(Above: Photographs from Jon Christopher Meyers’ 50-day trek along Canada’s Great Divide Trail are on display at Townshends Teahouse)
Posted by Anne-Allegra Bennett
He’s used to conducting the Eugene Symphony, but during the May version of downtown Eugene’s First Friday ArtWalk, maestro Francesco Lecce-Chong will be “conducting” the official guided tour of arts venues and activities.
Lecce-Chong already has cemented his local reputation for bringing new musical ideas, artists and multimedia ways of appreciating classical and modern compositions, but he also has developed an international following as a guest conductor with music-makers such as the National Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic.
As usual, the free monthly ArtWalk runs from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Feel free to wander along with the guided tour, or visit the featured venues and artists at your own pace.
Meet up at Kesey Square (corner of Broadway & Willamette) at 5:30 p.m. and help kick off Bike Month. With rides and events, the event in Kesey Square brings together the culture and art scene in Eugene with activities that include:
- The Pacific Pub Cycle’s Mural on Wheels by Wayde Love. Cindy Ingram is the owner of Pacific Pub Cycle and collaborated with Wayde Love and City of Eugene’s Urban Canvas Program, transforming her 14-person touring bike into a mural on wheels.
- A life-size great blue Heron statue, made out of bicycle parts and a girder recovered (with permission) from the Civic stadium ruins, by sculptor Jud Turner.”
- Snuggler, an interpretive sculpture of a porcupine made from bicycle parts including chain, pedals, sprockets, gears, cables, and spokes, by Renee Mahni, Intuitive Fabricator at the Oblivion Factory.
- A free-standing sculpture by Matt Burney of So Metal, a creative metalwork and fabrication company in Springfield.
- Eight marathon-themed PeaceHealth Rides bikes, which hit the streets of Eugene in April. The baskets and frames are covered with colorful, whimsical art created by Josh Cleland and inspired by the Eugene Marathon logo and landmarks along the race route.
Epic Seconds (30 East 11th Ave.) is the second stop on the tour at 6:00 p.m., and presents Macedonian Noir, a “small retrospective of Robert Dandarov’s artwork over his multi-decade career and the first showing of a number of exciting new works from a series still in progress. The pieces in the show, with a few older ones on loan, are mostly recent figurative and abstract works on paper from 2018 and 2019 that continue to depict his unique visionary world.” See his work on instagram: robertdandarov.
At 6:30 p.m. the tour stops at Oregon Art Supply (1020 Pearl St.) where Sarah Grew presents a range of her work. Included in the exhibit are mixed media works on paper and paintings on steel, a medium that uses the reflective surface to create paintings that change depending on with time, light, and motion and offer a new view how paintings interact with their environment.
Passionflower Design (128 E. Broadway) at 7:00 p.m. features the Japanese art of creating pot-less ornamental plants. Kokedama (koke = moss, tama = ball) is part of the meditative art tradition called Wabi Sabi. A Kokedama workshop starts at 6:00 p.m. during ArtWalk; $30 per person covers all materials and workshop instruction, including tips on useful tools for the job, soil ingredients, wrapping techniques, and proper care.
The last stop on the official guided tour at 7:30 p.m. is the Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette St.) with an exhibit of new paintings by local artist Olga Volchkova. The Russian-born Volchkova trained as an icon painter and conservator who has turned her background, research, and artistic talent into a unique way of portraying Oregon’s native plants as iconographic saints, as in this show called Oregon Native Saints.
More arts and culture
As usual, many other galleries and art venues also will also be open during the May 3 ArtWalk:
• Cowfish (62 W. Broadway) — Work by Ricardo di Napoli.
• ECO Sleep Solutions and Gallery (25 E. 8th Ave.) — Felted wool home décor and apparel by Tylar Merrill; clay tile collages by Annie Heron; hand-painted wood pieces and hand-painted silk apparel and other items by Lybi Thomas; wood and stone carvings and wood sculptures by Cedar Caredio; and Luminessence light sculptures by Stephen White.
• Eugene Public Library (100 W. 10th Ave.) — Abhinav Vats: Mixed Media Art features colorful works created with acrylic paints, pens, incense ash, and more. Music: The Platypus Clarinet Orchestra starts at 6:00 p.m.
