Organized by the Museum Advisory Council, the Oregon Stewardship Award recognizes an environmental or cultural project that involves the community in meaningful ways and aligns with the museum's mission to inspire stewardship of our past, present, and future. The $1000 award includes recognition of the project in the Oregon Heroes section of our Explore Oregon exhibit. 

Nominations for the 2024 Oregon Stewardship Award have closed. Check back soon for an update on the winner!

Projects produced by Oregon community groups, individuals, nonprofit organizations, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions are all eligible, as are national and regional organizations with offices or affiliates in Oregon. Eligible projects are Oregon-based and relate directly to Oregon’s environment or cultural heritage.

Nominations for the 2024 Oregon Stewardship Award were open between January 29 and March 10, 2024. To be considered, projects must have meaningful community impact and be ongoing or have been completed during the 2023 calendar year.

The museum invites groups to self-nominate their projects. Nominations will also be accepted from third parties wishing to recognize group stewardship of Oregon’s environment or cultural heritage.

“We are privileged to encounter individuals and organizations who commit themselves to extraordinary endeavors in protecting and preserving our ecosystems, landscapes, and cultures every day in Oregon,” said Todd Braje, the museum’s executive director. “The Oregon Stewardship Award recognizes their amazing contributions to our state.”

 

2024 RECIPIENT
Group photo from the Archaeology Roadshow. About 55 people in matching tee shirts.

 

2024 
The Archaeology Roadshow was awarded the 2024 Oregon Stewardship Award. The Archaeology Roadshow is a free public outreach event that visits several areas around Oregon each year, promoting stewardship of regional heritage and educating people of all ages about the value of archaeology to all citizens. 

 

PAST RECIPIENTS
An Indigenous man tells a story to a group of Indigenous and white people in a forest. A camera is filming him.

 

2023 
Heads to Hearts, a project of the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, was awarded the 2023 Oregon Stewardship Award. Heads to Hearts explores the confluence between Indigenous and scientific understanding of place. Read more.

A sign of recycled materials on a nature walk near Mt. Scott.

 

2022 
In 2022, the museum recognized Youth Rebuild Mt. Scott Watersheds, a project rebuilding natural habitat, building connections between public and private partners, and providing opportunity for youth in Clackamas County. Read more.

Woman in a museum looking at photo of a woman in a blue hijab.png

 

2021* 
In 2021, the museum recognized The Immigrant Story which documents and shares experiences of people arriving in Oregon as immigrants. Made up of volunteers, the organization creates public exhibitions and provides storytelling lesson plans to schools and educators around the state. Read more.

Linda Hardison holds two volumes of Flora of Oregon

 

2021* 
In 2021, the museum also recognized the OregonFlora Project at Oregon State University. It documents the state's 4,700 unique species of trees, grasses, ferns, and wildflowers. They bring together the biodiversity data and tools that will help Oregonians improve our environment, mitigate adverse human impacts, and plan for healthier future. Read more.

Multiracial families in the Oregon timber industry. Several women, both Black and white, pose with several children, both Black and white.

2020 
In 2020, the museum honored the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center and its founder, Gwendolyn Trice, for Timber Culture, a traveling exhibit that tells an inclusive story of Oregon's multicultural logging industry and the communities that developed around it. Read more

Sara Barton, an Indigenous woman, weaving

2019 
The 2019 award recognized Eastern Oregon’s Four Rivers Cultural Center for its Tradition Keepers Folklife Festival, a daylong public celebration of traditional arts and artists in eastern Oregon. Read more

Marshfield High School students reposition a grave marker at the Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery

2018 
The first annual award honored work by Marshfield High School students, educators, and community partners to steward the Marshfield Pioneer Cemetery, the region’s primary burial ground from 1888 through 1920. Read more

*In 2021, thanks to generous gifts from museum supporters Jill Gelineau and Stu Garrett, the museum offered two awards.

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