Posted by Anne-Allegra Bennett

It’s going to be a special First Friday ArtWalk on August 3 as Eugene celebrates its new Visual Arts Festival. This month’s guided art tour walk is hosted by City of Eugene Cultural services director Isaac Marquez and Lane Arts Council executive director Liora Sponko.

The tour starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Mayor’s Art Show in the Maurie Jacobs Community Room of the Hult Center. Always free, the ArtWalk goes from 5:30-8:00 p.m.

Official guided tour

Kicking off the guided tour at 5:30 p.m., the juried exhibition in the Maurie Jacobs Community Room at the Hult Center (One Eugene Center), celebrates the accomplishments of artists who enrich the community through the creation of visual art. The show, which remains on display through Aug. 25, seeks to cultivate diversity, equity, and access to the visual arts and artists.

At 6:00 p.m. the tour makes its way to BRIDGE Exhibitions in the parking garage near the Hult Center Plaza on Willamette Street. The exhibitions offer contemporary art experiences that explore the social, personal, political, and ecological issues of the times.

Artists and arts organizations engage in conversations to place locally generated contemporary art in the public eye. The featured artists include: Farhad Bahram and Shannon Mockli (Intersecting Bodies) at the Hult Center Plaza; Leah Wilson and Kate Ali with Gray Space members (Metanoia Catalyst) at the Hult Center Plaza; Valentina Gonzalez, Josh Sands, and Dain Kaldahl (We Are The Ships. You Are The River, Part 1 of 3: Vessel) at the Breezeway between Seventh and Eighth avenues and Willamette Street;  Jessilyn Brinkerhoff (Movements) at the parking garage in the same location; and Junwei (3:30 AM) at the Hult Center East windows.

In celebration of the 2018 Eugene Biennial, at 6:30 p.m. the tour stops at the Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette St). The gallery celebrates the opening of the juried show that celebrates exceptional art of the region. This year’s jurors include the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art’s McCosh Associate Curator Danielle Knapp, artist and retired Lane Community College Art instructor Craig Spilman, and gallerist Karin Clarke. Visit karinclarkegallery.com/Biennial.html.

The tour makes its way to three examples of the 20x21EUG Mural Project (749 Willamette St., Seventh and Willamette streets and 755 Charnelton St.) at 7:00 p.m. with three recent mural projects created by Matt Small, AIKO, and H11235. Information is available at 20x21eug.com.

The last stop of the tour at 7:30 p.m. is at Salon des Refusés (The New Zone Gallery, 220 W. 8th Ave). It is a celebration of the artworks not selected for the Mayor’s Art Show. The term is most famous in referring to the Paris Salon des Refusés of 1863. Featuring more than 150 artists, it runs through August 25th. Steve Seals is highlighted as the featured artist at the New Zone Gallery, with music by Robert Meade on guitar.

More aerts and culture

As usual, many other galleries and businesses also will remain open late during the ArtWalk:

