Gorge foundations team up to expose community to diverse writers

The initiative will expose students, faculty, and the larger Gorge community to contemporary, diverse writers from the Pacific Northwest.

From Columbia Gorge Community College:

Support from Gorge Community Foundation will help bring a Visiting Authors program to Columbia Gorge Community College students and the regional community beginning this fall.

Wendy Patton

Wendy Patton, executive director of Columbia Gorge Community College Foundation, worked with “Rough House” author Tina Ontiveros and instructor Leigh Hancock, who chairs the college’s Arts Communication and Culture Department, in proposing funding for the Visiting Authors program. The initiative will expose students, faculty, and the larger Gorge community to contemporary, diverse writers from the Pacific Northwest.

"The Visiting Authors Program meets the cultural needs of our students, many of whom have never met a contemporary author, much less one of their culture or who speaks to their concerns,"  Patton explained. “This project selects diverse authors and integrates their work into existing courses.  We will be inviting the wider Gorge community, recording and archiving the visits so people will benefit from this project well into the future.” There will be a visiting author each term through the 2022-23 academic year. Details will be announced in the coming months.

Tina Ontiveros

“These writers, in both their classroom visits and readings, help students realize that literature is a dynamic, creative field where artists speak to issues relevant and real to their lives,” Patton added. “Readings will expand the reach of these writers and help establish CGCC as a cultural center for the Gorge. CGCC Foundation is delighted and grateful for the support from Gorge Community Foundation.”

The Gorge Community Foundation serves the Columbia River Gorge by managing charitable endowments and making grants and scholarships to support regional organizations and students. Its annual Community Grants program benefits organizations throughout the region. Established in 2000 by Gorge residents, the foundation’s mission is to enhance the quality of life in the Columbia River Gorge by building permanent charitable endowments. Assets total more than $7 million, representing more than 80 funds established by local families, individuals and organizations.  The Gorge Community Foundation has made more than $3 million in grants and $400,000 in scholarships.

For more than 40 years, CGCC Foundation has supported students and the college to help ensure that CGCC is a vital, accessible, premier educational resource. The foundation is premised on the belief that the entire community benefits when every student has access to the tools and resources needed to support success in school and in life. 

Gorge Community Foundation is providing $1,500 for the Visiting Authors program. It also awarded funding this year to Gorge Grown Food Network, Mid-Columbia Health Foundation, Radio Tierra, Habitat for Humanity, Aging in the Gorge Alliance and several other non-profit, social service organizations in the region.