Russell Childers (1915 - 1998) was a wood carver who spent 39 years of his life at The Fairview Training Center.

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Childers began carving figures out of wood while at Fairview. The attention and support he received from his sculptures led to his release from Fairview in 1965.

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For this project, we collaborate with Living Studios, a facilitated studio arts program in Corvallis and Salem that provides professional and creative support to neurodiverse artists in the Willamette Valley, to  both celebrate the sculptures of Russell Childers and to ask important questions:

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What did it take to nurture the creative efforts of Russell Childers?

What about the other 10,000 individuals who passed through Fairview?

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The toolbox was an important and seemingly mystical container. Artists at Living Studios  create tools and other artifacts to populate a replica toolbox.

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