In a town known for its athletics and music — from track to the Oregon Bach Festival, football to the UO School of Music and Dance — it makes perfect sense for artists to use both pursuits as muse. The Gallery at the Watershed hosts the exhibit Transcendence: A Tribute to the Beauty of the Athlete, Music and Tying It Together — Abstraction in the Visual Arts through June 28. The show hits a home run, chockfull of variety featuring local painter Lillian Almeida’s large format Pollock-meets-portraiture canvases, Randy Morrow’s giclée prints (fine art digital prints from inkjet printers) of Michael Jordan and Joaquim Cruz, Sarah Sedwick’s impressionistic instrument paintings and Mike Leckie’s hydrostone pieces — a modern take on the friezes of ancient Greece. 

Small is the new big: The Oregon Supported Living Program’s Arts & Culture Program debuts the second annual So Small: A Miniature Art Show with an opening reception 6 to 8 pm Saturday, May 24, at The Lincoln Gallery (309 W. 4th Ave.). And they mean small — think artwork no bigger than a piece of broccoli or a thumbprint.

Eugene’s dapper funnyman Isaac Paris is hosting “Comedy at Countdown,” a night of standup featuring area comedians Gina Ginsberg, Lucy Glass, Mike McGowan, Itay Vagner, Alex Adney and Katy Rosslin 9 pm Friday, May 23, at the Whit’s Countdown Studio (543 Blair); $5 suggested donation. Paris writes that he will also be “playing cheesy organ intros like an old-time radio show.”