Summer! Yes, warm days will return and many artists are now planning to be at one of 2010's sunny outdoor art marketplaces.
Most accept apps from artists, performers, and food vendors January-March. For visitors, these are all delightful daytrips. In order of the event’s date:
Umpqua Valley Summer Arts Festival – June 25-27, 2010, in Roseburg, with apps posted mid-January for a March 3 deadline. www.uvarts.com
Art and the Vineyard - July 2-4, 2010, in Eugene’s Alton Baker Park. This fundraiser for Maude Kerns Art Center has an Artists’ Marketplace deadline of March 26. www.mkartcenter.org (Maude Kerns Art Center will be featured this month on OPB’s “Oregon Art Beat” on Thursday, January 21, at 8 pm, and Sunday, January 24, at 6 pm.)
Oregon Country Fair - July 9-11, 2010. “World class entertainment, hand-made crafts, delectable foods, educational displays and magical surprises at every turn of the path.” www.oregoncountryfair.org
Salem Art Fair & Festival - July 16-18, 2010, the 61st already. Artist Marketplace apps due in February through the online ZAPP System, for applying to multiple art shows through one central Web site. ZAPP’s coordinated by WESTAF, with a master calendar. www.zapplication.org.
Sunriver Art Faire - August 13-15, 2010. In its first year and coinciding with the Sunriver Music Festival, SAF will be held in the Village at Sunriver, south of Bend. Deadline January 11. http://sunriverwomensclub.pbworks.com/Art-Faire
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Eugene Weekly announced its scientifically-accurate "Best of Eugene" in October 2009.
We applaud the "Best Art Event" winners! and include some of EW's comments.
1. Art & the Vineyard
2. First Friday ArtWalk
3. Last Friday Art Walk
"Sun! Art! Wine! Copper garden sculptures...! Oh, and a Fourth of July concert with the Oregon Bach Fest ... We love First Friday for the way it gets more people into downtown - it is so not scary!, but we also love Last Friday for its whimsy and its deeply rooted Whiteaker-ness. ... Creating art can be a lonely, demanding job, but all of these events let artists feel the vital, vibrant urban network of art-lovers and other artists populating the town."
Comment from Lane Arts Council... Hmmm... curious how City and Chamber leaders keep investing millions trying figure out what makes a vibrant downtown. They should A.I.M. higher and join the Arts Incubator Movement! (Photo: Skate Art auction on First Friday ArtWalk (Nov 2009) raised over $5000 for the Eugene Skate Park, see www.skateeugene.org )
To the point, Eugene Weekly's "Best Art Gallery" line-up reads:
1. Fenario Gallery, 881 Willamette
2. DIVA, 110 W. Broadway
3. White Lotus, 767 Willamette.
Yet all three downtown Eugene galleries in 2009 had to "creatively downsize" to stay in business. Shouldn't the arts scene take its place alongside banks, government buildings, and parking! as an urgent investment for "revitalization" and "transition" in downtown?
The Weekly readers got it again:
"Best way to improve Eugene"?
#1. Improve/revitalize downtown.
Start with the Arts.
-Douglas Beauchamp, ED, LAC
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Public Art? A few items, September 2009:
o Plan! The City of Eugene's Cultural Services, with a $25,000 NEA grant, hired a Portland consultant to complete a public art plan. A Public Art Master Plan workshop was convened in October. Results of the survey were discussed and ideas solicited to further master plan work. Ccontact Theresa Sizemore at 541.682.5242. theresa.j.sizemore@ci.eugene.or.us
o Magic! The force may be with Devin Field. It seems the Portland steel sculptor has won two area outdoor art commissions: Lane Transit District's Gateway EmX Extension and Lane Community College's new Health and Wellness building, with both projects due for completion in late 2010.
o Theater! UO's Miller Theatre Complex is commissioning Jefre Manuel (FL) for an outdoor artwork.
o Education! UO's College of Education's HEDCO Complex opened this summer with artwork by Ann Morris (WA), cast bronze sculptures; Masayuki Nagase (CA), carved boulders; Abby Donovan (RI), porcelain installation; Ted Sawyer (Portland), Kiln-formed glass panels; and paintings by Oregon artists Joe Macca, Jan Reaves, Humberto Gonzalez and Grant Hottle.
o Arena! Matthew Knight Arena will have public art, over $1million's worth, as part of Oregon's percent for art program.
o Bridge! The I-5: Willamette River Bridge project will include "aesthetic enhancements," with opportunities for artists, architects, landscape architects, and other designers. Proposal dl was Septemver 2009. OBEC Engineers is designing the replacement bridge for Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).
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o Grants Awarded to Eugene-Area Arts Projects and Programs. To view list, click link in column to the left.
o Lane County Cultural Coalition 2009 Grant Recipients, announced June 2009. To view list, click link in column to the left.
With allocations from the Oregon Cultural Trust, the Lane County Cultural Coalition provides small annual grants to benefit the arts, heritage, and humanities in Lane County with an emphasis on access, awareness, education. The 2009 Planning Committee includes Robert Canaga, Ann Craig, Alice Doyle, Kuri Gill, Lucille Herr, Tina Rinaldi, Hilary Loud, Kris Redmond, Debbie Sorensen, Meg Trendler, and Douglas Beauchamp (Lane Arts Council). For more, click tab to left.
First Friday ArtWalk
Lane Arts Council's First Friday ArtWalk Free guided walking tour of downtown Eugene galleries and businesses. Includes something new each month! A unique way to experience the arts.
ARTStars Awards
Annual recognition of individuals, businesses/sponsors, and arts organizations for outstanding community arts service and leadership.
Mural Forum
A discussion about community murals "ArtWall: The Frustr8 Years Later Forum (2000 and Beyond)" was co-presented by Lane Arts Council and Fenario Gallery, 881 Willamette, Eugene, in September 2008. The free forum included a discussion with Steven Lopez and Kari Johnson, and a viewing Lopez's (aka Frustr8) exhibit and discussed the teen mural painted under Lopez’s guidance on an immense west-facing wall of "WestTown on 8th," the new $20 million apartment complex next to WOW Hall. Chloe Helton-Gallagher developed a new show of Steven's work (a UO graduate, he now resides in Southern California) at Fenario Gallery, September 2008. That led to planning a new teen mural project this month by the Youth Action Board at WestTown on 8th. ArtWall was a year-long ArtsWorks project of Lane Arts Council in 2000. Steven Lopez was a lead artist, one of four who worked with dozens of teen artmakers. To view selected images from the original ArtWall in 2000, click on ArtWall (http://www.lanearts.org/artwall/index.html) Contact Lane Arts Council, 485-2278, www.lanearts.org or Fenario Gallery, 393-3333, www.fenariogallery.com