(Above: A previous performance by Ballet Folklorico, which will perform during the Sept. 6 First Friday ArtWalk; photo courtesy of Lane Arts Council)

Posted by Anne-Allegra Bennett

Fiesta Cultural is Lane County’s largest celebration of Latinx arts and culture, featuring more than forty events that will take place throughout Lane County now through December. Organized by the Lane Arts Council, Fiesta Cultural presents multicultural programs and events that highlight the rich diversity of Latinx arts, culture, and heritage in Lane County.

It’s kickoff event is during downtown Eugene’s First Friday ArtWalk, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept.6, starting with a bilingual guided tour , followed by music from Organización Oaxaca at 6 p.m., DJ Tex Caliente at 7 p.m., Pura Vida Orquesta at 7:30 p.m., and DJ Chronic Hydra at 9:30 p.m.

Other Fiesta Cultural activities during the evening include dance, mariachi, and charrería (rope twirling) performances, printmaking, piñatas and other activities for children, food carts and a beer garden.

Liora Sponko, executive director of the Lane Arts Council, says Fiesta Cultural activities are meant to bring together members of all cultural diversities to experience arts and culture that they either already know or are curious to encounter.

“The arts are the most accessible way to bring communities together,” Sponko said.

The complete calendar of Fiesta Cultural through December in the Eugene-Springfield area is online at lanearts.org/fiesta-cultural

The monthly official guided ArtWalk tour on Sept. 6 is hosted by David Saez and Mija Andrade from Centro Latino Americano and will convene at 5:30 p.m. at Kesey Square at the corner of Broadway and Willamette streets in downtown Eugene for Antonio Huerta’s charrería show, along with music by Mariachi Monumental and dance by Ballet Folklórico and Salseros Dance Company.

At 6 p.m. the tour will tour the visual arts showcase on display in the square.

Next up is the Broadway Commerce Center (44 W. Broadway) at 6:30 p.m. for a demonstration of traditional weavy by fourth-generation master weaver Francisco Bautista and his wife, Laura Bautista, plus a show of Latin American textiles, courtesy of the Corvallis Multicutural Literacy Center.

Rogene Mañas’ series, Everyday Saints, at Passionflower includes this one, Our Lady of Fighting the Good Fight

At 7 p.m., the tour moves to Passionflower Design (128 E. Broadway), for Rogene Mañas’ show of Everyday Saints, a collection of her original mixed-media works that can include painting, sculpture, photographs, stitching, metal, beads, and charms, some centering on the faces of  important women such as Michelle Obama and Frida Kahlo. Mañas is author of Artful Paper Clay: Techniques for Adding Dimention to Your Art. Her work can be viewed at rogenemanas.com.

The last stop on the official tour is Sparrow Studios (136 E. Broadway) at 7:30 p.m., with work by artist Santiago Uceda, originally from Peru and now Eugene, and southern California-born artist Nick Yarger. Both are highly regarded nationally and internationally for their brand design and illustrations.

As always, people are welcome to join the official tour or visit the many venues open late throughout downtown Eugene on their own, including the following:

• 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.) — Drawings and paintings by students of Sarah Strand, who has been teaching art and encouraging adult creativity at Campbell Community Center for more than 10 years; family-friendly music by the University of Oregon Community Music Institute, including folk songs, fiddle tunes, classical and more performed on violin, viola, and cello by youths ages 4-18 years, starting at 6 p.m.
• Euphoria Chocolate Company (946 Willamette St.) — WheelHaus Arts: Studio Instructor Show, featuring a variety of artworks created by WheelHaus Arts, a studio/work space hub providing affordable youth art classes for grades K-12.
• Framin’ Artworks (505 High St.) — Paintings with Native American, western, landscape, and animal themes by Jo Dunnick and mixed-media art with reclaimed materials in contemporary design and color by Kristina Rust.
• Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette St.) — Entanglements, a large show of later landscape paintings by former University of Oregon Professor of Art David McCosh (1903-1981), curated by Roger Saydack.
• InEugene Real Estate (100 E. Broadway) — Paintings by Jessilyn Brinkerhoff.

Angela Norman’s art is on display at The Lincoln Gallery

• The Lincoln Gallery (309 W. 4th Ave.) — Ocean of Texture, an on-the-spot installation artists from Harmonic Laboratory, Wheel Haus Arts, the OSLP Arts and Culture studio, and Terry Holloway; Angela Norman’s new series of drawings, Subtle Bodies in the Community Gallery.
• LovaKava Kava Bar & Restaurant (120 W. Broadway) — Original art and a glass of kava.
• The New Zone Gallery (22 W. 7th Ave.) — What is Observable, work by Wayne Singer, in pastel and acrylics, clay and fabric; a memorial of work by Mike Walrath (1956-2018), a Thai Boxing trainer who founded Big Foot Gym, in the Klausmeier Room featuring his raucous political clown series, candid pen-and-ink studies of humanity, and larger black-and-white portraits of fighters and fight scenes; and music by Rob Tobias
• The Northwest Hat Co (870 Pearl St.) — Watercolors by Emerald Art Center member Don Tucker and unique, repurposed hat racks created by Dave Davis.
• Oregon Art Supply (1020 Pearl St.) — Inside/Outside, outdoor and still life paintings by Euphemia Wesley.  Open until 7:30 p.m. More info: euphemiawesley.blogspot.com
• Out of Step Books & Gallery (1022 Willamette St.) — Skin to Canvas, interpretations of iconic tattoo designs by 60 tattoo artists, painted on custom-made hexagon-shaped wood Trekell panels; four walls of original artwork, hundreds of art prints, art books, sculptures, and creative gifts; free art supplies for drawing and coloring, for all ages.
• Starlight Lounge (830 Olive St.) — Illustrations of florals, animals, insects, and people by Lydia Backer, drawing on her deep passion for medical and scientific illustration as well as rich symbolism.
• Townshend’s Teahouse (41 W. Broadway) — To All the Summers I’ve Loved Before, photographs by Athena Delene and Steven Weeks.
• White Lotus Gallery (767 Willamette St.) — Highlights from the Gallery Collection, showcasing some of the best works in the gallery’s Asian fine arts collection, including Japanese woodblock prints from multiple eras, as well prints created from etching and mezzotint methods.

Additional (free) activities

  • #instaballet (Capitello Wines, 540 Charnelton St.) — Dancers from Eugene Ballet Company make a new ballet based on audience suggestions, resulting in audience-driven art created in real-time. No dance experience needed, all ages welcome.  The final piece will be presented at 8:00 p.m.
  • No Shame Eugene (99 W. 10th Ave.) — Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with live music. The show begins at 8:00 p.m. with 15 original, five-minute acts including monologues, sketch comedy, and the experimental, made up of the  of the first f15 acts to register with the host when the doors open. Come as a performer, but there’s no shame in just watching.

Fiesta Cultural Sponsors and Partners: City of Eugene Cultural Services and EUGfun!, Law Offices of Lourdes Sánchez, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Juntos (Program of Emergence), SELCO Community Credit Union, Monarcas de Eugene, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Tacovore, Centro Latino Americano, and Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace.

Community partners: La Qué Buena, La E-Kiss, Huerto de la Familia, KLCC, Downtown Languages, Salseros Dance Company, and Eugene Arte Latino.

About Lane Arts Council: Founded in 1976, the council is a nonprofit organization that cultivates strong and creative arts communities in Lane County. It provides in-school arts education programs, supports local artists and arts organizations, and coordinates community programs such as the popular First Friday ArtWalk.

A retrospective of the late (1956-2018) Mike Walrath’s paintings is on show at The New Zone Gallery