Willamette Street is bustling on an unseasonably warm Saturday, and soft afternoon light filters into Eugene’s Downtown art galleries. The area is a virtual treasure trove of creation and contemplation, and while students might not have enough money to purchase any of the collections, viewing this art is an afternoon well spent — and absolutely free.
Inside White Lotus Gallery at 767 Willamette St., the sunshine radiates off paintings and ceramics, illuminating art from today all the way back to the 15th century.
“This gallery is dedicated to Asian art and showing high-end artifacts ,” owner Dick Easley said. Easley, a University alumnus, operates the gallery with alumna Hue-Ping Lin.
“Our stock and trade is contemporary Chinese prints and paintings and modern and antique Japanese prints,” he said.
Easley also pointed out ceramics from a 15th-century Vietnamese shipwreck and pottery from local artist Dan Schmitt, whose work has been commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution. A deeper look into the gallery’s winding back room uncovers additional paintings, small artifacts and antique Japanese furniture.
The gallery — in its 11th year of business — is currently hosting “Food is …,” a benefit for FOOD for Lane County displaying local artists’ perceptions of food. The show will continue through March 28. In conjunction with the benefit, White Lotus will host the Empty Bowls Sale on March 7, where customers can purchase a bowl and receive a coupon for free soup at one of Eugene’s restaurants.

Easley said the gallery also attracts art lovers because it contains artwork they might not see elsewhere. The collection, open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., includes many contemporary Chinese prints and paintings from the region’s leading academics.
“In some cases, we’re the only gallery in the United States showing this work,” he said.
Easley emphasized that students should not be intimidated by the gallery’s artistic atmosphere.
“We sincerely welcome students,” he said. “This is not a snobby gallery. It’s a friendly place.”
Gallery director Brent Houston said Criterion Gallery, located at 790 Willamette St., also welcomes students, whether they want to view the gallery’s current exhibits or propose their own.
The bulk of Criterion’s d
isplays come from Oregon artists. Houston, who became director nearly four months ago, said the gallery is
undergoing a transformation — a marriage of art and real life. Houston said he strives to present art that makes visitors think.
“Basically, the gallery is changing a whole lot from what it used to be,” he said. “What I’m interested in is bringing situations, issues and things from outside into the gallery space.”
Criterion’s simple design and white walls leave the small gallery open and light-filled. Its current exhibits include Mike Catlin’s “Reflections,” a collection of multiple-image photographs featuring local shop windows and their reflections. Criterion also offers several vintage Japanese animation cells, many with their original drawings tucked into envelopes on the back. Houston’s own work is on display — a Sept. 11-inspired exhibit titled “Unease.”
Criteron’s present exhibits will run until the end of February, and future plans include a digital projection show incorporating the Japanese animation, as well as more photography on the walls. The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.
Jacobs Gallery, located inside the Hult Center at Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street, is quiet and plush, overflowing with a jumble of eclectic art entitled, “Back By Popular Demand! Artists’ Union & Project Space: A Reunion Exhibition.” This display, which reunites a local artists’ group formed 20 years ago, leaves the gallery on March 1, and will be followed by “Elemental: A Woman’s Life and Her Art,” beginning March 7.
Jacobs Gallery was established in 1983, and volunteer coordinator Edith White said the wide array of different displays, along with insight programs where artists explain their creations, offers the biggest incentive for people to visit. Jacobs Gallery’s hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Jacobs Gallery, Criterion Gallery and White Lotus Gallery provide enough art to fill an entire day, but a vast wealth of other galleries thrive in nearby nooks and crannies, with exhibits as diverse as the spaces themselves. Hopping a bus downtown and taking a short walk reveals a fanciful feast for the eyes, from local creations to pieces spanning oceans and centuries.