Artists re-examine what the expedition means to America”Men of the River,” painted in 1905 by noted Western artist Charles Russell, is one of the most famous images of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

It’s also full of mistakes, according to local artist Erhard Gross.

Beautiful as the painting is in its depiction of the explorers meeting Native Americans on the lower Columbia River, it contains some historical inaccuracies: Members of the Corps of Discovery are paddling a fine Chinook canoe instead of the rough-hewn craft the expedition used, the Indians are wearing the headgear of another tribe, and Sacagawea is communicating with hand signals never used by the Chinook people.

LORI ASSA – The Daily Astorian

A valuable collector’s knife, part of a collaborative project conceived of by Gross, has a signature and hologram of Thomas Jefferson on the blade, 18-karat gold on the guard assembly and butt plate, ivory finger grooves and carvings of animals which were documented for the first time in the expedition’s journals.

To Gross, who has a copy of the painting hanging on the wall of his Astoria home, “Men of the River” is a product of its time, when the Lewis and Clark trek was viewed as a triumph of American expansion. Today’s artists, he says, will have the opportunity to bring their own interpretations to the famous expedition in the Journey’s End National Art Exhibition, planned for March 2003 in Astoria.

Organizers are soliciting paintings, sculptures and other works from artists around the country for the inaugural show, which Gross, the co-chairman, hopes will become the premiere cultural event in Astoria.

Artists are invited to submit works following the theme “Revisiting Lewis and Clark’s Journey” for the exhibit, which will run March 8 through 30 at the Columbia River Maritime Museum under the auspices of the National Park Service and Fort Clatsop National Memorial.

The idea for the exhibit arose during a “cultural assessment” commissioned by the Astoria Arts Commission in 1999. Gross said he envisioned a juried fine arts show drawing works from top artists around the country.

The idea didn’t generate much response until Gross spoke of it to former Fort Clatsop National Memorial Superintendent Don Striker, who asked him to draw up a rough budget.

“He said, ‘Let’s do it,'” Gross said.

While the entries must relate to the Lewis and Clark expedition – artists have to include a written statement explaining the piece’s connection – Gross said the organizers are interpreting the theme broadly. He himself plans to submit a fossilized woolly mammoth tusk – President Thomas Jefferson told Lewis and Clark to keep an eye out for the huge animal during their trek, and a mammoth subspecies was later named after the statesman, he said.

The show also offers the opportunity for artists to re-examine traditional views that portrayed the expedition as a triumph of European expansion and overlooked the Native American role, Gross said.

LORI ASSA – The Daily Astorian

Also included in the show will be a reproducion of an expedition knife.

“In art, we can factor in new knowledge we’ve gained,” he said. “New research has opened up a lot of things we completely misconstrued before.”

Some possible entrants include a bronze foundry in St. Louis that produced a 15-foot sculpture of the Missouri River. That piece is too large to ship to Oregon, so the makers hope to cast a smaller version for consideration for the show. A sculptor in Washington has produced a scaled-down replica of a Chinook canoe of the type Lewis and Clark would have seen in the lower Columbia.

So far organizers have sent out more than 700 pamphlets and received hundreds of inquiries from potential entrants.

“I’m convinced we’ll have hundreds of entries,” Gross said.

Artists are allowed to submit up to three pieces by the Jan. 17 deadline. Any original works produced within the last two years, in two- or three-dimensional form, are eligible.

The jury that will select and judge the pieces includes sculptor Dorothy Fowler of Spokane, Wash.; Evelyn Georges, founder and owner of White Bird Gallery in Cannon Beach; Indian Arts Northwest founder and Klamath Indian Tribes member William McKinley Ray; and Sue Taylor, Portland State University art history professor.

The National Park Service has already pledged $50,000 for the event, and the Northwest Oregon Economic Alliance has offered another $25,000, which must be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Much of those funds will go for prizes to the top entries – $10,000 for best of show and $29,000 in other awards. Such generous prizes are to help ensure that the exhibit gets off to a strong start, Gross said.

“You can’t have an art show without artists to submit art. But how do you get artists to submit when you haven’t had your first show?” he said.

Organizers looked for inspiration, and advice, from the “Arts in the Parks” exhibit, held in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The show began 16 years ago under the auspices of the National Park Service, but is now a stand-alone event run by a private entity.

The Journey’s End show will include an opening reception March 7 with a presentation by historian Gary Moulton, who has edited the expedition’s journals and is considered one of the foremost authorities on the Corps of Discovery.

While the Maritime Museum will host the inaugural show, Gross is planning ahead for a bigger venue down the road – the planned Astoria Conference Center.

Assuming the exhibit is a success, plans call for the show to run twice in 2005, during its regular March date and again in November during the “Destination 2005” signature event.

While the show will always be the Journey’s End National Art Exhibit, the subtitle will change to reflect the particular focus of that year’s event. In 2011, for example, the event may center on the 200th anniversary of Astoria’s founding, he said.

“Astoria is getting recognized, and we want to build on that recognition,” he said.