The Big Picture


o "Arts in Education Week" is the second week of September. This summer the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Con.Res. 275, a resolution that is the first Congressional expression of support celebrating all the disciplines comprising arts education. (Took an act of Congress. Go figure.) Americans for the Arts. www.artsusa.org/news/afta_news

o Oregon Arts Summit 2010 happens October 7 in Beaverton, at Nike. (More figuring.) 300 arts activists, artists and advocates will gather. $50 if you register soon.
http://www.Regonline.com/OregonArtsSummit

o In 2010, Oregon Days of Culture fit nicely into October 1-8. (Formerly Day of Culture.) Post your events or Confess. (We did both with First Friday ArtWalk) www.oregondaysofculture.org

o The Oregon Art Education Association's 2010 Conference, pARTicipate, is October 8 & 9 at the Portland Art Museum. (Nice to see an art event in an arts space, they figured it out!) www.oregonarted.org

o Lane County Cultural Coalition 2009 Grant Recipients, announced June 2010. 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.

 

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Some ARCHIVAL

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.

Skate Art auction on First Friday ArtWalk (Nov 2009) raised over $5000 for the Eugene Skate Park, see www.skateeugene.org.

"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!

To the point, Eugene Weekly's "Best Art Gallery" line-up reads:

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

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.