(Above: One piece in the 2018 Eugene Biennial, titled “Stay Golden,” is Athena Delene’s brilliantly colored photograph of a downtown Eugene landmark. Can you identify it?)

By Randi Bjornstad

After the nonprofit Jacobs Gallery closed in January 2016 for financial reasons following the Great Recession — it was located for 18 years on the lower level of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts and had held 140 shows of work by at least 350 mostly local artists — Karin Clarke began casting around for a way to step into the breach.

“The Other Side of the Glass” is a painting by Andrea Schwartz-Feit

It didn’t take her long. Clarke, owner of the gallery that bears her name, just a block north of the Hult Center on Willamette Street, came up with the idea of starting a Eugene Biennial (every other year) show to fill the gap created by the loss of the annual Mayor’s Art Show that had appeared in the Jacobs Gallery for many years.

“I didn’t want to commit to doing something every year, because that is a huge job for one person to pull off,” Clarke said then. “But I thought I could handle doing it every other year and still give a good opportunity for artists to submit their work for a show.”

The first Eugene Biennial happened in 2016, and the second is this year, opening on July 25 and running through Aug. 25. In between, Clarke came up with another innovative idea: In the summer of 2017, she put up a show of new works by the artists who had won prizes in the first juried biennial exhibit.

The call-for-entries for this year’s show snagged 275 images, and 31 were chosen by the judges, who included, in addition to Clarke, Danielle Knapp, a curator with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, and artist Craig Spilman, who taught the subject at Lane Community College until his retirement.

Jenny Gray’s piece in the Eugene Biennial is “Warmth in Winter”

“I tried to give the other jurors a heavy weight in the decision because I also was on the jury the first time around,” Clarke said. “Everybody had submitted digital images when they applied to be in the show, and we didn’t really establish strict criteria — we had to consider space, of course, and then we tried to go for pieces that automatically had a ‘yes’ response for all of us.”

The selection process took more than six hours, Clarke said, and paring the number down to just over 30 was difficult.

“There were many pieces that we could have put up without a second thought, but we didn’t want to pack the walls — we wanted to give everything the space it needed to show well and give us an elegant presentation,” she said. “We have large work and small work, realist and abstract, and also sculpture.”

Truth be told, she said, “If we had followed a particular theme, we could have pulled four or five different shows out of the wonderful submissions we received.”

Some of the artists whose work is on display are familiar names in the Eugene area art world, while others, such as photographer Athena Dalene, are new to exhibiting.

“I have never entered anything for a gallery show before,” Dalene said. “It is exciting to have something of mine included.”

PLUS: Return of the Mayor’s Art Show and more

Ironically, this year the city of Eugene is sponsoring a return of the Mayor’s Art Show, along with several other events — including Clarke’s Eugene Biennial — that all together are being called the Visual Arts Festival.

The city’s effort involves a week-long festival with several parts that emphasize street art, contemporary art, mural art, and gallery art. The gallery art, in addition to the Karin Clarke Gallery show, includes the Mayor’s Art Show and a show called the Salon des Réfusés — made up of art that didn’t make it into the official mayor’s show and sponsored by The New Zone Gallery — that served for many years as a tongue-in-cheek complement to the other.

Here’s the lineup for the Visual Arts Festival:

 

Visual Arts Festival Kickoff

When: 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, July 27 (official welcome at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Lucy Vinis in the Hult Center Plaza

Details:

 

Eugene Biennial Art Exhibit

When: July 25 to August 25

Where: Karin Clarke Gallery, 760 Willamette St.

Gallery hours: 12-5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday

Bridge Exhibitions

When: July 27 to August 3

Where: Hult Center Plaza to Willamette and Eighth Avenue

Details:  https://www.eugene-or.gov/3927/BRIDGE-Exhibitions

 

Mayor’s Art Show

When: July 27 –to August 25 

Where: Maurie Jacobs Community Room on the lower level of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Center (Seventh and Willamette streets), Eugene

Gallery hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and during Hult Center showtimes

Details: https://www.eugene-or.gov/3868/Mayors-Art-Show

 

Salon des Réfusés

When: July 27 t0 August 25

Where: The New Zone Gallery, 220 W. Eighth Ave., Eugene

Gallery Hours: Noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday

Details: A celebration of the artworks not selected for the Mayor’s Art Show. The term most famously refers to the Paris Salon des Refusés of 1863. New Zone Gallery hosts this important part of the juried Mayor’s Art Show featuring more than 150 artists.

 

Sunday Streets and EUG Parade

When: Parade from10 a.m. to noon on Sunday, July 29; Sunday Streets Festival from noon to 4 p.m. on July 29

Where: Downtown Eugene streets

Details: Live music, vendors, free bike helmets, bike tune-ups, free fitness classes, yoga classes and so much more all in our City’s largest open space – the streets, online at https://www.eugene-or.gov/655/Eugene-Sunday-Streets

 

20×21 presents Eugene Walls

When: July 28 to August 3

Details: Eugene Walls, presented by the 20×21 EUG Mural Project, is a week-long event featuring international artists H11235 (Nepal), Alexis Diaz (Puerto Rico), AIKO (Japan/USA), Martha Cooper (USA), WK Interact (France/USA), Shamsia Hassani (Afghanistan) and local artist Bayne Gardner. Look for a map at https://www.20x21eug.com/

 

20×21 Artists’ Reception

When: 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 1

Where: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, 1430 Johnson Lane, University of Oregon

Details: Meet 2018 Eugene Walls artists followied by an Outdoor Family Film screening of “Coco”

Information: https://jsma.uoregon.edu/events/20x21eug-mural-project-artist-reception-0

 

Mural Bike Tours

When: Noon to 1 p.m. on Aug. 1 and 2

Where: Meet at Kesey Square bike share station at Broadway and Willamette streets, Eugene

Details: Space is limited; register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/peacehealth-rides-eugene-walls-bike-tour-tickets-48184971547

 

Party on the Plaza with Northstar Dance Company

When: 5:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, August 2

Where: Hult Center Plaza, Seventh and Willamette streets, Eugene

Details: An inter-tribal/contemporary crossover performance of Native story, song, music and dance with the community.

 

ARTiculate

When: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Aug. 2 (6:15 p.m. BRIDGE performance and cash bar; 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. awards ceremony, Soreng Theater; hosted by Vicki Amorose

Where: Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Seventh and Willamette streets, Eugene

 

First Friday ArtWalk

When: 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where: Downtown Eugene

Details: Sponsored by Lane Arts Council; hosted by city of Eugene Cultural Services director Isaac Marquez and Lane Arts Council executive director Liora Sponko