Series/Achievements/Awards
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On February 7, 2007, Medora was the guest speaker at the Grants
Pass Rotary Club where she presented the story of the Grants Pass
Museum of Art. Medora was the museum's first vice president when
it was incorporated by Director Charles Hill in 1979. She continues
to serve the museum as a board director emeritus. Photo by Sue Jordan |
The
Series
Medora's art can best be described as
story telling, whatever the media in which she chooses to express herself.
To date, she has completed 10 series: immersing herself in a subject
until it is fully developed. Her latest series, Unexpected
Love, not only illuminates her subject Randy Johnson's present,
but also his past.
| 1. The Committee, 1976–1978 |  The Politician |
| 2. My Family, 1982 |  Disneyland Trolley Ticket Taker |
| 3. Sunnyside Ranch, 1967–1987 |  Sunnyside Cattle and Guest Ranch |
| 4. Shades of Hollywood, 1985–1987 |  Detail of Beauty |
| 5. Medora's Garden, 1990 |  Garden |
| 6. Retrospective, 1995 |  Siskiyou Nudists |
| 7. Fear of Death and Dying, 1995 |  Memories of Living and Dying |
| 8. Window Images, 1995–1996 |  Window Image, permanent collection of Asante Three Rivers Hospital |
| 9. Imaginary Portraits, 1996 |  The Good Girl |
| 10. Unexpected Love, 2007 | 
Fisherboy |
Achievements
• Accomplished figurative
and "intuitive portrait" artist in pencil, ink, charcoal,
pastel, watercolor, acrylics and oils
•
Created the inspired oil painting — The Carpenter
— used as the cover of Society of Friends magazine, an international
publication going to America, UK, Europe and Africa. Photo copies of
the work were sold to raise money for Quaker missionaries in Guatamala
— 1964.
• Founder, Woodville
Art Galleries Association of Rogue River, Rogue River, Oregon
— 1968
•
Founder, Women Artists of the Cascade Mountains
(WACM) — 1982
•
A founding board member and the first vice president
of the Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, Oregon — 1978 (Her
"Committee Series" and other artworks are in the permanent
collection.)
• The Grants Pass Museum of Art's library was named Medora.
• Founder, Great We Artists Retreats — 1995–2000
• Chairperson in Grants Pass of the Watercolor Society Convention of Oregon State
• Publicity Chair and Loose Canon Award, Grants Pass Museum of Art, "for her courage and good heart" upon becoming vice president of the museum (1998-1999)
• Organizer of a Forum on Censorship in the Aarts with Unitarian Universalists at Rogue Community College. She was interviewed by radio personality Jeff Golden by Jefferson Public Radio in southern Oregon in 1999. Medora was later honored with an award by the American Civil Liberties Union for her fight for freedom of expression and received international attention through the Associated Press.
• Coordinator and Facilitator of the Southern Oregon Chapter of the Institute of Noetic Science (IONS)
•
Founder, owner and curator:
Art Mall of Southern Oregon Gallery, 2000-2004
•
Among the first artists to be selected to paint
a bear sculpture to be displayed in downtown Grants Pass in 2003
Bumble Bear
Awards
• Outstanding Support for the Arts Award, 1996, by the Arts Council of Southern Oregon
• Artists Mentor Award, 1996, by the Arts Council of Southern Californina
•
Doctor of Philosophical
Contingency Planning Award, Grants
Pass Museum of Art, 2001, for her "artistry, genius and generosity"
• Champion
of the Arts Award, 2002, by
the Rogue Valley Women's Political Caucus
• Commended by the ACLU for standing up for freedom of expression — 1999
• Designated "Community Angel" by the art community, spearheaded by Cal Kinney — 2006
•
Queen
of the Arts declaration, 2006, by the
City of Grants Pass Mayor Len Holzinger
Queen Medora in downtown Grants Pass with Scott Wilson's
1939 Ford Standard