Pictured: Don’t Cry Over Spilled Paintbrushes, colored pencil and paint pen, by Amelia Borgerding, 16 years old, South Eugene High School, in the 2024 “Mayor’s Teen Art Show”

In This Newsletter

September brings two new exhibits and Fall Term registration!

Join us on Friday, September 6th, from 5 – 7 pm for the Awards Ceremony and Opening Reception of our 25th annual Mayor’s Teen Art Show, featuring 42 talented young artists from 19 different area schools.

Also opening on Friday, September 6th, is the Whiteaker Printmakers annual Emerald Print Exchange exhibit. The Art Center is thrilled to welcome this exciting show back this year featuring 170 prints from 8 countries and 29 U.S. states. Be sure to check out the Emerald Print Exchange’s online reverse auction fundraiser (see link in the Galleries section), with proceeds supporting both Whiteaker Printmakers and the Art Center.

Registration opens September 3rd for our Fall Term classes. There are many offerings from which to choose. In addition to our returning favorites, check out exciting new classes and workshops in illustrative acrylic painting, painting with fabric, sketch booking, textile printmaking, crocheting, and the return of our popular Community Art Share.

This Fall at the Art Center is a great time to engage with the arts and get creative!



All my best,

Michael Fisher

Executive Director

MARVELOUS MAUDE’S ART RESCUE: 

Saturday, October 5th, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and Sunday, October 6th, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.

This is a great opportunity to refresh your art collection at bargain prices. Maude Kerns Art Center is brimming with art treasures in all styles and media donated by local artists and patrons. Paintings, prints, posters, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, arty collectibles, and quirky curiosities are ready to be re-discovered. Bring a sharp eye. You may uncover a hidden gem! All Proceeds Benefit the Art Center.

Donations Accepted through September 30.

Please bring donations to the Art Center office during open hours: Weekdays, 10:00 am – 5:30 pm, and on Saturdays, from 12:00 – 4:00 pm (when exhibits are on display).

Pictured: 2023 Marvelous Maude’s Art Rescue Sale 

The Maude Kerns Art Center is pleased to announce an award of a FY2025 Operating Support Grant in the amount of $4,747 from the Oregon Arts Commission. This grant helps support overall operating costs. The Art Center is one of 181 state-wide organizations selected to receive grant support.

Opening September 6:

“Mayor’s Teen Art Show” & “Emerald Print Exchange”: The Art Center is proud to present two exhibits, the 25th annual Mayor’s Teen Art Show, featuring artwork by 42 talented teens from 19 local schools in the Main Gallery and the Whiteaker Printmakers 2024 Emerald Print Exchange, presenting 170 unique, hand-pulled prints by artists from eight countries and 29 states in the Center’s Salon Gallery. Both the “Mayor’s Teen Art Show” and the “Emerald Print Exchange” open on Friday, September 6 and are on view through September 27.

A Reception and Awards Ceremony take place on Friday, September 6, from 5 – 7 pm, when Mayor Lucy Vinis presents the Mayor’s Choice Award winner. Additional awards, including Best of Show, three Juror’s Choice Awards, and the Maude Kerns Art Center Award will also be announced. A Closing Reception Concert by Jake and the Hellcats takes place on Friday, September 27 from 5 – 7 pm. 

Pictured: Strutter by Jerry Harty in the 2024 Emerald Print Exchange

Upcoming: Día de los Muertos Exhibit

Mark your calendars for the annual Día de los Muertos Exhibit, October 11 – November 2, featuring 23 artists working in a wide array of media, including wood, watercolor, papier mâché, acrylic, femo, plaster, mirrors, embroidery, linocut, fused glass, bone, resin, vintage Mexican tiles, photographs, and much more. In addition, the exhibit showcases the work of Mexican printmakers, presented in collaboration with Alejandro IV Barragán at the Propulsion Network. The Day of the Dead Exhibit also includes altars honoring the dead, including a community ofrenda.

A Fiesta Reception takes place on Friday, October 11, from 5 – 8 pm, with entertainment provided by El Taller de Son Jarocho and Ballet Folklórico Colibrí.

