Next month Eugene will host its first bilingual First Friday ARTWalk. The event corresponds with Cinco de Mayo and all spoken and printed material will be translated into Spanish.
Lane Arts Council sponsors the monthly art walks on the first Fridays of each month in downtown Eugene from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30. The art walk is a free guided walking tour of selected art galleries in close proximity to one another. According to Heidi Durden, Outreach Coordinator for Lane
Arts Council, the locations rotate in three-month cycles.
Many of the featured galleries save their special showings for these nights, and artists’ opening receptions are frequently scheduled to correspond with the community art event. For openings the galleries often provide free hors d’oeuvres, vegetable trays, crackers and cheese, fresh fruit, cake or other finger foods, and beverages such as juice and wine are usually available. Live music is a common feature at many showings.
“There is an ambiance of food, fun, festivities and art, and wine adds to that.” Durden said. “It is great way to bring people out into the community.” Whether you are “young or old there is something for everybody,” Durden added.
The artists are usually scheduled to speak about their work that is shown, and afterward are available to answer questions from the public. Following the talks, patrons mingle, browse the gallery and discuss the featured pieces with the artists and among themselves as they snack at the receptions. Many of the displayed works are for sale and include all types of art. One can find beautiful framed photography, sculptures and art in a variety of mediums as well as unravel the mysteries of the designs with the information provided by the present artists.
Fred Crafts, entertainment reporter for The Register-Guard, founded Eugene’s First Friday ARTWalk in 1993. Art walks are commonly organized in large to medium cities, which have numerous galleries, as a public event enjoyed by patrons and community members interested in sharing the cultural experience of celebrating the arts. Since 1998 the Lane Arts Council has coordinated the event and works with a board of directors and support from Diva and the Art Fest Committee.
Patrons are free to stroll on their own or join a hosted group. Tour hosts are usually community leaders and have included mayors, senators, commissioners and the SLUG Queen. This month, Mary Unruh, executive director of DIVA (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts) hosted the walk, introducing the featured artists at each of the galleries. Galleries on April’s Walk were Jacob’s Gallery at the Hult Center, White Lotus on Willamette, La Follette on Oak Street, New Zone Gallery in Oak Alley and DIVA on Broadway.
Jacob’s Gallery presented “Double Vision,” a show collaborated on by a number of artists. White Lotus showed the works of photographer Gary Tepfer, who documented his travels through Mongolia as well as the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern United States. He told of his photo techniques, special development processes and the unique problems with achieving proper lighting for his series on petroglyphs.
At La Follette Gallery, there was a large gathering celebrating the opening reception of Anna Horrigan’s pastel work. Refreshments and a jazz singer with piano accompaniment added to the excitement. Horrigan, a graduate of Boston University, with a studio in Ashland, showed a series of her cityscapes drawn from aerial perspectives. She credits her personal style to using “Wallis paper,” which has a sanded surface and is PH balanced, and “getting used to keeping clean” to prevent smudging her work.
The New Zone Gallery boasts a “24-hour window gallery,” which lines both sides of Oak Alley by 10th Avenue. “Avoid the Curses of the Mundane,” a colorful poster warns, promoting the “Fools and Fantasies” show of more than 30 artists.
DIVA Gallery sponsored a show by autistic artists, entitled “Autism Rocks!” KindTree President Mary-Minn Sirag, a high-functioning autistic artist who teaches art to developmentally disabled members of the community for the city of Eugene, informed the public about autism and spoke about the amazing talent of this segment of society.
“Oregon’s incidence of autism is four times the national average; Lane County is 7.8 times higher, second only to that of California’s Silicon Valley,” Sirag explained.
Downtown merchants and galleries are open additional hours on the evenings of these popular events.
Each month there is a listing of parallel shows that are open but not parts of the walking tour. For example, the Eugene Library hosted a musical event with classical guitarist Craig Einhorn in honor of First Friday. On campus, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art grants free admission to members of the public on the first Friday of each month in honor of this event.
Along with the May bilingual art walk, The Tango Center will host featured dancers, and the Eugene Library will have a special exhibit of wetlands art for the May art walk. The highlight of the summer events is the opportunity for amateur artists to show their talents when the route is lined with public displays of their work.
The goal is “reaching out to other parts of the community and letting them know that this event is open and welcome to all,” Outreach Coordinator Heidi Durden said. Visit the Lane Arts Council Web site at www.lanearts.org for information on upcoming events.