(Above: The Mayor’s Teen Art Show at the Maude Kerns Art Center from Sept. 12 to Oct. 3 includes Lorelai Leslie’s Dreamworld.)

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

Two distinctly different exhibits in the 2025 schedule open at the Maude Kerns Art Center on Sept. 12, one featuring work by talented young artists from 12 area schools and the other showing work for purchase by 161 artists, representing six countries and 28 U.S. states.

Mayor’s Teen Art Show

The opening reception for the 26th annual Mayor’s Teen Art Show will take place from 6-7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, at the Maude Kerns Art Center, unveiling artwork by 34 teen artists from 12 schools in the area, many of whom have not previously exhibited their work in in a professional gallery.

Before the official opening — at 5 p.m. — Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson will announce the winner of  Mayor’s Choice Award. Additional awards include Best of Show, three Juror’s Choice awards, and the Maude Kerns Art Center Award. Artwork selected for the show ranges from paintings in acrylic and oil to textile pieces to assemblages.

The 2025 teen art show is sponsored by a longtime local business, Jerry’s Home Improvement Center. The show will run through Oct. 3.

Jurors for the 2025 Teen Art Show include Thurston High School art educator Perry Joseph, Maude Kerns Art Center instructor Steve Steinaway, and Moth S, a previous Mayor’s Teen Art Show award winner and now a new instructor at the art center.

Whiteaker Printmakers’ 2025 Emerald Print Exchange

The annual Emerald Print Exchange, which actually is an art auction that happens in reverse, with prices dropping each day instead of increasing as bids progress, will hold its opening reception in the Maude Kerns Salon Gallery from 6-7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12. The reverse bidding begins that day and ends on Oct. 7. Examples of all of the limited edition prints may be seen in person at the art center during open hours or online anytime from now through the end of the reverse auction, at mkartcenter.org.

Each participating artist submits a print that is part of a limited edition of 12, which means that no more of that edition can be printed in the future. The price of each print on the first day is $95, and it drops by $3 per day for each day a print is not purchased, until the final price of $20 is reached on Oct. 7.

Proceeds of the reverse auction fundraiser benefit Whiteaker Printmakers and the Maude Kerns Art Center.

Mayor’s Teen Art Show and Emerald Print Exchange

When: Sept. 12 through Oct. 3 for the teen art show and through Oct. 7 for the reverse art auction

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

Art center open hours: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday during exhibits

Information: Telephone 541-345-1571 or online at mkartcenter.org

 

 

 

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