Art in the Mid-Valley

By Brian Egan

Woodworkers Guild, the Willamette Ceramics Guild, and the Contemporary Fiber Arts Guild will be on site to sell their wares, demonstrate their techniques and offer information about joining their groups. The event is free, begins at 10am and ends at 5pm on Saturday, August 5th

Local Art in Central Park

The Corvallis Art Guild is celebrating it’s 60th Annual Clothesline Sale of Art by moving to a larger venue and expanding its offerings. The new location will be the east end of Central Park in Corvallis, under large shade trees to protect artists and visitors from the hot August sun. The celebration will include local fine arts and artisan crafts for sale, an en plein air paint out by the Vista & Vineyards painters’ group and family-focused art-filled fun for children of all ages. Kids can enjoy art experience at the Maxtivity Arts & Crafts Experience booth or learn about The Science of Art with visiting Fulbright Scholar Dr Derek Fish. Dr Fish is an entertaining speaker and leader in STEAM education. Maxtivity, a Philomath based arts education hub, will also have their creatively designed kinetic sculpture “The Glory” on display in the park. Other local artisan guilds, including the Mid-Willamette

The Around Oregon Biennial exhibit at The Corvallis Art Center is a chance for people in the Mid-Willamette Valley to experience artworks by contemporary artists living in all parts of Oregon. The exhibition recognizes the quality and diversity in the creative expression of artists. The purpose of the exhibit is to show working artists from many backgrounds and origins and bring emerging and established artists together. This year the Around Oregon Biennial will be juried by Ashley Stull-Meyers. Ashley is a writer, editor, and cultural worker, currently serving as the Thomas Hart and Mary Jones Horning Chief Curator of Art, Science, and Technology at Oregon State University. She had this to say about her jury process: “The contemporary arts ecosystem of Oregon was once known for its underground sensibilities – DIY aesthetics, experimental practices, craft, and a unique lens for landscape. As many parts of the state struggle to remain economically viable sites for arts production and artist support, Around Oregon 2023 seeks to honor the artists holding fast to the previously described legacy. The selected artist's works venture from traditional conceptions of their medium, and showcase Oregon for all that is strange, wild, and fighting to regrow.” The show runs from August 5th through September 9th, with a reception on August 17th from 5:30 to 7pm.

The Arts Center hosts artist Heidi

Keith in the Corrine Woodman Gallery in a show titled “Young on the Water” This portrait series of young people are paintings that address the power and vulnerability of adolescence and how the body interacts with the natural world. Oregon artist Heidi Keith has been focused on adolescent care since she was barely an adult. Keith’s work depicts the precarious stage of life between childhood and adulthood. She sees an analogy between the earth and young people – beautiful, powerful, complicated, and vulnerable to the destructive facets of our increasingly complex society.

Keith uses a limited palette; it is a way of trying to understand a scene by simplifying it. Water is key to her media and often her content. Water is a core component of life and the body, but it is also somewhat uncontrollable and does what it wants – a building block of life and also a cause of erosion. Water is an unpredictable and striking force in painting, and in nature. In this body of work, water is both the content of the artist’s work, as well as a commentary on the fluid nature of youth and the turbulent society young people exist within. The show runs from July 5th through August 5th, with a reception on July 7th from 5:30 to 7pm.

The Corvallis Modern Quilt Guild includes quilters from around the mid-Willamette Valley who explore this traditional craft in new, creative ways. Founded in December 2012 as a chapter of the national Modern Quilt Guild, their mission is to support and encourage the growth and development of modern quilting through art, education, and the community. The Guild will be exhibiting their work in the Moreland Gallery of the Philomath Museum from July 29th through September 9th.

The Corvallis Arts Walk (CAW) is a grass-roots organized art walk that takes place on the 3rd Thursday of each month in downtown Corvallis from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Galleries, studios, arts and crafts stores and the occasional pop-up keep their doors open late to host an art-related event or demonstration. Walking maps of the event can be picked up at the Visit Corvallis office, 113 SW 3rd Street, Alley Suite 101, Corvallis.

Artist Quote of the month: "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." -

Maya Angelou

The Arts Center Hours Noon to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday (at time of publication, please check website for updates) • 541-754-1551 www.theartscenter.net