Our Stories Through Art
“Painting the town with stories told and untold”
What is OSTA?
Our Stories Through Art (OSTA) is a cultural placemaking initiative that transforms our community stories into public art. Through murals, installations, storytelling events, and an interactive Art Tour, the OSTA Project will honor Talent's diverse histories while revitalizing our local economy and creating spaces where heritage, creativity, and community meet.
OSTA Project Goals
Celebrate Diversity
Amplify underrepresented voices and honor the histories of all Talent residents
Create Public Art
Install murals, sculptures, and interactive installations throughout downtown
Build Community
Foster unity and healing through collaborative storytelling and artistic expression
Boost Local Economy
Attract visitors and support local businesses through cultural tourism
Preserve Stories
Document and archive community histories, especially from historically under-represented & excluded groups
Create Accessible Experiences
Develop a bilingual, ADA-accessible Art Tour for all community members and visitors to enjoy
Our Stories Through Art Tells Talent’s Story
Our Stories Through Art (OSTA) is led by the Talent Business Alliance (TBA) as part of a broader economic revitalization plan that includes a Destination Development Strategy. Since 2023, TBA has convened a coalition of nonprofits to create an accessible Interpretive Art Tour that tells Talent's stories through art and draws residents and visitors to downtown.
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The coalition includes Coalición Fortaleza (Latine and Indigenous community advocacy), the Talent Public Art Committee (public art planning and execution), the Talent Historical Society (archives and oral histories), and Talent Maker City (community building through creativity and STEAM learning). OSTA's projects are supported by grants from the Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, OSU Recreation Recovery Grant, and the Roundhouse Foundation.
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The Talent Strong Community Murals project, implemented by Talent Maker City, builds on a 2021 Talent Urban Renewal Agency initiative that produced thirty-two murals by Almeda Fire survivors and community members. The murals are now being re-sealed and preserved with City of Talent support, while metal sculpture artist Rick Evans, teaching a welding series through Talent Maker City, leads fabrication work scheduled for 2026.
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Ecological Narratives: Biodiversity and Belonging features mural panels by local artist KYRIANNA on the exterior of the Talent Historical Museum along Market Street. "My intention with this mural is to honor, educate and inspire." Contracting and design are underway, with an unveiling coming up on Friday, May 22, 2026.
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OSTA is also developing culturally authentic artwork about life in the Talent area prior to colonization, in collaboration with educator and local leader Brook Colley. "We are working with Brook to develop a narrative that will inform the artwork's design, ensuring that the project respectfully reflects Indigenous histories and experiences," said Debra Moon of the Talent Historical Society. OSTA is engaging with local Native American artists to help bring this vision to life.
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Storytelling is at OSTA's core. In collaboration with the Talent Historical Society and Erica Ledesma of De La Raíz, OSTA gathers personal narratives, oral histories, and audio stories from community members, turning individual memories into shared cultural treasures that celebrate Talent's past, present, and future.
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Through these efforts, OSTA is transforming Talent's public spaces into a living cultural tapestry and ensuring that recovery becomes an enduring, inclusive renaissance for residents, businesses, and visitors alike.
“Talent Strong” Gateway Murals Restoration & Public Art Project
“Talent Strong” Community Murals Project will restore and permanently display the Gateway Murals that were previously located on the fence along Highway 99 at the Talent Gateway site while it served as transitional housing for fire survivors.
Talent Maker City has worked to reseal the Gateway Murals and they will now be safely stored by the City of Talent until they can be installed in their forever home! The final art installation will include interactive community workshops where residents and artists will co-create sculptural metal frames to showcase the murals downtown in a new permanent location (coming soon). This initiative invites the community to participate in a creative process that will honor Talent’s past, and help shape its future.​
Our Stories through Art Project Partners
OSTA is a collaborative project to use art as a tool for storytelling, education, community connection, and creative placemaking.
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Ecological Narratives: Biodiversity and Belonging
On the evening of Friday, May 22, something special unfolded along Market Street in downtown Talent. The community gathered outside the Talent Historical Museum to celebrate the unveiling of Ecological Narratives: Biodiversity & Belonging, a stunning new mural by artist, KYRIANNA. This piece represents the latest chapter in the Our Stories Through Art (OSTA) Project, a cultural placemaking initiative that transforms community stories into public art.
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Stretching across the museum's exterior wall along Market Street, the mural features seven plants native to the Rogue Valley - manzanita, sunflower, camas, nicotiana, iris, tarweed, and strawberry - each one cultivated and cherished by the Indigenous peoples of this region for generations, and used for food, materials, and medicine. The mural is a tribute to the First Nations people who stewarded this land long white settlers appeared, and continue to steward it to this day, and an invitation to carry that stewardship forward, especially as a community that knows firsthand how fragile and precious this landscape is.
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The project is brought to life through a collaboration of the Talent Business Alliance, the Talent Historical Society, Coalición Fortaleza, Talent Maker City, and the Talent Public Arts Committee.
We are grateful to the City of Talent for its support of this project, and to the Oregon Community Foundation for the generous funding that made it possible.​​​
Native Plants
Information provided by Elizabeth Bryant - Takelma Language Lead - Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians
Manzanita / loxóm
[loh-x-OHM]
Manzanita shrubs were a source of traditional first foods for the indigenous tribes of the Rogue Valley. Their bright berries would have been harvested and ground into flour. The flour could be mixed with other berries and fats to form into cakes.
Wild Strawberry /nikú itÊ°aapÊ° [nih-GOO-IH-tahp]
Wild strawberries were a traditional first food for the indigenous tribes that originally inhabited the Rogue Valley. The berries would be collected and consumed by local tribes.
Wild Sunflower / lámx [LAHM-x]
Wild sunflower plants were a traditional first food for the indigenous tribes that originally inhabited the Rogue Valley. Similarly to modern sunflower crops, the local tribes harvested the seeds of the flowers to consume the tender meat beneath the harder husk.
Tough-Leaf Iris /k’etá [k'-eh-DAH]
The leaves of this iris were very useful to the indigenous tribes who originally inhabited the Rogue Valley. The fibers of the leaves were used for rope making, and it was said these ropes could be strong enough to snare a deer. The rope making process was long and laborious, so the ropes were well looked after.
Tarweed /kÊ°ò’x [KOH-x]
Tarweed was used as a food source by the indigenous people that originally inhabited the Rogue Valley. Tribes would burn fields of the flower to roast the seeds and ease harvesting. Harvesters would walk through the burned fields with special woven trays with which they would beat the plants and collect the small seeds.
Camas / tíipÊ° [DEEP]
Use of Camas as a traditional first food by the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest is believed to date back over 10,000 years. The vital, nutrient-rich roots were available to harvest and process for storage in early spring. While these plants grow in abundance in some areas, they were also cultivated by many tribes.
Nicotiana /oòwpÊ° [OHWP]
This plant is best known as Tobacco, and was a highly important plant for the indigenous tribes that originally inhabited the Rogue Valley. Tribes would cultivate the plant and use it for smoking as well as trade.
About the Artist
KYRIANNA is an internationally known watercolor and mixed media artist who creates work centered around the theme of chronic pain and illness. Her practice began young as she developed a debilitating chronic pain condition at the age of twelve. Primarily working one-on-one with others dealing with chronic conditions to create surrealist watercolor portraits, she also explores a variety of mixed media, installation and performance art. Her focus is entirely on the subject of disability, while incorporating themes of feminism, intersectionality, psychology and nature.Learn more about the artist on her website: www.kyrianna.art.
