On July 20-22 The Oregon Cultural Trust had a booth at the Salem Art Fair. We put out a jar to take contact information, and we also put out notepads with three questions written on them:

1. What does culture mean to you?
2. Describe an inspiring experience of culture from your childhood.
3. Write about a cultural mentor (in childhood or adulthood) and what they brought to your life?

Here were a couple of answers question #1 What does culture mean to you:

“Having culture means you know how to behave in any country, in any language group and with any native peoples, without offending them.”
“If you are ‘cultured’ you can fit in.”
“You can appreciate how others live, work, dance, talk, sing…”
“Culture is what makes us human. It is our most worthwhile contribution to the world.”
“Culture is not how high fallutin’ you are, or what kind of arts, theater or music pedigree you have. I can’t tell you who painted X painting or what’s playing on All Classical FM, but when a piece is evocative, I know what it makes me feel. Being open to that feeling, being able to experience and name the feeling is as important to culture as being able to name the artist or composer.”
“Culture is transparent. It’s like air. You need it to live and breathe, but you may not necessarily notice it in your every day life. The trick is to notice it, to slow down enough to take it in.”
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On question #3, early and adult mentors:

Bill Dugan used to be a dancer, now he’s a composer. He is a lot of mentors.”
-Marian M., Salem
“I was lucky enough to be invited to a workshop that Paulann Petersen presented at the Salem Library. Her hints, tips and guidance has inspired me to write more poetry.Because of this, I’ve been part of the Peace Mosaic and I won a poetry slam in Santa Fe, NM. Thank you Paulann! Thank you for keeping William Stafford alive.”
-Lee of the Mid Valley Poetry Society

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