Buying art can be intimidating, especially for beginners. Those high prices! Those inscrutable artist statements! But during the holiday season, studio sales abound, opening up a wide range of very buyable and very approachable local art, from paintings and sculpture to ceramics and textiles.
Here’s a list of a few places you might want to check out while checking off your gift list this year.
Whiteaker Printmakers’ fifth annual holiday show and sale runs 2 to 6 pm Friday, Dec. 6, 10 am to 6 pm Saturday, Dec. 7, and noon to 4 pm Sunday, Dec. 8, at its facility at 1328 W. Second Avenue. The nonprofit membership organization’s studio sale features printmaking, painting, jewelry, holiday cards and other work from not only WhitPrint members but from artists from around the community.
•Speaking of prints, the Emerald Print Exchange is running at Emerald Art Center, 500 Main Street, Springfield, through Friday, Nov. 29. The exchange offers 165 original prints — all priced at $30 — from artists around the world, with participants from 33 U.S. states and 12 countries. Now in its second year, the event is a fundraiser for Whiteaker Printmakers and Print Arts Northwest. Gallery hours are 11 am to 4 pm.
Maude Kerns Art Center’s Art for All Seasons membership exhibit and the Club Mud Ceramics Holiday Show & Sale runs through Dec. 20 at the art center, 1920 E. 15th Avenue. Works by community artists are for sale at reasonable prices. Hours are 10 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday and noon to 4 pm Saturday.
Just down the road apiece, the ninth annual Elkton Art and Wine Weekend will be held Friday through Sunday, Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The tour of local artists’ studios begins at the Elkton Community Education Center, 15850 Highway 38, just west of downtown Elkton.
Participants include printmaker Marsha Mello, goldsmith and silversmith Cliff Scharf, painter Nancy Scharf, weaver Trudy Wilkinson and Jayme Allen of Firebug Pottery. More artists will join group shows at the Elkton Community Education Center and at Elkton Lodge Hall. Farm Pickins Mercantile features vintage and repurposed furniture, decorations, metal art from local artists Greg Petersburg and Steven Buschko.
Eugene Textile Center, 2750 Roosevelt Boulevard, holds its Fiber Arts Celebration & Holiday Sale 10 am to 5 pm Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 24. You can buy fiber artwork, naturally, but also see artist demonstrations and enjoy refreshments. A raffle benefits Cafe 60/Meals on Wheels and Egan Warming Center.
A holiday Bazaar & Crafts Sale is 9 am to 5 pm Saturday. Dec. 7, and 9 am to 2 pm Sunday, Dec. 8, at St. Paul Church Hall, 1201 Satre St.
Saturday Market’s Holiday Market is at the Lane Events Center, 13th and Jefferson, 10 am to 6 pm weekends and Christmas Eve. You can find functional pottery, handmade jewelry, original and unique artwork, glasswork, toys, clothing, woodworking and more (see our story this issue). Womenspace will be wrapping gifts and accepting donations, and the event collects donations for Food for Lane County. Parking and admission are free.
• The Museum Store at the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art offers everything from teapots — and tea — to jewelry and art books. (Sorry, no original Picassos for sale.) Best time to shop there will be Museum Store Sunday, which runs 11 am to 4:30 pm Sunday, Dec. 1.
While there, you might also drop in on the museum itself, which currently has shows of illustrations by gonzo artist Ralph Steadman, and drawings and paintings by Tom Cramer, among other exhibits.
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