PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A new, colorful license plate will soon be available to drivers in Oregon.
The artwork on this newest license plate design is called “Celebrate Oregon!” and the plate is in recognition of the Oregon Cultural Trust’s 20th anniversary. It’s meant to celebrate Oregon and the diversity of its culture. It will be available Oct. 1 on the Oregon DMV website.
“Cultural expression is how our communities define themselves – how they live their everyday lives, their traditions, their heritage, their creativity, their celebrations, their values and how they connect with one another. Our culture is the glue that can bind us together as Oregonians,” said Cultural Trust Board Chair Niki Price.
Liza Burns, of Eugene, designed the artwork for the license plate. The design will also be installed as full-scale murals at the Eugene, Medford, Portland, and Redmond airports. An outdoor banner featuring the design will be installed at the Northwest Film Center at the Portland Art Museum.
In the “Celebrate Oregon!” design, there are 127 symbols representing different aspects of the state’s collective arts, heritage, history and cultural practices.
Brainstorming for the license plate began a year ago and 36 artists submitted work samples for the project. The submissions were evaluated before Burns’ work was ultimately selected.
“We knew that reflecting the breadth of Oregon culture, and how it brings us together, in one design was an extremely ambitious goal,” said Cultural Trust Executive Director Brian Rogers. “Liza’s creation… captures the spirit of Oregon and also serves as an educational tool for exploring our diversity.”
There is an interactive visual key that accompanies the license plate design to explain each of the symbols included in it.