Pictured: Calavera, reduction linocut by Paz Méndez

Online Members Gallery

Art Center members can show up to five pieces of their two- or three-dimensional work in the Online Members Gallery. Interested parties can shop for pieces and purchase them online. Submissions are ongoing. Email the Exhibits Coordinator Liberty Rossel at exhibits@mkartcenter.org for more information.

The Online Members Gallery features Leanne Ellis for the month of September. To see a video about Leanne Ellis and her work, visit: Leanne Video

Last Chance!

Closing September 28:

“The Blue Vesper: Maude Irvine Kerns”

To see archival paintings on paper by Kerns as well as correspondence and personal objects, be sure and visit Lane County History Museum’s “The Blue Vesper: Maude Irvine Kerns (1876 – 1965),” a companion exhibit to the Art Center’s “In the Realm of the Spirit: Work by Maude I. Kerns” (January 12 – February 9).

Pictured: Untitled painting on paper by Maude I. Kerns displayed in “The Blue Vesper”

Art for All Seasons Membership Show: November 15 – December 13

The Art Center invites all current members to participate in this open-call, non-juried show. Any current member may bring in up to two pieces of artwork. If submitting two pieces, measurements must not exceed 36” vertically and/or horizontally. All mediums are welcome except installations. Work must be suitably presented and ready to hang and/or install with the artist’s name and artwork title on the back of the piece. Please bring an artist statement if available. Contract and inventory forms are to be completed at the Art Center. There is a $5 fee per artwork.

Drop-Off Date: Monday, November 4

The Art Center is open for artwork drop off on November 4, from 10 am – 6 pm, except during lunch hour from 1:30 – 2:30 pm. Artists may join or renew their memberships on the drop-off date.

Farewell to Cece

Cece Anders, who has served as our Director of Arts Education since September of 2022, is pursuing other professional opportunities. During her tenure at the Art Center, Cece made a significant impact on the Center’s Education Program, including expanding and diversifying classes and workshops for all ages, organizing the classrooms and studios, and hiring many new and wonderful instructors. We are very grateful for Cece’s many contributions and wish her well in her new undertakings.

Welcome, Tony!

The Art Center is pleased to welcome Tony Hooks as our new Director of Arts Education. Tony is no stranger to the Center, having served as our Summer Arts Education Intern. In this position, he helped coordinate eight weeks of youth art camps, supporting instructors, engaging with young campers, and assisting them with projects.

Tony has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the U of O, with an emphasis in sculpture. He comes to the Art Center from Eugene School District 4J's Fox Hollow Intervention Program, where he served as a Building Behavior Support Assistant. Tony, who is certified in the Mandt System, a behavioral crisis interaction training program, taught students K-8 the tools they need to maintain emotional regulation.

Tony says that it is “an incredible honor“ to be chosen as the Director of Arts Education. His immediate goal is to connect with the local community of teaching and exhibiting artists as well as students of all ages with the long-term plan of increasing the Education Program’s accessibility and inclusion.

September 3: Fall Term Registration

Registration is open at 12 noon on September 3 for classes that begin in October. Look for an exciting array of classes and workshops in a wide variety of media and for students of all ages. Below is a sampling of the many classes that are offered in the Fall. 

Adults

Beginning Oil Painting

Monday, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

October 7 – December 9*

*No class Nov. 11 & 25

Explore the fundamentals of oil painting. You will be introduced to the tools and techniques of this medium, such as paint mixing, value study, and color theory. Aided by instructor demonstrations, you will learn how to paint landscapes, create atmospheric abstract art, and work from still-life displays. The last two weeks will be dedicated to harnessing the techniques and tips you have learned as you work to complete your own oil painting. Beginners fear not! Oil painting is forgiving. No experience is necessary.

Youth

Draw It, Print It!

Wednesday, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

October 9 – December 4*

*No class Nov. 27

This class will introduce you to the fun of making art with ink and paper! With your instructor, you will learn to make impressions onto a soft surface, and then roll with ink and place paper over the top! Each time you pull up the paper, you will discover the magic of transforming your drawing into a colorful print! Come and explore rainbow rolls, relief printmaking, and gelli prints! All materials are provided.

