Valerie Rapp (left) Jennifer Williams (right)

This year we are pleased to have Oregon author Valerie Rapp and environmental landscape artist Jennifer Williams join together with watershed councils and partners at the 2009 Watershed Council Gathering.  Both Valerie and Jennifer will be on hand during the Tuesday evening welcome reception to talk about thier work together on a new book titled What the River Reveals.

Valerie Rapp: Oregon author Valerie Rapp has six published books, plus scientific publications, magazine articles, and short pieces. Her book What the River Reveals (ValGene Press, 2008) tells the story of how we’ve changed our rivers in the Pacific Northwest and what we’ve lost—and also the story of how we can help them heal, plus what we might gain from it.

Valerie collaborates with Jennifer Williams, an environmental landscape painter from southwest Washington. Their What the River Reveals project uses art—images and stories—to get people more deeply involved in taking care of and restoring rivers. Through images and words that flow through paintings and pages, artist and author explore the health of our watersheds and the possibilities of restoration.

Valerie’s blog records her encounters with nature in photos and words, at http://www.myspace.com/valgenepress.

Valerie’s awards include a 2007 Award of Excellence in the International Technical Publications Competition, finalist for the 2003 Oregon Book Award in Children’s Literature, and a 1996 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Nonfiction.

Jennifer Williamns: Environmental landscape painter Jennifer Williams has works in the permanent collections of Skamania Lodge, City of Vancouver, and Kaiser Permanente, among other locations. Since receiving her art degree from Portland State University in 1996, she has used mixed media to explore environmental issues.

Jennifer’s website shows her paintings and discusses her work, at http://www.jenniferwilliamsfineart.com.