(Above: Artist-turned-curator Raven Muir with two of her own paintings in her just-opened show celebrating youth art, Idiosyncrasies, at the Broadway Commerce Center
By Randi Bjornstad
Like all her fellow high school seniors at the Academy of Arts and Academics (aka A3) in Springfield, Raven Muir had to come up with a senior project that relates to her major — visual arts — as a requirement for graduation.
Concetta Picozzi’s silk painting is on display in the show
The result is a show of work by more than a dozen youthful artists that is on display in the Broadway Commerce Center in downtown Eugene through March 22.
Not only is Muir’s work included in the show, she also took on the role of curator, designing and carrying out the entire production, which she has titled Idiosyncrasies.
“We always have lots of student work displayed at A3, but I have also participated in student galleries in other locations, and I realized I hadn’t seen any opportunities for that for awhile,” Muir said. “So I decided that the best way to offer that would be to do it myself.”
Fortunately, Muir’s mother — Mija Andrade — is an experienced artist and curator herself, as well as director of the Arts & Culture Program within the nonprofit Oregon Supported Living Program.
“Because my mom does this sort of thing for a living, she was very helpful to me in getting the show booked at the Broadway Commerce Center and giving me advice about the process of curating a show,” Muir said. “I did a ‘call for artists’ poster and created a submission form with all the requirements, and I used social media to get the message out widely to my school and others to be sure there would be a good submission rate.”
It all took a lot of time, energy, and careful planning.
“I had my proposal done and signed off (by the faculty) at A3 in March of my junior year, and I had a timeline of how everything needed to fit and when everything needed to be done,” she said. “The really active part of the project started in October last year, and I started publicizing the show in mid-January and getting submissions.”
Muir shows another piece included in the show, an architectural study by student Wednesday Adams
She didn’t care what grade level the artists were, “but I wanted to focus on young artists. At first I set a limit of three pieces per artist, but then I made it more flexible.”
The art arrived in many mediums, among them silk painting, pen-and-ink drawing, metal sculpture, jewelry, and photography.
“That’s why I named the show Idiosyncrasies, Muir said, “because of how spread out it is — it shows lots of different talents.”
Like many high schoolers, Muir’s not sure yet what her future holds, because in addition to visual arts — she especially likes acrylic painting, both brush on canvas and pouring — she also wants to continue pursuing music.
“My message is just to encourage young people to follow their passion, something a lot of people don’t end up doing,” Muir said.
Andrade pronounces herself impressed by her daughter’s success in putting up the Idiosyncrasies show.
“All I did was to show her the tools, the template for the press release, the submission form, and the need to lay out the whole thing on a timeline,” she said. “Then I left her alone to do it on her own — she carried out every aspect of it.”
Idiosyncrasies
What: Show of student art curated by high school student Raven Muir for her senior project at Academy of Arts and Academics (A3) in Springfield
When: Through March 22
Where: Broadway Commerce Center 44 W. Broadway, Eugene (corner of Broadway and Willamette streets)
