2025 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the closure of the Fairview Training Center, an institution for people with developmental disabilities operated by the State of Oregon in Salem from 1907 to 2000.
The legacy of Fairview remains a topic of significant discussion and debate, often highlighting both the institution’s history and its lasting impact on individuals and the community.
Last year, Bruce Burris, an artist whose work centers on collaborative efforts with neurodiverse artists, received a grant from the Creative Heights Initiative of the Oregon Community Foundation to develop a project titled Our Fairview.
This endeavor encompasses a range of activities—art events, workshops, and discussions—intended to promote public engagement and deeper understanding of the Fairview Training Center’s history and its implications for the present.
In early May, I had the opportunity to meet with Burris, Project Manager Jill R. Baker, and Researcher Paul Meuse to learn more about the project and its mission, especially as they prepared for their upcoming public event, Entwined: Legacy and Memories, scheduled for June 7th at Portland Arts Collective.
Burris shared the personal motivations driving Our Fairview, which includes his experiences with family members who were institutionalized and his ongoing collaborations with neurodiverse artists.
He articulated the project’s dual purpose: to revive the historical memory of the Fairview Training Center—citing a recent documentary on Oregon Public Broadcasting—while also seeking the voices of artists to contribute to this ongoing narrative.
“We’re really trying to just broaden the opportunity for people to express themselves around this institution,” Burris emphasized, highlighting the necessity of creativity in understanding complex histories.
The Our Fairview website serves as a growing repository of resources and information about the various activities within the project.
Despite the Fairview Training Center having closed its doors a quarter of a century ago, the team’s discussions revealed that the scars and memories of the institution remain very much alive within the community.
Burris, Baker, and Meuse, all affiliated with Living Studios—a program under Cornerstone Associates that supports neurodiverse artists—expressed how they actively engage with individuals impacted by Fairview’s operations.
“We work every day with people who experienced Fairview Training Center in some way. It is a living place, still,” Burris noted, underscoring the continued relevance of the institution’s legacy.
The task at hand for the Our Fairview team is to unpack the complicated narratives surrounding institutionalization, which both shape collective memory and obscure individual stories.
Among their findings, Baker and archivist Paul Meuse excavated files from state archives, uncovering intriguing information about past residents.
One folder, in particular, piqued Baker’s interest—it was titled, “savant idiot or unusual residents (Russell Childers) 1979,” and it contained details about Childers, a resident for most of his life.
Childers had been placed in Fairview against his family’s wishes in 1926, but through his self-taught wood carving, he eventually gained recognition and was released in 1965.
His works, including The Wee Mother and Child (1971), captured the poignancy of human experience and contributed significantly to his post-release success before he passed away in 1998.
Baker had hoped the archives would yield more stories of artistic residents, but found that Childers stood out as exceptionally recognized within the Fairview legacy.
In reflecting on Childers’ case, Burris raised a critical question: “How was it that Russell Childers is the one artist in a hundred years that was enabled and supported enough to have that kind of existence there?” He noted that there were surely others deserving of the same recognition.
To explore the complexities surrounding Childers’ artistic process, the organizers of Our Fairview are working on a project titled Russell Childers’ Toolbox.
This initiative involves Living Studios artists replicating Childers’ original wood carving tools, which are preserved in the Willamette Valley Rehabilitation Center’s collection in Lebanon, Oregon.
In a similarly reflective exercise, Jess Felix and Angel Black are leading a project called Institutional Locks, where participants create ceramic locks and keys as an artistic approach to reflect on Fairview’s structures and the symbolism associated with them.
As they navigate these histories, the team aims to respect the non-verbal experiences and trauma of past residents without extracting personal details.
Baker emphasized that the memories of Fairview extend beyond its residents—they are shared by former staff, nearby residents, and families, creating a rich tapestry of narratives.
She posed an essential question: “How can we bring that all together and invite people that haven’t contributed to that story or just want to talk about it?”
This sentiment resonates throughout the project, as those involved recognize that many in Salem have personal stories connected to Fairview Training Center.
Community workshops are also a vital aspect of Our Fairview, acknowledging the need for collective spaces to process grief and reflection.
To facilitate this, Burris has collaborated with Marne Lucas, the founder of the Bardo Project, who specializes in providing care for the legacies of terminally ill artists.
Lucas, along with collaborators Colesie Tharp and Dardinelle Troen, both end-of-life doulas, will guide a gathering aimed at honoring stories associated with Fairview Training Center.
Baker pointed out the sobering reality that many individuals died at Fairview, their remains waiting to be claimed by family members, often leading to them being forgotten.
This grave aspect of history calls for careful consideration and the need for community healing.
In preparation for the June 7 event, Lucas, Tharp, and Troen have taken steps to ensure accessibility, choosing a venue that meets ADA standards and offering various seating arrangements to accommodate different needs.
Lucas expressed her belief in the power of community connection during such challenging reflections on Fairview’s legacy, noting, “There are going to be complicated feelings about life at Fairview Training Center, but being able to share that in community leads to further healing.”
When asked what healing means to them, Lucas defined it as the ability to process difficult emotions and to transform those feelings into a path forward, while Troen emphasized that healing involves shifts in perspective that occur through community integration over time.
Together, they aim to create spaces for collective mourning and healing that honor the stories of those intertwined with Fairview Training Center.
Following a conscious effort to avoid detailing the darker history of Fairview, which is extensively covered in works like Sara Gelser Blouin’s 2010 Oregonian article, the organizers express optimism regarding the visibility of these narratives.
Burris emphasized the miracle of securing funding for Our Fairview amidst declining arts support and contentious discussions surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
His application for funding through the Creative Heights Initiative culminated in 2024, enabling the project to receive grants through September 2026.
“When you do reach a point where you’re receiving a level of support, it really is exciting and an incredible opportunity to do things you’ve been thinking about for so long,” said Burris, recognizing the importance of sustained attention to Fairview’s legacy in current contexts.
The project, as Meuse observed, is inherently political, underscoring conversations about rights, societal values, and the ongoing relevance of institutional legacy in our communities.
Burris expressed a sense of optimism, stating, “I know how important it is for this information to see the light to encourage other people to get involved.”
As my conversation with Burris came to a close, he reflected on the joy interspersed with the challenges of this important work, sharing it’s not always easy, but there are moments of fun and community building.
Entwined: Legacy and Memories is a free public event that will take place at Portland Arts Collective, located at 122 Northwest Couch Street Portland, OR 97209, on Saturday, June 7, from 12 PM to 4 PM.
image source from：https://www.orartswatch.org/unpacking-the-fairview-training-center/
