(Above: Detail from Kate Bollons’ Summer Path; oil on museum board)

By Randi Bjornstad

Patrick Gardner’s fused glass garden stakes are among the outdoor art on display at Art in the Courtyard at the Maude Kerns Art Center

Following cancellation of this year’s Art in the Vineyard celebration in early July because of the coronavirus pandemic, the nonprofit Maude Kerns Art Center regrouped to design a scaled-down series of get-togethers it calls Art in the Courtyard.

The second of the three planned events happens on Saturday, Aug. 1, from noon to 6 p.m., with several activities taking place at the facility, featuring creations by many artists familiar to aficionados of the Art and the Vineyard festival.

Art for Your Garden

Featured artists in this courtyard show include:

  • Don and Jeredith Ferrell of Ferrell Garden Studio —ladybug plant stakes and wood sculptures created to hold potted plants or flower vases
  • Patrick Gardner of Broken Dreams — decorative fused recycled-glass garden stakes
  • Stephen Uhle of Restart Art — metal garden sculptures using recycled car parts

Blackwing, by Rebecca Mannheimer, is part of the Artists’ Marketplace show and sale

Artists’ Marketplace

The art center’s parking lot will turn into a sales gallery featuring original work by artists that will include Erica Beyer, Kate Bollons, Jo Dunnick, Suma Elan, Dee Etzwiler, Kenneth Helphand, Heather Halpern, Margaret Leutzinger, Rebecca Mannheimer, and Barbara Weinstein.

Clothesline Sale

This part of the event harks back to the Clothesline Art Exhibit that the Maude Kerns Art Center held each July in the 1970s and ’80s, before the Art and the Vineyard Festival became a major summer festival in Eugene. Those early art sales took place in the downtown park blocks where the Saturday Market is now.

The first full-fledged Art and the Vineyard Festival was in 1984, hosted by the Forgeron Vineyard near Elmira. The vineyard, owned by Lee and Linda Smith — forgeron is the French term for smith or blacksmith — operated from 1972 to 1992.

Refreshments (and birthday party)

Rainsong Winery and Ninkasi Brewery will bring their wares to slake the thirst of Art in the Courtyard visitors, with yumm bowls from Café Yumm. It happens that Aug. 1 is the birthday of Maude Kerns, the art center’s namesake, and the 144th anniversary of her birth will be celebrated with cake and Prince Pückler’s ice cream.

Glyph 7 by Jim Frazer turns shapes and trails found in nature into art objects; his work is part of Natural Affinity, on display in the Maude Kerns main gallery through Aug. 21

Main gallery

The indoor gallery at Maude Kerns also will be open for the afternoon. Natural Affinity is the title of the show on display through Aug.21. It features the work of Eugene artist Lynn Pedersen, Portland artist Gail Owen, and Salt Lake City artist Jim Frazer. This show also can be viewed online.

The third and final Art in the Courtyard festival will take place on Saturday, Aug. 29

Art in (and out of) the Courtyard

When: Noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1

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

Admission: Suggested donation of $5

Details: Masks and social distancing as appropriate according to State of Oregon and Oregon Health Authority guidelines

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

Information: 541-3451571 or mkartcenter.org