• Framin’ Artworks (505 High St.) — Pastel landscapes of Oregon by Alisha Snyder and oil paintings and photography by Steve “Esteban” Davis.
• InEugene Real Estate (100 E. Broadway) — Selected photographs from the first year of the Eugene Grid Project (EGP) five years of photographing the Eugene metro area in small monthly chunks; including photos by Lee Sparks Pembleton, Kelly Pembleton, Chris Carlson, Sarah Grew, Blake Andrews, Michael Taylor, Jerry Jump, Danielle Mericle, and David Turner.
• The Lincoln Gallery (309 W. 4th Ave) — “Unconventional Canvas,” a showcase of unique artwork inspired by the idea that anything can be a canvas for creativity, from stones and metals, to windows and doors, to clothes and dolls, to furniture and household items; featured artwork in the Community Gallery by David Placencia.
• LovaKava Kava Bar & Restaurant (120 W. Broadway) — Original art and kava.
• The New Zone Gallery (22 West Seventh Ave.) — Retrofit, assembled objects and detritus artwork by Wanda Seamster. Student and staff artwork in the Klausmeier Room, including work by the Child’s Way Charter School of Childs’ Way Charter School.
• Starlight Lounge (830 Olive St.) — Photography by Kristin Rush; https://kristinjrush.wixsite.com/krushphotography
• Townshend’s Teahouse (41 W. Broadway) — “Walking the Great Divide Trail,” photography by Jon Christopher Meyers from his 50-day Canadian trek.
• White Lotus Gallery (767 Willamette St.) — An exhibit called Water, celebrating what Leonardo da Vinci called “the driving force of all nature,” and including color photographs by Gary Tepfer, black-and-white gelatin silver photographs by Charles Search, and oil paintings by Margaret Prentice and Li Tie as well as work by master Japanese printmakers Sekino Jun’ichiro, Iwami Reika, Hiratsuka Un’ichi, Koho Shoda, and Hamanishi Katsunori and scroll paintings by Chinese artists Sun Hongwen, Zhang Jianyang, and Wang Mian.
More special (free) events
• #instaballet (Capitello Wines, 540 Charnelton St.) — Help dancers from Eugene Ballet Company make a new ballet as audience members suggest new moves for the dancers to perform, resulting in a brand new dance that will be performed at 8 p.m. . No dance experience is required and all ages are welcome. Also on display: Acrylic abstracts by Jeremy Brooks.
• Architects in Schools Project Showcase (942 Olive St.) — The Architects in Schools program matches professional architects, engineers, and other design professionals with elementary school teachers for a six-week classroom residency. This year, participating Eugene schools included Buena Vista Spanish Immersion School, Family School, River Road/El Camino del Rio, and Twin Oaks, as well as Two Rivers-Dos Rios in Springfield. Stop by to see some of the great design projects created by these third through fifth grade students.
• No Shame Eugene (99 W. 10th Ave) — Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with live music. The show begins at 8 p.m. with 15 original, five-minute acts including monologues, sketch comedy, and the experimental. Each show includes the first 15 acts to register with the host when doors open. Come as a performer, but there’s no shame in just watching.
Lane Arts Council: The First Friday ArtWalk is a program of the nonprofit Lane Arts Council, founded in 1976to cultivate strong and creative arts communities in Lane County through in-school arts education programs, support for local artists and arts organizations, and community programs such as the popular First Friday ArtWalk.
May ArtWalk Sponsor: Eugene Symphony’s SymFest: Eugene Symphony’s SymFest on Saturday, June 1 will celebrate the cultural vibrancy in Eugene, featuring a symphony concert; local food carts; beer, wine, and cider tastings; and live performances by local talent; dancing to a DJ; and a jazz lounge. The concert features the orchestra in collaboration with Ballet Fantastique, Eugene vocalist Halie Loren, jazz trumpeter player Toni Glausi, South Eugene High School’s The Dorians choir, and more. Information at eugenesymphony.org
May ArtWalk Media Sponsor: KLCC, NPR for Oregonians, brings the arts to 88,000 listeners with on air features, performances and reviews. KLCC provides National Public Radio news, local and regional news, and a wide variety of music at 89.7 FM, klcc.org, and the free KLCC App.
