With the sun shining more often than not these days, it’s primo mural-painting time. The Whiteaker Community Art Team has a mural going up at 4th and Blair. Half a block north, CALC (Community Alliance of Lane County) is celebrating its 50th anniversary by creating a new mural with the theme of “50 years of struggle for social justice.” Prolific local muralist Bayne Gardner will work with youth to paint that mural in CALC’s front yard, to be debuted during the Whiteaker Art Walk Aug. 26.
Community Mural Painting Party: South Eugene is getting in on the action with plans to paint a mural on the pavement at the intersection of 26th and Olive during a block party 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, June 4. Erik Steiner, lead organizer for the project, writes: “Area neighbors received a neighborhood matching grant from the city of Eugene to design and paint a mural onto the street as a form of ‘place-making’ in the South Willamette area.” The event will have food, drink and live entertainment. All are welcome. Look for the Community Mural Painting Party! page on Facebook.
EW hears the Florence art scene is bumping. Harlen Springer, president of the nonprofit Florence Regional Arts Alliance (FRAA), writes that the coastal city has new galleries and a new public art committee. FRAA is partnering with Oregon Pacific Bank to commission an artwork for the bank’s interior south wall — the work can be any medium, including murals or sculpture, and must depict local scenery such as the Siuslaw Bridge, Siuslaw River or Old Town. Artist submissions are due 5 pm Monday, June 20. For more info, contact fraaoregon@gmail.com.
Eugene’s KaiRo Custom Studios for tattoos and fine art announced a call to artists for Sunshine Sessions, a fundraising concert hosted by KaiRo and Day 1 Collective for HIV Alliance June 25 at Alton Baker Park. KaiRo owner Rollen Poole writes that they are looking for artists to participate in “live art” during the concert — artists can work solo or in collaboration areas, which will provide materials for murals, large sketch boards and painting. Contact kairocustoms@gmail.com for details.
Get scrappy: MECCA (Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts) hosts its 8th Object Afterlife Challenge, where artists are challenged to “create thought-provoking, intentional works with scrap materials provided by MECCA.” Applications due June 18. Art goes on display for First Friday ArtWalk Sept. 2.
Longtime public artist Betsy Wolfston hosts First Friday ArtWalk 5:30 to 8 pm Friday, June 3. The walk begins at St. Vincent de Paul (the 100 E. 11th Avenue location) to see the artwork of upcycling guru Mitra Chester and glass artist Christopher Jenkins, and continues to Oregon Art Supply and then InEugene Real Estate, for the ethereal hand-colored black-and-white photographs of photographer and arts writer Bob Keefer. Next stop is the Shadowfox gallery for “Divine Coalescence: Sacred Art Fashion Show,” featuring the work of local designers, and the walk wraps up at The New Zone Gallery.
Don’t miss these other events during the ArtWalk: ArtsAlive, an event featuring “dance, live music, drawing, painting, poetry and photography” and the Artist Alley vendors, both in Kesey Square at Broadway and Willamette; the ArtCore Pop-Up Show at the Hult Center Studio featuring works by students in the four-year arts integration and research initiative ArtCore; Eugene Contemporary Art’s pop-up show for Imogen Banks featuring her delicate, captivating minimalist paintings at 945 Olive in Broadway Alley.
Arts hobnob: The Arts and Business Alliance hosts its annual BRAVA (Business Recognizing Arts Vision & Achievement) Breakfast 7:30 to 9 am Friday, June 3, at the Hult, with performances by Harmonic Laboratory and Eugene Springfield Youth Orchestras and an awards ceremony with Mayor Kitty Piercy.