Rural Organizing Project
PO Box 1350,      Scappoose, OR 97056 

(503) 543-8417              Fax: (503) 543-8419

office@rop.org

                 Oregon Eyes Wide Open

To sign up to have the Eyes Wide Open exhibit stop in your community email amy@rop.org

Rural Organizing Project is pleased to partner with American Friends Service Committee and Military Families Speak Out in making sure that ever small town community in Oregon has the opportunity to host the Oregon Eyes Wide Open Exhibit (EWO).  This is a new traveling exhibit of the human cost of war in Iraq and its specific impact on Oregon. The exhibit includes three basic components: a collection of boots to represent the Oregon soldiers killed in Iraq, “prayer flags” including the names of all the US solders killed in the war, and a display of shoes tagged with names and ages of Iraqi civilians killed.  Signage explains the memorial components and highlights the economic cost of the war to Oregon’s communities.

The 2006 Oregon Eyes Wide Open Exhibit creates an Oregon version of the national exhibit, with an emphasis on how Oregon residents are impacted by the Iraq war. Oregon EWO will work to remind Oregonians of the cost of war, both human and financial, with a goal of activating a stronger and resilient collective voice to persuade our elected leaders in Oregon that we must end the war and BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

One main focus of the Oregon Eyes Wide Open Exhibit will be a memorial to the fallen Oregon soldiers that consists of a pair of combat boots labeled with name, age, and hometown of each Oregon soldier that has lost his life in Iraq. There will be other displays that speak to the effects of the war on Iraqi civilians and on the economic cost of the war to Oregon. Families have left small items with the boots commemorating their family member and those memorabilia are now traveling with the exhibit. The tour will include candlelight vigils and reading of the names of the fallen.
 

Hosting Oregon Eyes Wide Open:  If your community wants to host the exhibit contact amy@rop.org after you have talked with your group about a. the exhibit basics, b. your local responsibilities and, c. you have identified a lead team of no less than two people to work with ROP and the Tour Coordinator.  Touring will start as soon as this February, so please get your group thinking about this now.  ROP will tour the exhibit through regional circuits.  If your region has a desired timeline, please communicate that, but be prepared to be adaptable.

Responsibilities of the host organization:

• Secure an appropriate space for the exhibit for 1-3 days and permit if necessary. You will need to find a space with lots of foot traffic that is preferably 3000 square feet or greater.
• Line up volunteers to set up, staff, and take down the exhibit
• Coordinate opening ceremony/press conference and other optional events
• Take the lead on local publicity and outreach including press releases and flyers
• Provide a liaison to work with the tour coordinator
• Honor the memorial tone of the exhibit and plan activities accordingly and with approval of tour coordinator
• Share information on local economic issue that can be related to spending on the war (optional)
• Circulate local petition, action items, and other tabling materials (optional)

ROP will provide:

• A tour coordinator to communicate with host group
• Media kit with press release and flyer templates
• Volunteer coordination handbook with sign up sheet
• Insurance form (AFSC will provide event insurance with 2-3 weeks notice)

The exhibit includes:

• 96+ pairs of boots labeled with rank, name, age and hometown of one serviceman or woman who has died from OR;
• 400 Civilian shoes, each one labeled with the name of an Iraqi man, woman or child who has died since the beginning of the Iraq war (to represent the more than 600,000 Iraqis who have died);
• Contractor hats with labels to represent the unknown number of civilian contractors from Oregon who have died in Iraq
• 130 foot display of prayer flags with the names of the dead to display
• Various EYES WIDE OPEN: THE COST OF WAR TO OREGON signs
• Literature box, including: Volunteer Information/Talking Points, WAGE PEACE petitions; Counter-recruitment literature (optional), public comment book, 3 EYES WIDE OPEN parking signs, etc.
• Tabling materials including WAR IS COSTLY/PEACE IS PRICELESS T-shirts, Wage Peace bracelets and buttons, cash box, price signage, MFSO buttons, canopy and tables
• Supplies box, including  duct tape, masking tape, pens, name tags for volunteers, volunteer sign-in sheet, twine/string, extra trash bags, zip ties, etc.

To sign up to have the Eyes Wide Open exhibit stop in your community email amy@rop.org