 The Oregon Shakespeare Festival
One of the world's best known theater festivals, the OSF produces 11 plays on 3 stages from February to October in Ashland. Each season includes three to five Shakespeare plays, and has included non-Shakespearean works since 1960. Shakespeare's complete canon has been staged three times, completing the first cycle in 1958 and the most recent cycle in 1997. Since the 2000 season, there has always been at least one new work on the schedule, usually a piece commissioned for OSF. The largest repertory theater in the United States, OSF is part of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.
OSF originated in the Chautauqua community-based cultural events movement of the late 1800s. In 1893, Ashland citizens built the facility which hosted its first performances. In 1917, a new domed structure was built at the site, but it fell into disrepair after the movement died out in the 1920s with the advent of radio and television. OSF in its modern form was founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer, a teacher from Southern Oregon Normal School in Ashland. In 1983, OSF won a Tony Award for achievement in regional theatre. Attendance exceeded 300,000. By 2001, ten million OSF performance tickets had been sold.
Lithia Park
Lithia Park started with only eight acres in 1892 as a venue for Chautauqua Association entertainment and cultural events for the people of southern Oregon. Its growth and development makes it of great historical as well as landscape interest. Today 42 of its 93 acres are listed in the Park Service's National Register of Historic Places.
In the early part of the 20th century, an ambitious local newspaper editor dreamed of capitalizing on the Lithia mineral springs by creating a world-class spa destination in Ashland. The development of today's park began in 1914 with the hiring of John McLaren as landscape architect. McAllen's landscape plan for Lithia Park was organic in layout, following the natural canyon. Native alders, oaks, conifers and madrones were planted, with willows, maples, sycamores, and numerous ornamental varieties selected for hardiness, form and color. Inside the park, the trail on the east side of Ashland Creek leads to the Park headquarters with maps showing the location of both historic and more modern park features including a trail guide to the most significant trees throughout the Park.
Ashland Independent Film Festival
Every spring, filmmakers and film lovers gather in the intimate art house setting of the Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland, Oregon to celebrate the Ashland Independent Film Festival. Documentaries, features, shorts and student films are shown on five screens in this historic art deco building, with special events at the Ashland Armory.
The Chappell-Swedenburg House
Constructed in 1904 to 1905 as a private residence for stockbroker Charles Chappell and his family, the Chappell-Swedenburg House was designed by architect Frank Chamberlain Clark shortly after his arrival in the Rogue River Valley in 1902. The foremost formal residence in Ashland at the time of its construction, the house retains its historic exterior architectural integrity and interior detail. The house once served as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's exhibit center of historical memorabilia. Today, it is used by the Foundation and Alumni Office for the local University and for receptions.
|
