Pictured: Reunion, fiber art by Jo-Ann Morgan in “Lady Corona”

March is a great time to visit the Art Center and explore!

Be sure to stop by and see our two new exhibits, “Emergence: From Concept to Stitch,” featuring work from the Studio Art Quilt Associates of Oregon, and “Lady Corona,” a solo exhibit of fiber art by Jo-Ann Morgan of Surfside Beach, South Carolina. Both exhibits are on display through Friday, March 24th. Join us for an Artist Talk for “Emergence” on Saturday, March 11th, from 2 – 3 pm.

Also, if you are looking for some great Mother’s Day gift ideas, check out our Members Galleries (in-person and online) and Gift Shop. With cards, ceramics, jewelry, prints, and more, there is something for everyone.

We have exciting Spring Break offerings, including an “Art Adventures Camp” for youth and a young adult “Color Principles Lab,” as well as new classes and workshops planned for our upcoming Spring term. Check out these great opportunities to support the curious and creative kids in your life. The Art Center offers need-based scholarships for all ages.

Join us for the annual Jello Art Show and Art Center Fundraiser on Saturday, March 25th, from 5 – 8 pm. This year’s inspiring theme is “There’s No Bizness Like Jell-O Bizness.” The always entertaining Radar Angels will be “bringing the silly back” with another fun performance. Help us celebrate the beginning of spring! Bring out those jello molds, find something silly to wear, and take your jiggly wiggly art creations to the Center before the show.

Thank you for supporting the Art Center. Happy Jello!

All my best,

On View through March 24:

“Emergence” and “Lady Corona”

Don’t miss the two exciting exhibits currently on view at the Art Center:

Emergence: From Concept to Stitch: This juried show features the work of 17 individual Oregon artist members of the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA). “Emergence: From Concept to Stitch” presents an exciting range of styles and variety of materials, including raw-edge fusible appliqué, contour quilting, hand-dyed fabrics, silk and polyester organza, tulle, embroidery, paint, Inktense pencils, sateen, katazome on silk, beads, and specialty yarns. 

An Artist Talk by selected artists exhibiting in “Emergence: From Concept to Stitch” takes place on Saturday, March 11, from 2 – 3 pm.

Pictured: Hope Springs, fiber art by Amanda Miller in “Emergence: From Concept to Stitch”

Lady Corona: Surfside Beach, South Carolina artist Jo-Ann Morgan exhibits a series of striking quilted and appliquéd wall hangings that deal with issues of social justice. At the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, Morgan embarked on her “Lady Corona” series. The principal female figure in the series – “Lady Corona” – is often represented with a crown, gloves, and a mask. She is conceived as a comforting presence offering respite and hope to the victims of injustice. Morgan’s work includes memorials to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and to the Asian spa victims in Atlanta, Georgia. 

March 25th Jello Art Show

In a Race to Fabulosity, Everybody Wins, 2022, jello artwork by Galaxia Cosmos

Jello Abstract by David Gibbs,

2022 Jello Art Show 

“There’s No Bizness Like Jell-O Bizness”

Join us for the 2023 Jello Art Show, “There’s No Bizness Like Jell-O Bizness,” on Saturday, March 25, from 5 – 8 pm. Our zany food show features artworks made of jello, a benediction by current Slug Queen Sativa Slugworth, and a performance by Eugene’s incomparable Radar Angels at 7 pm. The suggested donation for the Jello Art Show, which is a fundraiser for the Art Center, is $3 per person and $5 for families.

Jell-O Bizness is funny bizness for sure! The bizness of jello doesn't fit the mold. It spills out into all the rivers of commerce and clogs up the tubes of production and, in general, is too slippery to nail down. But if it's jello bizness, we need to know about it! Bring your jello bizness reports to the gallery on March 25 for all to see. 

Call to Jello Artists: Jello artists are invited to bring their jello artworks to the Art Center for display between 3:00 and 4:30 pm on Saturday, March 25 before the show. There is a $3 display fee for each jello artwork submitted. In this non-juried show, everyone’s creations are welcome.

Upcoming

John Bauguess Retrospective,

April 7 – 28: A retrospective exhibit organized in collaboration with the John Bauguess Estate features the work of one of Oregon’s most important and talented photographers.

Bauguess found a lifelong calling in chronicling Oregon life, from images of old-time fiddlers to documenting the destruction of the Oregon landscape by irresponsible developers. His work is a testament to a career defined by a singular vision and driven by personal integrity.

