(Above: Oregon artist Amy Kyle-Percy created this linocut, Untitled, for the 2023 version of the Whiteaker Printmakers’ Annual Print Exchange.)

By Randi Bjornstad

In terms of shows, there’s  an embarrassment of riches going on at the Maude Kerns Art Center right now. First of all (already published on Eugene Scene), the Mayor’s Teen Art Show is underway.

The second show is the fourth annual version of the Whiteaker Printmakers’ Annual Print Exchange, essentially a “reverse auction,” which features 5×7-inch fine-art prints created this year by 169 artists from 32 U.S. states and 11 countries. The available prints represent an dizzying array of styles and subjects, including etchings, aquatints, lithographs, woodcuts, linocuts, mezzotints, and screen prints.

Here’s how it works: The “bidding” opened on Sept. 4, and that day the price for any print in the show was $95. Every day a print isn’t sold, the price drops another $3, down to a final price of $20 on the last day, Sept. 29. So it’s definitely a bit of a gamble for would-be purchasers to decide whether to pay more for their favorites or hold out, hoping to get it for a lower price later.

All of the artists have donated their prints to the show, and the proceeds from the reverse auction support Whiteaker Printmakers and the Maude Kerns Art Center.

(I have to confess, every person on my holiday gift list last year got a print from the 2022 show, and it was a great way to peruse the offerings, find something that I thought each person would love to hang on the wall, and then make my purchases when I couldn’t bring myself to wait any longer. I did miss one that I had my eye on, but I found another one for that recipient that I think turned out to be even more appreciated.)

All of the prints can be viewed in person at the Maude Kerns Art Center at 1910 E. 15th Ave. in Eugene during its regular hours, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. during shows, except for Saturday, Sept. 16, when the center will be closed for a private event. But they also can be viewed online anytime at whitprint.com/catalog/emprex-2023.

However, purchases can be made only online, at whitprint.com/rafwelcome, where all the details about bidding, purchase completion, in-person pickup or shipping also are explained.

School, by Australian Artist Lala Zarei, is part of the 2023 Whiteaker Printmakers’ reverse auction.