  • 5th Street Public Market (296 E 5th Ave) – “It’s A Beautiful World,” colorful, whimsy, and lighthearted paintings by Paula Litchfield.
  • Alexi Era Gallery & Projects (1712 Willamette St, Suite 100) – Museum of Rescued Art (MORA) was established in an effort to rescue discarded and dispossessed art due to a variety of circumstances. This exhibition showcases some of the collection!
  • Cowfish (62 W Broadway) – Paintings by Mark Jackson.
  • ECO Sleep Solutions and Gallery (25 E 8th Ave) – Felted wool home décor and apparel by Tylar Merrill, clay tile collages by Annie Heron, whimsical hand painted wood pieces and hand painted silk apparel by Lybi Thomas, wood sculptures and stone carvings by Cedar Caredio, and Luminessence light sculptures by Stephen White.
  • Epic Seconds (30 E 11th Ave) – “Film’s First Funk,” classic Blaxploitation film posters from the collection of Andre Sirois.
  • Eugene Public Library (100 W 10th Ave) – Paintings by students of Shelley Roenspie. Concert: The Octet. Eugene’s finest jazz musicians play Great American Songbook favorites. Starts at 6 p.m.
  • Euphoria Chocolate Company (946 Willamette St) – Local designer Ali McQueen presents “Sometimes Fiction,” a collection of paper cut images. Ali’s work is inspired by her own direct observations from nature with occasional twists of whimsy and imagination.
  • Framin’ ArtWorks (505 High St) – Mixed media work by Summer Lee, who enjoys working with metallic acrylic paint with a resin finish, and Roka Walsh, who blends images with other organic elements, paintings, handmade papers, and digital effects.
  • Goldworks Jewelry Art Studio (169 E Broadway) – Original jewelry by Goldworks staff.
  • InEugene Real Estate (100 E Broadway) – Limited edition framed prints by San Francisco Bay Area artist Eric Joyner, featuring robots, dinosaurs, and doughnuts. Website: ericjoyner.com.
  • The Lincoln Gallery (309 W 4th Ave) – “Can Touch This,” a community show featuring tactile art from across the region, on display through August 30th.
  • LovaKava Kava Bar & Restaurant (120 W Broadway) – Colorful acrylic pour paintings by Tammie Albert.
  • MAVEN (271 W 8th Ave) – Mixed media work by Jody Hancock and work using acrylics and watercolors to create demonized portraits or pop culture animation characters by Flynn Ryan. Plus, French Cookie tastings. Music: Kingsley’s Strangelove.
  • MODERN (207 E 5th Ave) – “The Practice of Discovery,” a series of multimedia abstract paintings by Carolyn Quinn.
  • Mosaic Fair Trade Collection (28 E Broadway) – Garden art and fair trade wine tasting.
  • Oregon Art Supply (1020 Pearl St) – “Head in the Clouds: Feet on the Earth,” plein air paintings completed in the past year by Sally Schwader. Open until 6 p.m.
  • Out on a Limb Gallery (191 E Broadway) – Watercolors by Carolyn Gates. Carolyn has been working in this medium for the past 15 years, and she enjoys working with the unexpected results of mixing the pigment with water on textured watercolor paper. The qualities that characterize her work are strong color and compositions that explore the relationships of shapes to make pleasing visual patterns. This results in an abstraction of the subject. More info: cmgates.com.
  • Raven Frame Works (325 W 4th Ave) – Local artist Dan Chen is an award winning artist that creates art in a wide range of media including painting, pastel, bronze, and engraved acrylic, all of which will be on display. He is an astute observer and accomplished craftsman that often depicts the natural world, focusing on plants and animals.
  • Starlight Lounge (830 Olive St) – “Chalice Co.,” abstract expressionism art by Skye Sinclair. Instagram: skyecsinclair.
  • Townshend’s Teahouse (41 W Broadway) – Art centered on the female energy by Mariah Huntley.
  • White Lotus Gallery (767 Willamette St) – “Transcribing the Human Form: New Works by Yuji Hiratsuka,” through August 11th.

More special events

Kesey Square Activations (Kesey Square)  — Join the fun with the sounds of steel drum Caribbean music by Island Accents and other performances. Or peruse Artist Alley to check out work by local artists in a marketplace-like atmosphere. 5:30-8 p.m.

#instaballet (Oregon Contemporary Theatre, 194 W Broadway) – Help dancers from Eugene Ballet Company make a new ballet! Be part of the creative process and suggest steps or ideas, or sit back and watch the ballet unfold. No dance experience is required and all ages are welcome.  The final piece will be presented at 8 p.m.

No Shame Eugene (99 W 10th Ave) – The doors open at 7:30 p.m. with live music. The show begins at 8 p.m. with fifteen original, 5-minute acts including monologues, sketch comedy, and the experimental. Each show comsists of the first fifteen acts to register with the host when doors open. Come as a performer, but there’s no shame in just watching.

About the Lane Arts Council
Lane Arts Council, founded in 1976, is a nonprofit organization that cultivates strong and creative arts communities in Lane County. They provide in-school arts education programs, support local artists and arts organizations, and coordinate community programs such as the popular First Friday ArtWalk.