(Above: A sampling of “nest forms” included in Hilary Pfeifer’s show, Forever in Blue Jeans, at the Maude Kerns Art Center from May 8 to June 5.)

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

Forever in Blue Jeans: A Mid-Career Retrospective of Hilary Pfeifer is the somewhat enigmatic title of a new show that opens with an artist’s reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on May 8 at the Maude Kerns Art Center.

Not surprisingly, it is a show of work by Hilary Pfeifer, who has had a formative and 25-year association with the art center that has lasted a quarter century at this point, from classes in her girlhood through what she has described as “a reflective midpoint in
her career: looking back at the community and landscape that shaped her, while
debuting new work that responds to the ecological and social realities of the present.”

Pfeifer creates art in a variety of media, including sculpture, collage, installation, and public art, grounded in craft traditions that include ceramics, woodworking, metals, bookbinding, and soft sculpture. Her work has appeared in group and solo shows throughout the United States, including a recent exhibit titled Birds in Art at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wis.

Her public art commissions include an installation titled Confluence at the University of Oregon’s Huestis Hall, consisting of laser-cut panels and sculptures celebrating the university’s long history of research with small, striped zebrafish.

She has been featured in American Craft magazine and also recently on Oregon Public Radio’s program, Oregon Art Beat.

One of the signature aspects of Forever in Blue Jeans is a piece called godseye (2024-2026), an installation of “nest forms” created from found materials ranging from metal bristles from street sweeping machines, each nest also containing a created “glass eye” to encourage viewers to examine their own roles in caring for and supporting habitat.

(Each of the godseye nest forms is available for purchase, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Mount Pisgah Arboretum to support its conservation efforts.)

Forever in Blue Jeans at the Maude Kerns Art Center

What: A 25-year retrospective of art by Hilary Pfeifer, plus work by other artists, including Deborah Dailey, Hannah Goldrich, Barbara Kensler, Marcia Macdonald, Terry McIlrath, Jerril Nilson, Lynn Peterson, and Greg Wilbur

When: May 8 through June 5, 2026; opening reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 8

Special events: 

  • 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 9: presentation by Pfeifer offering advice to working artists and stories about her own artistic career
  • 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 30; presentation about her work in this exhibit, from concept to completion

Where: 1910 E. 15th Ave., Eugene (corner of 15th and Villard streets)

Regular hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday during exhibit displays

Information: 541-345-1571 or online at mkartcenter.org

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