Rachelle (Riki) Saltzman

Rachelle H. (Riki) Saltzman joined the Oregon Folklife Network as Executive Director in July 2012. She works with a variety of communities and individuals to provide assistance with multicultural and diversity issues, project development, event planning and implementation, presentation of traditional arts and artists, grant writing, and curriculum content. As OFN’s director, she collaborates with groups and organizations to develop projects, writes grants, makes presentations to community groups and state agencies, supervises staff and interns, and creates partnerships. From 1995-2012, Saltzman was the Folklife Coordinator for the Iowa Arts Council, where she developed two award-winning folklife curricula, a radio series featuring foodways stories, and Iowa Place-Based Foods with the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Since 1982, Saltzman has worked at private non-profit and state agencies in nine states, where she directed a range of public programs, organized conferences, curated exhibits, conducted research, and was awarded grants from the NEA and NEH as well as from state and non-profit organizations. She has served on the board of the American Folklore Society and the Association for the Study of Food and Society, for which she coordinates the student food prizes. Saltzman, who has her PhD in Anthropology (Folklore) from the University of Texas at Austin, is on the editorial advisory board for Heartland Foodways (UI Press), and has authored A Lark for the Sake of Their Country; the 1926 General Strike volunteers in folklore and memory (2012, Manchester U Press; Wayland D. Hand Prize).