Today, we visit Eugene's Don Dexter Gallery for an extraordinary exhibition by retired art educator Nancy Helmsworth, titled kulla kulla Creek: Resilient and Manhandled.
After leaving the classroom, Helmsworth turned her far-seeing eye to nature, specifically Balch Creek in Portland’s Forest Park. Inspired by artist Jennifer Bartlett, Helmsworth adopted a grid organizing system to paint the same waterway over and over again, studying its shifting currents, mossy stones, and manmade culverts.
Her deep visual dive quickly led to a deep historical one. Learning that the creek was named after Danford Balch—a 1850s settler and Oregon's first executed murderer—Helmsworth sought to uncover the site’s true Indigenous history. She discovered that tribes like the Clackamas, Multnomah, and Lower Chinook harvested berries, hunted, and traveled along these waters for millennia.
This revelation transformed her painting practice into social practice art. Partnering with regional tribal leaders, Helmsworth initiated an ongoing proposal with the Oregon Geographic Names Board to rename the waterway kulla kulla creek—using the chinuk-wawa word for "bird" to honor both indigenous legacy and local wildlife.
Helmsworth’s paintings capture this dual reality. In detailed, layered canvasses, clear water pushes past concrete barriers and metal fences. Her work proves that a creek is a living history, reshaped by human hands, yet stubbornly resilient. Through her art, Helmsworth invites us to look closer, listen to running water, and take action to honor the land we share.
Mark your calendar for an insightful artist talk on Saturday, August 8th at 1 p.m., where Helmsworth will share her journey of art and advocacy. Don Dexter Gallery, 2911 Tennyson Ave #202, Eugene, OR 97408
