The Independent Community Center and David Paul Bayles
A community art and history event

    Photographer David Paul Bayles invites the community to make art and history


Pioneer Telephone Company is bringing high speed communications to the rural areas of Philomath, and photographer David Paul Bayles has created a unique art opportunity for the community by creating a series of quirky, semi-abstract photographs of the orange pipe that will carry the fiber optic cable. 


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WHEN Sunday, January 3rd. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

WHERE The Independent Community Center
the corner of Fern and Airport Roads
 31615 Fern Rd. Philomath

WHAT ICC will host a public event
inviting the community to participate in the creation of an artwork
exploring themes of
connection and communication
​ in the year 2020.

 When David first noticed the orange pipes, he learned from a work crew that Pioneer Telephone company was bringing fiber optic cable to his rural neighborhood. His visual interest grew as more pipes began to swirl and swoop beside the country roads. The pipes burrowed into the ground in one place and burst up from it in another. The bright synthetic orange color vividly contrasted with the natural roadside hues. 

At first he viewed the pipe like veins, arteries or sutures coursing through the earthʻs body. As he built a collection of images, the idea emerged of the pipe as a thread stitching together a patchwork quilt of rural Oregon. The sunny, optimistic color of the pipe promised more and faster communication between neighbors next door and across the globe. 

The basic human need for connection, contact and communication has been dramatically altered in the year 2020, due to the pandemic, social distancing, masks and Zoom.  This photographic project offers the public an opportunity to reflect on those changes. 

On January 3rd, 2021, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.,  the Independent Community Center will continue its 102 year history of bringing community together by hosting an interactive art project. On one 24-foot-long roll of fine art paper, David has printed 15 of his fiber optic photographs. Walking down the long roll of paper viewing the images in a continuous line, reflects the experience of driving along Fern Road during the installation of the pipe. This unique photographic print will be on display at the ICC  where guests are invited to write in the large border areas of the print their personal stories, thoughts and ideas about connection, contact and communication in 2020. 

When completed, this piece will be a historical artwork sharing the individual experiences of life in 2020. This photographic time capsule will eventually be archived in a university special collection where it will be available for historians, researchers and museum curators. Imagine viewing this work in a hundred years when handwriting may be obsolete, and the history books on the pandemic and politics of this year have been written! Please join us and help create a timely record of art and local oral history.

Please Note:  We will be following all Covid-19 protocols with masks mandatory and social distancing maintained between non-family groups. Volunteers will be on hand to facilitate, clean surfaces and ensure a creative and safe experience. David will be there to answer any questions you have about the photographic project.

Contact: For more information please contact David Paul Bayles at 541-760-9696 or david@davidpaulbayles.com.

 David Paul Bayles Photography
24662 Ervin Road
Philomath, OR 97370
United States 
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