12 minute read
Art in the Valley
Art in the Mid-Valley
By Brian Egan
“I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.” – Frida Kahlo
AS WE TRAVERSE THE SEASONS OF OUR LIVES WE ADAPT TO NEW
CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY. Physical and mental issues often cause us to look at ourselves and decide to take a new path. Sometimes it is just curiosity that leads us in new directions and urges us to try new things. These transformations are all part of “Embracing Brave”, the 2022 theme for the exhibits at The Arts Center.
The Arts Center hosts “A Journey”, featuring artists Hanne Niederhausen and Judith Wyss for its next exhibit. We are all familiar with the idea of “youth-culture”, and early peaking of creativity. Artists and scientists are perceived as having their great breakthroughs and discoveries early in their careers. What we see though is that artists and scientists can build on their experience, maintaining their curiosity. Quite often artists with long careers can be seen changing style, means of expression or techniques to challenge themselves. Experimentation doesn’t have to stop at a certain age. Painters can become glass artists, potters become paper artists and sculptors are suddenly painters. Hanne and Judith are such artists and this exhibit chronicles the artistic journeys they have taken over the course of their careers. Hanne (Born in Germany, but now living in Corvallis) has been working in a variety of media with an affinity for experimentation with various materials and techniques, including painting, printmaking, book arts, photography, and assemblage. She values illusion over definition, suggestions over specifics. Judith (Portland) is a northwest artist who has worked as a painter, a glass artist, and currently creating three dimensional portraits and installations. Most of her early work is small sculpture and she continues work in this genre, now using mixed media rather than paper. In 1999, she began to work with fired paint on glass, a 13th century technique she learned at the Stained Glass Museum in Ely, Cambridgeshire where she lives four months of the year. The show opens on May 19th and runs through June 25th. Arts Alive! is back this year on the Arts Center Plaza! After virtual events the past two summers this year will feature live workshops and concerts on August
A Journey, 13. Artists will be sharing techniques and
Judith Wyss practices while encouraging participation Constructions in the workshops. Save the date for a funfilled day. Look for more information in our next issue. Hanne Niederhausen - Meeting My Shadows
Judith Wyss -Autumn in Oregon
Regional artists, Pam Serra-Wenz and Bill Shumway, have been painting water images featured in their Two Water Ways exhibition series for several years. The Benton County Historical Museum hosts their fourth exhibition, which includes many new works completed during the pandemic. The show runs from now until May 28th in the Moreland Gallery in Philomath.
The 39th annual Art About Agriculture
Competition and Touring Exhibition
2022: The Sustainable Feast invites all artists from the Pacific Northwest to celebrate the region’s sustainable, diverse, and innovative food. Working closely with Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, this year’s open call asked artists to reflect on food, including production of ingredients, preparation of food, food packaging, cooking food, sharing meals, dining, and presentation. They were also encouraged to explore important food topics such as environmental impact, food waste reduction, food ethics, local foods, food for medical needs, reduced waste food packaging solutions, plant varieties for enjoyment and disease resistance, sustainable fisheries, grassland management, food science, and nutrition among many others.
Vistas and Vineyards is the oldest continuous plein air painting group in
the state of Oregon! Plein air painting, from the French expression en plein air, translates as “in the open air” and is most commonly used to describe outdoor landscape painting. Many plein air painters work quickly, capturing the essence of the natural scene in one setting. Because of this the focus is on natural light, color and brush stroke used to produce forms that give an impression of the scene rather than presenting the viewer with a completely realistic portrayal.
They are a Northwest artist group known for responsive and energized landscape paintings. The group meets weekly between mid-May through mid-October to express themselves individually as artists, to enjoy painting “en plein air” at local farms, vineyards, and townships to share impressions with each other and the mid-valley community. The group always welcomes new members. You can find more information at www. vistasandvineyards.wordpress.com
The Corvallis Art Walk (CAW) takes place on May 19th and June 16th. A list of artists and venues can be found at www.corvallisartswalk.com. You can get some exercise, meet new artists and maybe purchase some art all in Downton
Corvallis.
