Author: Alex V. Cipolle

State of the Arts

A Letter from the Arts Editor

Arts

Sometimes in our fair valley, it seems the only cultures deemed worthy of attention, or investment, are football and beer. Another gallery falls; another brewery rises. One more great local artist is lost to Portland — to opportunity — while Eugene funnels in more star players, more zealous fans and more Duck stuff. Artists take heed: Paint your palettes yellow and green and let your kilns cook only the most bulbous growlers. Continue reading →

Arts Hound

Visual Arts

October 2 is will be a doozy in Eugene’s art scene: Walk like a slug: The new SLUG queen, Queen Markalo Parkalo, hosts First Friday ArtWalk Oct. 2. First stop is 5:30 pm at The New Zone Gallery for its annual “Salon du Peuple” show. Then follow the slime to Eugene Weekly’s distribution-turned-art boxes — ArtsHound on Broadway — at Bijou Metro, The Wayward Lamb, Tokyo Tonkatsu and Noisette Pastry Kitchen (read more in “Street Views” this issue).  Continue reading →

Street Views

Eugene Weekly’s second annual art box series hits Broadway Oct. 2

Arts

At the beginning of summer, after scouring art shows, Instagram and online artists’ networks, Eugene Weekly found four local artists that truly inspired us and asked them to design original art for our ubiquitous little red boxes. The artists will reveal their art boxes at 6 pm Oct. 2 for Lane Arts Council’s First Friday ArtWalk downtown. A corresponding show of their work spanning the month of October will also be on view at Noisette Pastry Kitchen. Here, we introduce the second art box team.  Continue reading →

Rolling It out

Recreational users can buy pot at medical dispensaries starting Oct. 1, and other updates

Cannabis

Free joints, lines around the block, medical marijuana express lanes — the first day of October will surely be a day of celebration for many and, perhaps, a headache for others.  Oct. 1 marks another milestone for cannabis legalization in the state of Oregon: Medical marijuana dispensaries will be able to legally sell limited amounts of pot to recreational users — customers without an Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP) card — who are over the age of 21 with valid proof of age. Continue reading →

Nostalgia and Everything After

Counting Crows

Music
Counting Crows

Talking to Adam Duritz on the phone is like watching nostalgia incarnate walk through the door. The idiosyncratic voice of the Counting Crows frontman is still as raspy and boyish as ever, a key to his charm. That voice helped define a post-Nirvana ’90s.  If you are old enough to remember that now seemingly quaint decade, you probably remember Counting Crows and how they blew up the pre-emo alt-rock scene — “Mr. Jones” and “’Round Here” blaring from every radio station in an age when that counted for something.  Continue reading →

Still Crazy After 15 Years

Catching up with Jud Turner on the eve of his first open studio and sale in more than a decade

Visual Arts

Local found-object sculptor Jud Turner has been working nonstop for decades, but he hasn’t had an open studio showing his work for 15 years. While his work is collected internationally, many in Eugene have never seen his art face to face. This weekend, Sept. 11-13, he will be showing more than 100 works, many of which have never been shown in Eugene and some that were completed this past week. Why have you waited 15 years? Continue reading →

Swing Kid

Nick davis shares a lindy hop legacy in track town

Dance
Nick Davis and Nika Jin

No wonder local swing dancer Nick Davis has fallen hard for Lindy hop. It’s sexy, funny and fresh. It’s the most goddamn exhilarating movement I’ve seen. Watching a video of dancer Frankie Manning swing his partner with such centripetal force — linked solely by fingertips, momentum building like a merry-go-round — it’s easy to imagine that, were they to let go, each dancer would ricochet into outer space.  Continue reading →