Middle School

Explore Acrylic Painting

Monday, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

October 7 – December 2*

*No class Nov. 25

Join us for a term of acrylic painting! In this class we will paint subjects such as stylized city scenes, illustrative landscapes, and a painting of your own design. For the early projects, we’ll work from an example the instructor provides, and learn the process step by step. As you get familiar with color mixing, brush technique, and composition, you can work more independently on your own project ideas. Acrylic paint can produce vibrant results and adapts to virtually any subject or style.

Call for Gallery Guides

This year’s Día de los Muertos Exhibit takes place October 11 – November 2. In conjunction with this special exhibit, the Art Center offers tours by gallery guide volunteers, who lead elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as other community groups, through the gallery and talk about the artwork, the community altars, and the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday. 

We offer gallery guides a training so that they can learn more about the exhibiting artists and the community altars. The training is scheduled for Thursday, October 10, from 5:45 – 7:45 pm. The Art Center offers both Spanish-led and English-led gallery tours.

If you are interested in serving as a gallery guide, please fill out our volunteer form.

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! 

Registration Coming Soon: Get Creative! Register for this year's Visual Arts Week workshops, which start Saturday, September 28 and run through Sunday, October 6. Choose from a wide variety of workshops in various mediums and for different skill levels. Visual Arts Week is co-presented by the City of Eugene Cultural Services, Lane Arts Council, and Maude Kerns Art Center. It's a great way to try something new!

Visit mkartcenter.org/vaw for full workshop descriptions and to register.

Copper Cut Workshop - 2 days

(September 7th & 8th)

Learn how to hand saw a custom-shaped copper plate and create an aquatint etching from it! Each participant will leave with their very own jewelers saw, an etched copper plate, several etchings made from their plate, and the knowledge to repeat the process in their personal practice! No previous etching experience required!

Link: Copper Cut

Aluminum Plate Litho Workshop - 2 days

(September 28th & 29th)

Lithography is a traditional printing method based on the mutual repulsion of oil and water. Originally based on flat, smooth limestone slabs, similar methods may be used with aluminum plates. In this workshop you will create an image on your plate using traditional litho drawing materials made from grease or oil-based substances. A variety of drawing materials will be available for experimentation. No previous experience needed!

Link: Aluminum Plate

September Featured Potter: Frank Gosar

Frank Gosar has been a Club Mud member since 1998. Originally from Wisconsin, his first memories of clay involved forming marbles from the red clay subsoil of the family farm. Attempts to fire them in the wood stove were not notably successful.

He came to Eugene in 1985 to earn his MFA in Ceramics, after which he was a Resident Potter at the UO Craft Center for ten years, teaching classes and firing kilns. He also threw production for another studio, making nine dozen hummingbird feeders a week. In 1993, he opened Off Center Ceramics, selling wheel-thrown, hand-painted stoneware featuring bird and animal patterns. You can find his work in Eugene at the Saturday Market, Holiday Market, Clay Fest, Tsunami Books, Great Harvest Bakery, and at the Maude Kerns Art Center's annual Club Mud Ceramics Holiday Sale, November 15 – December 13. His website is www.offcenter.biz.

Looking for an online space to discuss film photography with other local enthusiasts? Eugene Darkroom Group recently created a Discord server to act as a spot for analog photography enthusiasts of the Eugene area to convene, connect, share ideas, and ask questions, all with the goal of fostering a greater sense of community. We also utilize the server to share timely board announcements.

The group is completely free and optional to join. You can download Discord as an app on any iOS or Android device or access the server via desktop on the web. Type in this link to get to our server: https://discord.gg/cnbU7XfvkP.

We have partnered with Market of Choice to provide you an easy way to support the Art Center! It will only take a moment of your time to register and will help every time that you shop to support our programs and facility.

Here’s how:

Register your credit card. Each time that you use your card at any Market of Choice, Maude Kerns Art Center will receive 4% of your purchase price! Simply sign up at: eScrip Market of Choice 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!

Thank you to the many volunteers, Board members, Staff, Art Center friends, and patrons who generously donate their time, talents, and treasure for the benefit of Maude Kerns Art Center.

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.