Oregon Humanities

Humanities organization changes name, releases short film and new website

Former Wieden + Kennedy creative director Jelly Helm focuses on “power of ideas” to help organization better tell its story.

25 September 2009 | Permalink

Oregon Humanities, formerly the Oregon Council for the Humanities, has changed its name, released the first in a series of short films exploring the power of a new idea, and rolled out a new website in the culmination of a two-year-long strategic planning and branding process. For more information about Oregon Humanities, and to see the first film, visit the organization’s new website.

The first film features commercial fisherman and Seaside High School teacher Jon Broderick, Literary Arts Executive Director Andrew Proctor, Wieden + Kennedy copywriter Julia Oh, former secretary of state Norma Paulus, Portland Monthly editor Randy Gragg, artist and activist CaroleZoom, former Gang of Four musician Dave Allen, Humanity in... More

Oregon Council for the Humanities relocates in downtown Portland

New building owners, staff and program growth spur the move, effective September 2008.

18 August 2008 | Permalink

For only the third time in its 37-year history, the Oregon Council for the Humanities (OCH), an independent nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust, will relocate its offices.
OCH has been in the Stevens Building at 812 SW Washington St., Portland, for nearly 20 years and will move to new offices in the Woodlark Building, 813 SW Alder St., Suite 702, Portland, OR 97205. To accommodate the relocation, OCH will be closed to public beginning August 25 and will reopen on September 8.
Cara Ungar-Gutierrez, OCH executive director, says that two key factors precipitated this move. First, in February 2008, OCH was notified that the Church of Scientology had purchased the... More

New Director Charts Course of Accessibility, Diversity, for Oregon Council for the Humanities

Cara Ungar-Gutierrez has already taken steps to change the culture of the 36-year-old organization.

16 July 2007 | Permalink

In her first 100 days as executive director of the Oregon Council for the Humanities (OCH), Cara Ungar-Gutierrez has met daily with a wide variety of Oregonians, from members of the state’s cultural and philanthropic communities to inmates at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton and representatives of the state’s minority communities—all while learning the ins and outs of the nonprofit she took charge of in March.
But for Ungar-Gutierrez—who is the third director, and the first woman, to head the 36-year-old independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)—being out in the community and talking to people about OCH and the humanities is essential to changing the culture of the... More

OCH names Cara Ungar-Gutierrez as new executive director

Former director of education programs at Oregon Historical Society takes the helm in March 2007

13 February 2007 | Permalink

The board of the Oregon Council for the Humanities (OCH) has named Cara Ungar-Gutierrez as its new executive director, announced board chair Jill Powers Kirk on Monday. Ungar-Gutierrez, who most recently served as Director of Education for the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) in Portland, will officially assume her duties on March 5.
Ungar-Gutierrez will be the fourth executive director of OCH, which was established in 1971 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and is one of five statewide partners of the Oregon Cultural Trust, a statewide plan that raises funds to invest in Oregon’s arts, humanities, and heritage. She succeeds Christopher Zinn, who left the organization last fall. She will manage a staff of seven... More