(Above: Sanibonani will perform at the Jan. 5, 2024 First Friday ArtWalk in downtown Eugene.)

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

The first First Friday ArtWalk of 2024 in downtown Eugene will be Jan. 5, happening as usual from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., with maps for self-guided tours of arts-related galleries and shops available at the Farmers Market Pavilion at 85 E. 8th Ave.

The Pavilion offers its own take on the art world, hosting an Artist Marketplace of its own as well as other activities. In January, those will include live music by husband-and-wife folk duo Nicole Hummel and Gabe Schliffer from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.,featuring fiddle tunes and traditional music with Schliffer on violin, banjo, and mandolin and Hummel on guitar.

At 7 p.m. Sanibonani — Zulu for “Hello, how are you?” — brings a preview performance of its global Afro-theater to the Pavilion stage, with Cirque du Soleil alum Tumelo Michael Moloi and musician Joshua Caraco leading a team of international artists sharing African history by way of song, dance, and poetry. This performance is a sneak preview of Sanibonani’s full production at the Hult Center on Feb. 2 and 3, 2024.

Kalapuya High School students created art art focused on local environmental problems such as air pollution that threaten the well-being of their generation.

Two special student events also will take place during the Jan. 5 Art Walk:

  • Lane Arts Council’s Design Arts Apprenticeship Showcase at Spark on 7th at 22 W. 7th Ave. is a show of products crated by local middle- and high-school students who have been doing “apprenticeships” with professional design artists. The designs include graphic arts, 3D modeling, digital storytelling, and biomimicry (design and production of materials, structures, and systems that are modeled on biological entities).
  • Kalapuya High School’s Data Graffiti Project: Residents of West Eugene are disproportionately affected by industrialization compared to those living in and many other parts of the city. Working with Beyond Toxics, Kalapuya High School students showcase immersive art focused on local environmental problems facing our youth and offering potential solutions. (Check at the Pavilion for the location.)

Need a ride to the ArtWalk? Get your free LTD bus pass on the ArtWalk webpage the day of the event.

ArtWalk participants

In alphabetical order, the following galleries, shops, and other arts-related purveyors will be open from  5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the ArtWalk, unless otherwise noted:

Allies, LLC (200 E. 11th Ave., Suite 13) — Check out the new Art Annex! Featured art this month is Group Art. See all original artworks thoughtfully created at Allies by member artists. All work sold goes to benefit the Allies Art Fund.

David CP Placencia’s Multnomah Falls is among a show of his work at the Broadway Commerce Center.

Broadway Commerce Center (44 W. Broadway) — David “CP” Placencia exhibits a large array of acrylic paintings varying in subjects from landscapes to surreal abstracts. Reception at 7:00pm with refreshments.
Bumble Boutique (233 W. 5th Ave.) — Emily McKenzie is an earth-conscious creative who combines natural fibers and mixed media to capture emotions and moments through her art. She currently works from her home studio.
Coldfire Brewing (263 Mill St.) — Visit Coldfire Brewing to enjoy the vast and varied scenery of Oregon through the lens of local birder and photographer Joshua Little. His work will give you a renewed appreciation for this beautiful state we call home. New ArtWalk venue!
Flux Crystals (280 W. Broadway) — Heather Sterling-Minder’s work is greatly influenced by traditional oil painting technique as she depicts figures in imagined, ethereal, and dreamlike spaces, incorporating allegory and symbolism to convey a message. Her paintings are most often of friends or family members and represent the spirit and significance of each person.
FUSE Jewelry Collective (112 E. 13th Ave.) — A place for jewelry lovers to learn, shop, create, and connect. Check out the FUSE showroom, displaying collections by local jewelry designers as well as thoughtfully curated, small-batch gift items. During the ArtWalk, don’t miss live cello music by Ben Hamilton, and stop by to enter the Community Casting Studio Fundraiser Raffle for a chance to win a FREE casting class!
Good Creative Design (942 Olive St.) — Enjoy all original art spanning generations of creativity from across the globe, from LA, New Orleans, and Eugene, to Taiwan, Japan, and across Europe. Art styles represented include watercolor from real life, abstract illustration, laser-cut wood designs, mixed media, and more.
Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette St.) — Karin Clarke Gallery is pleased to present a solo show of large-scale oil paintings by admired Eugene artist Adam Grosowsky. His current exhibit, Snow in Jerusalem, features works relating to the Middle East, as well as his characteristic figurative and landscape works.
Museum of Techno Art (132 E. Broadway, Sute 212) — Check out Eugene’s new 501(c)(3) non-profit exhibition space for both technologically-themed art and hi-tech industrial products with an irresistible visual appeal—or, in short, art as industry! Located in the historic Miner Building with a lobby exhibition area generously provided by its owners.

