In response to a request from the Wallowa County Cultural Roundtable, the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners officially appointed a Cultural Coalition Planning Committee at a board meeting held in Wallowa Monday morning.

The committee membership, which will be reviewed by the Oregon Cultural Trust, will be charged with developing a local cultural plan.

The Oregon Cultural Trust will provide funding up to $6,000 to assist in the development of county plans, with the deadline for the planning grants Nov. 1. According to Carolyn Gilbert, who presented the roundtable request at the board meeting, starting in July 1, 2003, the trust will provide direct grants for cultural projects, and the county needs to be ready to accept its share.

The make-up of the committee was selected to represent the arts, heritage and humanities, represent other organizations relevant to community cultural participation, and reflect county diversity.

In the end, rather than try to whittle a list of potential members down, the board named all of those recommended by the roundtable group to the committee. They are Malcolm Phinney, Jennifer Klimsza, Lisa Robertson, Nancy Trump, Pam Latta, Kate Loftus, Rich Wandschneider, Mary Swanson, Catherine Mattias, Wendy Hansen, Jo Bollman, Joe McCormack, Michelle Perales, Bob Casey, Chuck Fraser, Jean Pekarek, Carolyn Gilbert, Jane Howell (representing the Eastern Oregon Arts Council), Don Green and Rick Bombaci.

The board also namedTim Nitz to the committee.

The county board was also asked to name a nonprofit organization or public entity to serve as the initial fiscal agency of trust funds, and it named the Wallowa Valley Arts Council, which expressed an interest in being the designated organization.