Intention Made Visible
Art installation recognizes impact of Eliot Society donors.
Thinking of ways to honor the members of Reed’s Eliot Society, Kathy Saitas had a question for Gregory MacNaughton ’89 last winter:
Was it possible, in a few months’ time, to write all their names—1,261 total—on individual weathergram strips, and then hang them in an art installation?
“I hate to say no to requests like that,” Gregory, education outreach and calligraphy initiative coordinator of the Cooley Gallery, said.
A semester of Scriptorium classes later, Reed's Pedestrian Bridge (a.k.a. the Bouncy Bridge) was lined with 1,261 weathergrams. Each bore the names of members of the Eliot Society, alumni, parents, friends of the college who include Reed in their estate plans. The art installation publicly recognized the Eliot Society donors’ collective impact.
“By coming together in the act of tying each of their names on this bridge,” said Saitas, Reed’s long-time senior director of gift planning, “Reed students, staff, faculty, and alumni can collectively remember each estate donor, acknowledge their contributions, and draw inspiration from the fact that they gave of their life’s work to enable ours.”
The art installation married two great hallmarks of Reed: the dedication of its alumni to serving the college, and the tradition of teaching and promoting Italic calligraphy.
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“It’s a no-brainer to put Reed” in your will, Stephany Watson ’82 said. Why? “It’s just so near and dear to my heart. No other organization I give to comes close.”
“Reed taught me how to think, how to question, how to develop a sense of being,” Jim Kahan ’64 said. Being part of the Eliot Society is a commitment “to helping Reed continue its mission, which is to provide an education that is unique.”
Including Reed in estate planning is also a family tradition: his stepfather and mother gave estate gifts to Reed. Kahan’s gift will supplement that fund, creating the Pressman-Kahan Family Scholarship. “I, like my parents, am giving back to a community that was important in my life,” he said.
Estate gifts have ensured Reed’s existence from its very beginning, when a bequest from Amanda Reed founded the college. Over time, unrestricted bequests have significantly contributed to the growth of the college’s general endowment. The Eliot Society’s members have also set aside gifts for specific purposes ranging from the restoration of the Canyon and renovation of the library to funding named professorships, scholarships, and summer internships.
“Estate gifts impact nearly every aspect of the institution,” Saitas said. The far-ranging impact of individual financial gifts can be difficult to discern; the Weathergram Installation made it visible. And it did so using one of Reed’s great contributions to visual culture in the Pacific Northwest—calligraphy.
Calligraphy was first taught at Reed by Professor Lloyd Reynolds [art 1929–69] , then Father Robert Palladino [1969–84]. MacNaughton, whom Saitas calls “Reed’s Chief Cultural Officer,” has been a driving force behind calligraphy’s return to Reed. That includes teaching and promoting weathergrams.
Originating in Japan and brought to Reed by Reynolds, weathergrams are short poems similar to haiku, often conveying expressions of interconnectedness, a moment, or insight. Written on strips of brown paper, they are hung on tree branches or along paths. Left to the rain and elements, they eventually disintegrate.
A weathergram’s ephemeral nature was a fitting tribute to the Eliot Society, MacNaughton thought. “Half of those people have already passed on,” he said. “Yet we remember their names.”
“Nothing at Reed happens without alumni who are willing to support it, for whom an experience here was transformative in their lives,” MacNaughton continued. “And they want to extend that experience to somebody else.”
Adapting the form for the art installation, MacNaughton incorporated writing the weathergrams into the spring semester’s Scriptorium class. He and Scriptorium students, including staff, alumni, and current students Tess Buchanan ’21, Carey Booth ’81, Marianne Colgrove ’89, Mark Conahan ’84, Nikki Johnston ’19, and Harper Lethin ’24, calligraphed each name onto strips of brown craft paper. “This was a group effort,” MacNaughton said.
Each weathergram represented an individual Eliot Society member. Weathergrams bearing the names of deceased donors were marked with a red griffin stamp and tied with white string; those tied with jute twine represented future gifts. 720 weathergrams simply read “Anonymous.”
On Thursday, April 25, members of the Reed community gathered to tie the weathergrams to the Bouncy Bridge. It was a verdant spring day, and a rainstorm had already begun to dampen the strips of craft paper.
Students crossing the bridge—some putting finishing touches on their theses, some preparing for the celebrations ahead—were surrounded by alumni who came before them, the weathergrams wafting in the breeze as the students walked by.
Tags: Alumni, Giving Back to Reed, Reed History