Artist Robert Fulton’s work is on display at the New Zone Gallery during January 2024

New Zone Gallery (110 E. 11th Ave.) — Along with the eclectic mix of art created by New Zone members and live harp music by David Helphand, there are three special shows during the month of January:

  • Almost a Full Circle, acrylic paintings by Robert Fulton;
  • Journeys Inside and Out by Margie Templeton, inspired by 40 years of being a psychologist and traveling the world;
  • The Art of Train Graffiti by Sandy Sanders, a visual exploration of regional train graffiti as documentary and creative elaborations.

Northwest Martial Arts (755 Charnelton St.) — Celebration at a new ArtWalk venue of the natural world and NMA’s youth programs — Foxes, Raccoons, and Wolves — with Eugene’s original Brazilian Jiu Jitsu dojo, echoed through the beauty, resilience, and strength of local ecology of art pieces created in collaboration with artist Jason Pancoast.

Brilliance, by Clayton Sukau, at Oregon Art Supply

One Wall Gallery at Epic Seconds (30 E. 11th Ave.) — Don Olsen’s Memory of Mud works acrylic canvases back to front and back again, re-examining Pacific Northwest history and natural history landscapes from memory and intuition, as if to ask, “What does it mean to be from a place?”

Oregon Art Supply (1020 Pearl St.) — Winter Art Show featuring the Oregon Art Supply staff, including Kianah Clark, Emily Hildebrand, Manny Lopez, Olive Stephens, and Clayton Sukau; artist reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Starlight Lounge (830 Olive St.) — Cigital illustrations by Kris Knight, combining abstracts with modern simplicity found indigital art programs used by graphic design and tattoo artists and then sublimated onto a crystal-clear glass acrylic. More at mymentalpalette.com. Ages 21+.

 

Urban Canvas Murals from the City of Eugene’s local mural program

  • 945 Olive Alley — Snake in the Grass by Liza Mana Burns and I Got You Something 
by Erick Wonderly Varela
  • 941 and 957 Willamette Alley – Murals by Wayde Love and Mural Mice Universal
  • 1059 Willamette St. – Community Sunset in Eugene by Teak

Windowfront Exhibitions — Empty storefronts become galleries

  • 824 Charnelton St. — When It Rains, oil on canvas paintings by Yuruhary Gallardo-Garcia depict nature as if it was perceived by a child playing outside in the rain when all is muddy, when all life is drinking and thriving in the backyard. If you pay attention and look closely, nature doesn’t ever leave you alone; it’s always there, humming, chanting, growing.
  • 260 W. Broadway — The Veil, an installation of sculptures made of chicken wire by Kimberly Strohman, bringing attention to lives impacted by pregnancy and infant loss, honoring those infants who taught love and grief in the same short breath.

Additional participating venues

Art with Alejandro — 5th Street Public Market, 2nd floor, 246 E. 5th Ave., Suite 224

OSLP Arts & Culture Center — 110 E. 11th Ave., Suite C

About Lane Arts Council

Lane Arts Council is a nonprofit organization that works to cultivate strong and creative arts communities throughout Lane County, by providing high-quality arts experiences, engaging people of all ages in arts education, and encouraging artistic endeavors.