CORVALLIS ARTS CENTER
HOURS Noon to 5:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday (check website for updates) Phone 541-754-1551
www.theartscenter.net
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (Russian, born 1952)/Jim Riswold (American, born 1957), “Putin’s Big Parade (Ivan the Terrible, Putin Khuylo!, and Some Other Russians) Великий парад Путіна ( Іван Грозний, Пу́тін — хуйло́ та деякі інші росіяни),” 2022, color digital print, 24 x 34 in., courtesy Vladamir Putin.
Salem's Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University
700 State St. in Salem. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Sunday and Monday. Online tickets can be purchased at
www.willamette.edu/go/hfma.
General admission is $6, $4 for seniors and $3 for students 18 and older.
Students 17 and under and children are admitted free. Admission is free for everyone on Tuesdays.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to Covid-19 the museum’s hours and guidelines may be subject to change as federal and state guidelines evolve. Please check the museum’s website for the latest information at
willamette.edu/go/hfma or call 503-370-6855
ARTIST JIM RISWOLD IS BACK TO CONTINUE HIS BATTLE AGAINST BULLIES, AND THIS TIME HIS SHARP WIT IS TAKING AIM AT PUTIN.
“Putin’s Big Parade” opens April 16 and continues through May 28 in the Maribeth Collins Lobby. All prints are for sale as a fundraiser, and all proceeds and donations will go to the Hallie Ford Museum’s Ukrainian Relief Fund, which supports Ukrainian refugees through ICOM (International Council of Museums) Poland.
Piotr Rypson, the Chair of ICOM Poland says, “Please be assured that each and every such gesture of good will, will be directed to the right cause, while at the same time it strengthens us in our small efforts.
A few thousand dollars may mean a whole grant or two for an Ukrainian refugee, one of our museum colleagues from a ruined town, and will buy them time to arrange for the basic needs - and perhaps find a job in one of the local Polish museums.”
The inspiration for this two part photographic exhibition came around the end of February 2022 as Putin began to invade Ukraine. Riswold says, “I had an idea while chopping vegetables. I nicknamed it ‘Putin on Parade.’ Long story short. Concept to getting new toy soldiers and a **** ton of sunflowers and blue forget-me-nots- we get it done, thanks to ‘Team Putin is a ****head’—Neil DaCosta, Birte von Kampen, May ArnoldPicard, Kyle Pero, and Phil Bard.”
Riswold goes on to say, “Part One is more about the Russians trouncing into Ukraine. The Russian army is overrated. It’s a motley collection of outdated equipment, poor morale (due to 30% conscription rate), outdated tactics, etc. Part Two focuses more on the Ukrainians and what’s happening to them — destruction, orphans, refugees, confused cows, etc.”
Riswold’s twofold career began in 1984 when he joined the advertising firm of Wieden+Kennedy in Portland. During his 20 plus years there, he was responsible for legendary advertising campaigns for Nike that featured Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Bo Jackson, and Tiger Woods.
In 2000, Riswold’s world took a drastic turn when he was diagnosed with leukemia. After surviving the disease for five years, he left Wieden+Kennedy to become a full-time artist. The primary impetus for his artwork has been to use his scathing humor, satire, and sense of the absurd to skewer, ridicule, and ultimately deflate the potency of notorious characters as well as history’s most impactful bullies, including Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Mao Zedong, General George Custer, Vladimir Lenin, and Kim Jong Un, and now Putin.
Riswold works with a wide variety of photographers, printers, costumers, and even framers to create his artwork, and for him, the text or narrative that he writes to accompany his staged photographs are just as important as the photographs themselves. His work prominently features a host of plastic toys, and dolls, modeled after some of history’s most despicable figures and villains.
Born and raised in Seattle, Riswold studied at the University of Washington, where he received BA degrees in communications, philosophy, and history. Over the past decade, Riswold has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the region and his photographs can be found in the collections of the Tacoma Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, among many others.
This exhibition has been supported by general operating support grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.
Slava Ukraini! Slava Ukraini!
(Glory to Ukraine)
Perspective on the Sister City Relationship
By Alice Rampton
CORVALLIS, OREGON HAS A 30-YEAR SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIP WITH UZHHOROD, UKRAINE.
Trusted friendships and partnerships have developed over those three decades. There have been many exchanges between the two cities, including government, education, health care, transparency, culture, students, music/ culture, tourism, agriculture, business, and even artists exchanged over the years.
These people are weary of war. In 2014, the first invasion started. That was 8 years ago.
Uzhhorod is the furthest most western city in Ukraine, protected somewhat by Slovakia to the west and Transcarpathian mountains to the east. The airport in Uzhhorod is directly next to the Slovakian border. But missile strikes are able to reach most everywhere.
When this larger invasion began, we knew we had to do something because thousands of refugees began to flee to various locations including Uzhhorod. We have estimates that there are over 70,000 displaced people in this region and even more who have traveled through on their way to Slovakia or Hungary. There are 3 border closings very close to our sister city.
Every one of us in the sister city organization know individuals in Uzhhorod who are hosting refugees. In fact, I don’t know anyone who is not. One person has 30 in their home, another has 11 in their flat. They are welcoming fellow Ukrainians with open arms. In addition, there are at least 5 refugee centers in the city. All schools and the university have been closed in Uzhhorod. One public school (with students with Roma ethnicity) which the Sister City works with has 60 refugees – adults and children, sleeping in the various classrooms throughout the school.
The Corvallis Sister Cities Association- Uzhhorod Council- established an emergency fund to support the Refugee effort. It has been open at a local bank for about 2 weeks and $150,000 has been donated. We are in awe of the generousity and response! In addition, a GoFundMe has been set up by our Council Chair- Carol Trueba. The link is https://gofund.me/a28dca8d
These funds will be used to alleviate the needs of the refugees.
At this time, the refugees are not arriving in Uzhhorod with battle wounds, but they have anxiety, health care issues such as unmonitored diabetes and hypertension. They come with only a suitcase or backpack and many need bedding, pillows, mattresses, medical supplies, food, water, phone cards, etc.
We have already sent $47,000 of the funds raised to the sister city team in Uzhhorod to use for refugee needs. This will include meeting the basic needs of refugees and setting up emergency health care clinics in the refugee centers in our sister city.
In addition, we have volunteers flying to Uzhhorod or to the border caring suitcases of socks, medical supplies, and notes and drawings of encouragement from children in Corvallis.
Corvallis Sister Cities Association members are in daily contact with our colleagues in Ukraine through viper, email, zoom, messaging and other means.
The thirty years of relationship with our sister city has also allowed us to be a conduit for others needing help. We receive emails from acquaintances in the US who have a relative in E. Ukraine looking for a place to stay in western Ukraine and we are able to connect them with our friends in Uzhhorod. Also, a US physician, Dr. Chickering, who is now living and practicing telemedicine in France, gathered a car load of medical supplies from his French medical colleagues and drove his car to the border of Ukraine near Uzhhorod. He didn't realize that cars are not able to drive into Ukraine, so he got on the internet and located Corvallis Sister Cities Association's website and was able to contact my husband, Mark Rampton, who, in turn, contacted medical colleagues like Dr. Kolesnyk in Ukraine about the situation. The next morning, we received a photo email with Dr. Kolesnyk and Dr Chickering in a hospital in Uzhhorod with the boxes of medical supplies provided by medical health care providers in France. So, besides our direct donations, supplies, and contacts, we are happy as a sister city to connect others with Uzhhorod whenever the need arises.
My first trip was in 1993 and my husband and I have been back with sister city projects over 28 times. We love the people of Uzhhorod, Ukraine. We consider them some of our dearest friends and that is because of the guiding principles of the Sister Cities organization over the years. These Ukrainians, whom I know, appreciate living in a nation that allows them freedom and choice and opportunities. We want to continue to support them in that desire.
The Sister Cities Association has called upon the extensive talents of local artist Earl Newman to create this silkscreen to sell. Earl has previous work in the Smithsonian Institution, and he's had a booth at the Eugene Country Fair for nearly a million years. His work is very unique and fantastic. Limited prints!
Creating prints at Earl's studio in Summit.
Alice Rampton is an advisor at-large for the Corvallis Sister Cities Association. Reach alice at: alice.rampton@gmail.com
