don Bailey, who teaches at Chemawa Indian School. He incorporated written messages and electrical fixtures, a direct reference to the plight of fish impacted by the damming and diversion of rivers and diminished water flow. As an American Indian, he felt the issue keenly.

"Instantaneously upon becoming a recipient of this project, I knew that I wanted to make a social statement, if not a political one," he said.

"The salmon are indigenous to our culture."

Other participating artists include Ann Altman, Ann Kresge, Anne Furr, April Waters, Ben Van Overeem, Bonnie Hull, Bruce Fontaine, Diane Lathrop, Donna Mattson, Doug Dacar, Jan Gassner, Janee Hughes, Jerrold Matisak, Jim Mattingly, Jim Shull, Josh McMurrin, Kim Murton, Kristin Kuhns, Lee Jacobson, Mark Clarke, Mary Harden, Mary Heintzman, Mike Bronco, Paula Portinga Booth, Rick Bartow, Susan Trueblood Stuart and George and Satsuko Hamilton.

Lemons still is seeking sponsors for the fish, with the sponsorship money to defray expenses of acquiring and decorating the fish. Seventeen of the 20 larger fish have been sponsored at $3,000 each.

All but eight of the 50 2-foot salmon have been sponsored, with the remainder available at $1,000 each.

Individual events have been sponsored as well, at amounts ranging from $5,000 to $15,000.

"It's rolling in," Lemons said of sponsorship money.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.