(Above: Art by 14-year-old C.S., at the WheelHaus Arts youth studio)

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

The Feb. 7, 2025 First Friday ArtWalk in downtown Eugene could be a bit chilly, but those who attend will find plenty to see and do even if they have to brave wintry weather to do it.

The festivities will start with a Lunar New Year celebration that the Lane Arts Council will sponsor in collaboration with the Asian American Council of Oregon, in the Farmers Market Pavilion at 85 E. Eighth Ave., where art by Asian artists will be featured, including painting, photography, calligraphy, textiles, print, ceramics, and bonsai.

As usual, the Pavilion also will be the home of the monthly Artist Marketplace as well as the place to pick up the monthly ArtWalk Guide of arts-related shops and galleries that will be open from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. (unless otherwise indicated in the guide and in the listing below), as well as hosting a pop-up exhibit of Asian pottery techniques, Chinese lion dancing, Taiko drumming, origami, and martial arts demonstrations.

These special events are funded in part by grants from Travel Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Those who need help getting to and from the First Friday ArtWalk can go online to lanetransitdistrict.org on the day of the art walk and receive a free bus pass code.

 

Participating galleries and arts venues

Allies, LLC (200 E. 11th Ave., Suite 130)  — Check out the new Art Annex! See all original artworks thoughtfully created at Allies by member artists. All work sold goes to benefit the Allies Art Fund.

Art with Alejandro (5th Street Market Alley, Suite 104) — Featuring multidisciplinary artist Levi Whittier’s animal and nature-inspired works; two new paintings, China Doll and Fairy Frog by Paisley Mae; and some of Alejandro’s current and past works.

Broadway Commerce Center (44 West Broadway) — WheelHaus Arts’ youth studio presents an eclectic and colorful mix of paintings by proprietor David Placencia and the next generation of local artists, with a reception at 6:30 p.m.

Capitello Wines (540 Charnelton St.) — Featuring artist Marcy B. Greene, displaying acrylic and mixed-media artwork, plus an Italian food truck on site.

City Exhibitions EMERGE (99 W. 10th Ave., south windows) — Presenting Vanessa Woods Paintings, acrylic works incorporating gold leaf and other mixed-media centering around family, music, dance, nature, and history.

Cultural Currents

  • Farmers Market Pavilion (85 E. 8th Ave.) — Woman Working in the Field, a collaboration between the art of Hampton Rodriguez and Sofia Carpenter-Rodriguez, blending visual representation with sociological insights to highlight the vital role of migrant workers.
  • Hult Center Plaza 6th Ave. —  Appealing and Leaf Dance, two steel and reclaimed materials sculptures by artist Jenny Ellswort, transforming discarded metal into objects of beauty and w0nder with their own unique stories.

New mural at 941 Willamette St., Radically Radiant, created by Wayde Love

Urban Canvas Murals — The City of Eugene’s local mural program presents:

  • 941 Willamette St. Alley — Wayde Love’s newly completed mural Radically Radiant.
  • 957 Willamette St. Alley — Nature’s Child by Mural Mice Universal

Flux Crystals (280 W. Broadway) — Ethereal art by Heather Sterling-Minder, featuring new original drawings with real pressed flowers, plus oil paintings.

Framin’ ArtWorks (505 High St.) — Hearts A Fire, featuring mixed-media hearts, recent work by Max Neufeldt, working with metal, wood, paper, and “all things that can make a beautiful piece of art.”

High Street Tonics (267 West 8th Ave.) — Kayla Barilleaux’s transformations of vintage mid-century portraits repurposed from old cookie tin lids into surreal acrylic masterpieces, incorporating fungi for a bold and unique aesthetic.

Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette St.) — Highlighting selected paintings from the Estate of Mark Clarke, plus three new sculptures by guest artist Jud Turner, through March 29.

Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts (MECCA) (555 High St.) — Through March, exhibiting work by The Museum of Techno Art (MTA) and featuring featured artists Joe Mross, Barbora Bakalarova, Jud Turner, Renee Mahni, Steve La Riccia, Max Rink, and Rob Bolman. Reception with the artists at 5:30 p.m., showcasing fusion of art and technology, human invention and retrofuturism, and including imaginative machines of the future.

The New Zone Gallery (110 E. 11th Ave) Two special exhibits:

  • Joe Besch — Then Speak! A Figurative Painting Journey, oil paintings from direct observation, in figurative and still life forms.
  • Shirley Collins — Through the Windowpane, photos speaking of moments she feels inspired in life, framed in window panes.

One Wall Gallery at Epic Seconds (30 E 11th Ave.) — Fall Back Into Place by Tia Factor, based on a conversation between the artist and a stranger: “Do you have a place you repeatedly go to in your dreams? Could you describe it to me?”, becoming a painting of the dream place documenting the attempt to connect, listen, understand, interpret, and visually translate the experience of dreaming into something concrete and lasting. Opening reception on Feb. 7.

OSLP Arts & Culture Center (110 E. 11th Ave, Suite C) — Features artwork from OSLP artists and volunteers, including a wide variety of 2D and 3D works in various mediums.

Our 21st Century Renaissance (132 E Broadway, Ste 103, previously 212) —Featuring Self Image, an uncanny watercolor by Laura Lewis and part of her Robots R Us series capturing the spirit of Van Gogh’s Bedroom at Arles. Note, that we may have just moved into the ground floor Suite 103 from 212. Please excuse the mess.

Palace Coffee & Bakery (842 Pearl St.) — ART AT WORK highlights work by Mikayla Coleman, Courtney Mae Gilseth, and Savannah Sturgill all part-time as baristas at Palace Coffee & Bakery, using a diverse range of mediums and themes such as human moments, nature, identity, and complexity.

PLAY (232 W. 5th Ave.) — Featuring work in clay and mixed-media by Carolyn “Sand Dune” Osborne Sommer.

Sparrow Nest Coffee (Lobby, 132 E. Broadway) — Art by Diana Patin, teaching artist at Maude Kerns Art Center, educator at Lane Community College, Eugene Darkroom Group. She is an educator with Lane Community College, and Eugene Darkroom Group.

Wilkins Coffee & Unseelie Chocolates (824 Charnelton St.) — Imaginative creatures designed by Kate Becker focusing on different an element of nature through a lens of fantasy magic such as Springtide Wurm, which invokes the sense of being mesmerized to sleep by an intoxicating pollen produced by the creature, plus chocolate bars with labels created by Becker, and sampling of products and helping select which chocolates will be submitted to this year’s Oregon Chocolate Festival.

Window Activation (806 Charnelton St.) — Julie Anderson Bailey’s Origins show, featuring three installations, which can be viewed anytime, night or day, through the large windows.

About Lane Arts Council

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

Creations by artists working with MECCA, the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts