While I love snow - this time I'm not loving it completely. We are snowbound with over 7 inches of snow and a driveway that is impassable (and impossible). We used to have a neighbor who would plow our area but he passed away last year. So....I keep cancelling things. I guess I should enjoy this lovely time but I have a lot to do and need to be mobile.

I hope all of you are okay and can enjoy our white world.



Stay warm and safe!

Hyla

Remember that almost everything in this eNews is a hyperlink so you can click on images and find out more.

LOTS OF HELP WITH TAXES

American Exchange Project

The American Exchange Project gives graduating high school seniors a two-week adventure like no other: a free trip to a community in the United States very different from their own, and the chance to welcome students from across the nation to our hometown for the same epic experience.

An American Exchange Project Travel Week is for walking the Brooklyn Bridge, riding on horseback in Dodge City, Kansas, or learning to trap lobsters in Maine. It’s for exploring what a graduating senior can do after high school by visiting Silicon Valley in California or a production studio in Nashville. Meanwhile, during our Hometown Week, July 2-9, 2025, students will celebrate our national birthday, the 4th of July and realize why "It's About the Climate." Our AEP seniors are designing an itinerary that introduces them to how great it is growing up in rural Oregon. And both weeks—home and away—are all-expenses-paid.

We need host families! Look over the AEP FAQs and sign up at AEP Host Family! If you have any questions, please email Lois MacMillan at lmacmillan@americanexchangeproject.org

Rogue River Ranch seeking Artist-In-Residence Applications

The Bureau of Land Management is seeking applicants for an Artist-in-Residence program at the Rogue River Ranch. Selected artists receive a one to two-week residency at the historic ranch between June and August. Artists will create while immersed in a beautiful environment and share their works with the public. All artists are encouraged to apply, and there is no preference given to any particular style or medium.

“This is the first year of the Artist-in-Residence Program at the Rogue River Ranch,” said Mike Vanderberg, Grants Pass Field Manager. “Artists have a unique viewpoint on these special areas, and they provide a fascinating window into our relationship with public lands.”

The Rogue River Ranch National Historic Site is in breathtaking setting deep in the Rogue Wild and Scenic River Corridor. The remote outpost is a 2-hour drive or 22 river miles from Grave Creek Boat Ramp. The artist will reside in the historic house.

During their stay, artists share their vision in one public presentation. Following their residency, artists donate at least one digital copy of their completed artwork to the BLM. The BLM holds a publishing copyright to donated digital artwork for promotional use to advance the residency program. The artist retains a non-exclusive use copyright.

One artist and one alternate will be selected based on the following criteria: entry materials, residency proposal, professionalism, and creative vision.

Interested artists can learn more information and an application at the Artist-in-Residence website, by e-mailing Tony Saunders at asaunders@blm.gov, or by calling 541-471-6642. Detailed instructions are on the application form. Applications must be submitted by June 9, 2023. Application materials and sample artwork should be submitted in a single email with attachments or links to Tony Saunders at asaunders@blm.gov.

Those wishing to learn more about the Rogue River can do so on the Rogue River website: https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/oregon-washington/rogue-wsr/history

LINK TO APPLICATION

Art About Agriculture 2025 Open Call for Art

The Art About Agriculture Competition and Touring Exhibition 2025 Open Call for Art is a juried opportunity with no submission fees, offering purchase awards and touring exposure. It is open to all Pacific Northwest artists and fine craftspersons exploring agriculture in their creative practice. All food, fiber, and natural resources topics are welcome! This year’s incredible tour will visit Giustina Gallery at OSU, Pendleton Center for the Arts and Alexander Gallery at Clackamas Community College.

Submission Deadline: March 2, 2025 at 11:59pm

*   Open to artists living in AK, BC, HI, ID, MT, OR, and WA.

*   Student awards and scholarships opportunity! Students at OSU, Pendleton Center for the Arts and Clackamas Community College are encouraged to apply.

*   All fine art and craft mediums considered.

Contact Art About Agriculture:

https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/art/2025-open-call-art

    owenpremore@oregonstate.edu

    541-737-5534

Storytellers include: Musicians are:

Georgia Churchill Wright & Wylde

Nolen Guerrero Kevin Widdison

​Kurt Kildebrand

​​Shirley Jaarsma

Logan McLean Strike

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Doors open at 6:30pm

at Bethany Presbyterian Church

741 NW 4th Street Grants Pass, OR 97526

Suggested donation is $5.00 

229 SW G Street Upstairs Elevator Access www.gpmuseum.com

Open Tues - Sat from 10am - 5pm and on First Friday until 8pm Free

JACKSONVILLE_________________________________________________________________

February Guest Artist: The Secret Society of the Lost Fig Leaf

February brings a special show to the gallery… The Secret Society of the Missing Fig Leaf will be unveiling their members’ works during this month’s showing. This group of talented artists explore the beauty of the human form through a variety of artistic media. Inspired by live models, the artists interpret the body during quick sketch sessions, following in the tradition of the great European Renaissance masters.

Note that these are paintings and drawings of nude figures. 

The exhibit runs from January 29th through February 25th.

Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday, February 1st, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM and meet many of the Fig Leaf members and their works.

MEDFORD__________________________________________________________________________

TALENT___________________________________________________________________________

This year the museum is offering six concerts and for the first time ever, a season pass. If you purchase five of the concerts, you get the sixth one free. Tickets are $25 each. Doors open at 6:30 and the concerts are from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Concerts are always on a Thursday evening. The musicians hail from all over the US. Click below to learn more and purchase tickets.

Grants Pass.........

Devour The Snow

by Abe Polsky

Directed by Robert Pyle

On Stage Jan.31st-Feb.16th 2025

A riveting courtroom drama drawn from the harrowing saga of the ill-fated Donner Party, some of whose members perished while snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountains.The action takes place at Sutter’s Fort, in northern California, in 1847. Lewis Keseberg, a German emigrant and survivor of the tragic Donner Party expedition, has brought a suit for slander against several other survivors, who have accused him of being a grave robber and murderer. As the trial testimony proceeds the awful facts of the expedition’s demise are revealed…

Medford........

Talent........

Ashland........

I enjoy optical illusions. Here are some really interesting ones.