Confluence Project

The Confluence Project was initiated in 2000 out of the course of community discussions about how to grant recognition to the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The project was envisioned as a means to evoke the history of the expedition, highlight the tremendous changes it brought to the Pacific Northwest, and encourage action to create a future that preserves and protects the area's natural and cultural resources. Working with artist Maya Lin, the project has engaged Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest and a host of art, civic, and environmental groups and local governments from Washington and Oregon. When complete, the project will have transformed seven communities along the historic Columbia River Basin through permanent art installations and significant landscape restoration and environmental enhancements. The project's installations have included multi-site building and landscape design, and project artwork has drawn heavily upon historical and the region's traditional Native American culture, integrating stories, historical artifacts, and images. In conjunction with the project, a Confluence in the Schools initiative was created in 2005. The initiative engaged 6,000 Washington and Oregon students to create their own works of art related to United States history, the region's environment, and its traditional cultures. The project is currently working to expand multimedia aspects of the initiative by creating a searchable archive of the project's historical and culturally significant artifacts and materials.