Pictured: Old-Time Fiddlers by John Bauguess

Members Art Gallery & Gift Shop

Work by Art Center members and Club Mud ceramicists is exhibited in the Members Art Gallery on a quarterly basis. The work of 17 member artists is on display in the Members Gallery through March 24.

Pictured: Zinnias by Rogene Mañas

Oregon Imagined: The Maude Kerns Art Center is extending a call to artists to submit artwork for the upcoming “Oregon Imagined” show to be displayed at The Gallery at the Airport in Eugene from April 13 – July 11, 2023. The submission deadline for this show is Monday, March 6, 2023.

This call is open to any current member of the Maude Kerns Art Center. There is no cost to enter. Artists may submit one piece of art for consideration by the juror, artist Ann Bumb Hamilton.

The prospectus and application are available at: Oregon Imagined Form.

Not Just: A World Collage Day Exhibition:

Maude Kerns Art Center with Curators Beth I. Robinson and Michael James is hosting an open call for local, regional, and national artists working in collage to celebrate World Collage Day. The exhibition is scheduled for May 12 – June 9, 2023. Initiated by Kolaj Magazine in 2018, World Collage Day (May 13th) is an annual international celebration of collage. The submission deadline for this exhibit is Friday, March 24.

Entries in 2D and 3D collage in all media will be considered, including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, digital, mixed media, sculpture, as well as any other forms of assemblage and material.

This call is open to any artist working in collage. Artists may submit up to three pieces for consideration. To apply, click here: Collage Form.

Mayor’s Teen Art Show:

Teen artists ages 13 – 19 years living in the greater Eugene area are invited to submit original 2 – and 3- dimensional artwork for the 24th Annual Mayor’s Teen Art Show, September 8 – 29. Awards offered include cash prizes, art supplies, and more. The Title Sponsor is the Susi Larsen & Cameron Serbu Memorial Scholarship Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.

Turn in a completed application form with up to five good quality digital images. Submissions may be made on paper with a thumb drive and mailed to the Art Center, by email to [email protected], or by digital submission from our website.

The submission deadline is Tuesday, May 30. For the prospectus and application form, visit: mkartcenter.org.

Día de los Muertos Exhibit:

The Art Center is accepting submissions for our 30th annual Día de los Muertos Exhibit, October 13 – November 3. Work must be original and must focus on the Mexican Day of the Dead, which blends the ancient harvest rituals of the Aztec god of death and the Roman Catholic holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days. All artists, working in all mediums, are eligible.

Application may be either online or with a paper application. For online entry, go to Día de los Muertos Form. For mail or in-person entry, include a flash drive with jpeg images, a completed application, a resumé, an artist’s statement, and a $15 submission fee.

Entries are due or must be postmarked by Monday, August 7. For more information, call 541-345-1571 or email [email protected].

If your youth, or young adult is looking for a creative outlet over the week of Spring Break, March 27 – 31, our Art Adventures Camp for ages 6 – 11 and the Color Principles Lab for young adults ages 11 – 16 offer great opportunities for artistic exploration. Register today!

Youth Art Camp: Art Adventures!

Ages 6 – 11

Eleanor Randl & Lainey Everly

March 27 – 31

8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Step into unknown worlds with us in camp this week! We will explore the mysteries of earth, air, and sea. Be ready to paint, draw, and build your way through these fantastic spaces and places filled with new creatures that only you can imagine. Learn about symbols and cave paintings, use texture and color to create fantastical features on your new creatures, and discover artists who also imagined the world of flight. Build your own flying boats and ships to outer space or paint a freshly discovered undersea garden with new life forms. Come along for the art adventure!

Young Adult Lab: Color Principles

Ages 11 – 16

Diana Patin

March 27 – 31

9am – 12pm

This weeklong lab will move beyond exploring primary and secondary colors, and delve into split primaries, CMY mixing versus RGB, and even a bit of the psychology behind colors. Students will build on their color-blending skills throughout the week using a variety of materials, including soft pastels, colored pencil, ink, dye, watercolor, and more. Experimenting with color and different materials, students will learn to paint, collage, and blend with Copic markers. Come explore color!

Spring Class Schedule Coming Soon!

Look for the Spring Class Schedule on our website the first week of March. Returning are some of your favorite classes, including “Printmaking Fundamentals” and “Botanical Illustration.” There are also brand-new classes for youth, young adults, and families.

