(Above: Earl Dunbar’s Untitled #1, Spiritual Quest, is on display at the Broadway Commerce Center.)

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

As usual, the Farmers Market Pavilion at 85 E. 8th Ave. in downtown Eugene is a logical place to start the monthly self-guided First Friday ArtWalk, and Aug 2 will not be an exception.

But it will offer some special activities throughout the evening, with the theme of celebrating and supporting the community’s Native, Indigenous, and POC (person of color) groups and performers. From 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., that willminclude Dancing Spirit Drum, Burial Ground Society, Light Code Band, and from Sacramento, S.I.A.T Stuck in a Tree!, with its “slaptual” music.

The special activities in the Pavilion this month are sponsored by H.O.N.E.Y. (Honoring Our New Ethnic Youth), and the Lane Education Services District’s Native Youth Wellness Program.

And as always, the First Friday Downtown ArtWalk generally runs from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., with no admission fees for any of the events. Also as usual, those who need a ride to the ArtWalk can go online to lanearts.org on the day of the ArtWalk and get a free bus pass from the Lane Transit District (LTD).

Here’s what will be on tap for August during those hours, unless indicated otherwise in the following alphabetical listing:

#instaballet (5th Street Alley) — Creation of a new dance in real real time by audience members suggesting new moves for local, professional dancers to perform to live music by Blugene Brass. No dance experience necessary, all ages welcome, fun guaranteed, with newly created piece presented at 8 p.m. at the entrance to 5th Street Alley.

Allies, LLC (200 E. 11th Ave., Suite 13) — Featuring original art in the new Art Annex by Allies’ member artists.

Art with Alejandro (5th St Market Alley, Suite 104) — New artwork by proprietor Alejandro Sarmiento  and Paisley, plus featured work by plein air painter Jerry Ross.

Bumble Boutique (233 W. 5th Ave.) — Featuring works by Portland oil painter Dane Eisenbar.

ColdFire Brewing (263 Mill St). — Wings and Strings, a watercolor collection of birds by Jessica Ballestrazze, featuring intricate threading.

Cosmic Haus (347 W. 5th Ave.) — Multidisciplinary art by Anna Helena Jackson (they/them), including painting, wood-burning and performance, exploring themes of grief, pleasure, and longing.

Work by 15-year-old artist, Mal, is on show at Dark Pine Coffee

Dark Pine Coffee (954 Pearl St.) — Art by 15-year-old Mal showcasing a variety of Grayscale art pieces of eclectic media, from working with drawing hundreds of small dots to cutting and pasting, cand acrylic painting.

FUSE Jewelry Collective (112 E. 13th Ave.) — Handmade sterling silver and gemstone jewelry by Bri Caridio, plus tours of the FUSE classroom and information about metalsmithing workshops.

Karin Clarke Gallery (760 Willamette St.) — Retrospective exhibit of works by the late Robert Schlegel (1947-2021), with his characteristic landscapes, buildings, figures, and birds.

Love Your Library Design Contest (100 W. 10th Ave., second floor) — Exhibit of entries by local artists of all ages, submitted earlier this year for Eugene Public Library Foundation’s Love Your Library Design Contest. Opening reception at 4 p.m. on Friday, August 2; art on display through October.

Nexus Business Lounge (40 E. Broadway) — Art by Troy Jacobson and Springfield High School artist Julio Perales in the Coworking and Event Space, including a personal collection of realism paintings from African life and wildlife, plus access to the free-play Arcade Lounge offering games of Pac-Man, Pong, or pool.

Work by artist Thomas Pettus-Czar can be seen at Epic Seconds

One Wall Gallery at Epic Seconds (30 E. 11th Ave.) — Showcasing work of two artists, Eugene visual artist, designer and musician Courtney Stubbert and painter Thomas Pettus-Czar, creator of Mark-making and memory markers.

OSLP Arts & Culture Center (110 E. 11th Ave., Suite C) — Community is Key, an exhibition of artwork by unhoused artists, a collaboration with Community Supported Shelters and featuring a mural on a Conestoga hut, plus several collaborative mosaic pieces OSLP.

Our 21st Century Renaissance (132 E. Broadway, Suite 212, elevator to second floor) — Featuring paintings, prints, and static and kinetic sculpture by several artists.

Resonance Open House & Cocreative Carnival (840 Lawrence St.) — Hosted by licensed practitioners  with a range of healing modalities, featuring transmedia artwork by Christine Olejniczak. Special Cocreative Carnival from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., followed by song and celebration with Apis Mellifera, a hive of musicians and healingartists; family friendly.

Sparrow Nest Coffee (132 E. Broadway) — Exploration synergy of art and urban culture with work by Holly Osborne in the urban, art-themed coffee shop.

Starlight Lounge (830 Olive St.) — Artwork by some of the Starlight bartenders, including Dylan Watson, Hailey Schug, and McKenzie Clarkson, ranging from painting to digital art, geometric shapes to cartoon style and male nude form.

One of the artists featured at The New Zone Gallery is Steve Dzerigian, creator of Construction-XXVI

The New Zone Gallery (110 E. 11th Ave.) — The usual eclectic mix of art created by the New Zone members, live music, plus three special shows for August:

  • Joy Taubner’s Expression of Loneliness, moments of melancholy through the camera lens;
  • David Diethelm’s On the Inner Road: No Flights, a selection of work from mental road trips;
  • Steve Dzerigian’s Logic of the Subconscious, holographic shadowbox collages exploring time, space, and meaning.

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

  • 945 Olive St. Alley – A Springtime Gathering, the latest iteration of Erick Wonderly Varela’s Fresh Paint Initiative mural, featuring colorful, stylized hummingbirds and rhododendrons to celebrate the spring and summer weather.
  • 1059 Willamette St. – Take Flight by Teak, Capsel Rock, and Eliza Be (Williams), an extension of Teak’s previous form line murals, representing the traditional Tlingit art from Alaska, already on the building, and adding the Three Sisters Mountain line, featuring coniferous forest, sunset, and osprey.

Additional participating locations

  • Broadway Commerce Center (44 W. Broadway)
  • Flux Crystals (280 W. Broadway)
  • Good Creative Design (942 Olive St.)

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. Support for the ArtWalk program includes grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Arts Commission, Travel Oregon, and the National Endowment for the Arts.