Adults can look forward to “Wildlife Art with Scratchboard” as well as the second in a series of experimental materials classes, “Working with Painting Materials.” For youth there is a new ”Nature and Art” class taught by Kate Thornhill, who will share about the natural world and demonstrate how to create with natural materials. In celebration of International Collage Day, families will learn the art of collage and have fun making their own collages with Sara S. Spahn.

For more information or to register, visit: mkartcenter.org.

Digital Drawing with Hand Lettering

Krista Raasch

Saturday & Sunday, March 11 & 12

12:00 – 3:30 pm

Come with a phrase or message and create a digital art poster! You will learn all about Procreate's mark-making and typography tools. Students will use an iPad, an Apple Pencil drawing stylus, and the app Procreate to explore hand lettering. By the end, you will have a final art print to take home! The Art Center will provide the iPad and related materials for this workshop.

Thank You to Our Volunteers!

 As Winter term comes to an end, we want to thank our Volunteer Classroom Assistants for their valuable help in our youth classes:

Allie McMahon, Discover Drawing and Painting

Jessica Oravetz, Clayin’ and Playin’

Toni Rakestraw, Storytelling with Art

Hannah Taylor, Storytelling with Art

A very special thanks to all of you for donating your time in the classroom. You helped make the classroom experience a very positive one for our young artists.

Pictured: Volunteer Jessica Oravetz in the Clayin' and Playin' class

Summer Camp Preview

This summer the Art Center offers 8 weeks of full-day art camps for youth, ages 6 – 11, beginning the week of June 26, and 6 weeks of half-day art labs for young adults, ages

11 – 16, starting the week of July 10. Campers will explore painting and drawing, collage, movie making, and much more. Young adult labs include comics and illustration, design, and a sustainable art lab. See the April newsletter for the complete schedule of camps and art labs.

Scholarships

The Art Center currently offers scholarships for 50% of the cost of tuition for classes and camps. Scholarships are available for all age groups through the Susi Larsen & Cameron Serbu Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Madeleine Christenson Scholarship Fund. You can apply today on our website! 

In the event of bad weather, the Art Center will close if Lane Community College is closed. Classes for that day will be cancelled and a make-up session will be held at a later date. If Lane Community College is delayed, all Art Center classes before 12:00 pm will be cancelled. Call 541-345-1571 after 12:00 pm on the day in question to check for afternoon and evening classes.

Maude Kerns Art Center has made the difficult decision, based on a number of factors, including costs, capacity, risks, and more, not to move forward this year with our annual Art and the Vineyard festival in its current format.

Instead, we are looking to “reboot” the event, taking inspiration from its inception and early years. We are excited about the opportunity to take a fresh look at the event to better serve our mission and artists. We hope to create a renewed “Art and the Vineyard” that will endure for another 36 years.

Mark Your Calendars!

Club Mud Ceramics Cooperative is having its annual Spring Studio Sale on Sunday, March 5, from

10 am – 4 pm inside the Club Mud studio at the Art Center. Look for clearance, one-of-a-kind, discontinued, and “slightly seconds” pottery. Don’t miss your chance for some great bargains!

Eugene Darkroom Group is accepting new members! If you're experienced in analog photography, joining our nonprofit community darkroom gives you access to a fully equipped darkroom space where you can continue to hone your skills in both film development and silver gelatin printing. Members also get other benefits, such as access to our equipment library, show and publication opportunities, and first access to community events. Visit www.eugdarkroom.org for more information. 

If you're interested in darkroom processes but have no experience, we also offer classes from beginner to advanced. All are welcome. Information on our offerings can be found on our website.

Our partnership with Market of Choice provides you with an easy way to support the Art Center’s programs! Here’s how to give to the Art Center every time that you shop at the Market of Choice:

Register your Visa or Mastercard. Each time you use your card at any Market of Choice, Maude Kerns Art Center will receive 4% of your purchase price! Simply text the word “choice” to 52236 and you will be prompted on how to enroll.

Thanks for all that you do to support the Maude Kerns Art Center. It makes a difference!

We are very grateful to our Volunteers, Board members, Staff, and Art Center donors and patrons for their ongoing dedication and support. 

MISSION STATEMENT

To nurture artistic expression and creativity in the individual and

to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of art and culture

in our community.