Take a second look at First Weekend
The well-preserved main street, industrial influence from the paper mill and the frequent passing of trains makes Toledo the kind of town you might hear described in a Johnny Cash song.
It also has a vibrant arts community, that the town celebrates with the First Weekend art walk. Recently revived after a short hiatus, this monthly event showcases local talent and provides an opportunity for visitors to meet with artisans in their shops and studios.
First Weekend will return this Saturday and Sunday, Dec 5 and 6, at locations including the Yaquina River Museum of Art, which is showcasing the Gibbons Retrospective Exhibition. This collection of 20 paintings by renowned oil painter Michael Gibbons, who died earlier this year, will be on display in the Museum’s Schoolhouse Exhibit through Sunday, Jan. 31.
Gibbons was known for his impressionistic en plein air, or painting outdoors, style that captured the essence of the location, and often described his paintings as an artist’s benediction to nature.
The museum will further commemorate Gibbons’ works during the inaugural Founders’ Day Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 19, from noon to 4 pm, including a talk by James Nelson at 2 pm.
The Yaquina River Museum of Art is located at 151 NE Alder Street, and will be open from noon to 4 pm on both event days. For more information, go to www.yaquinarivermuseumofart.org.
Across the street at the Michael Gibbons Signature Gallery, there will be a special spotlight for “A Path of Roses,” created in the summer of 2014 in Portland’s South Park Blocks during the Portland Art Museum sponsored “Paint Park Blocks” event.
Gibbons is well known for his paintings of unique gardens from around the state of Oregon, such as Schreiner’s Iris Gardens, the Portland Rose Garden and the 80-acre Oregon Garden.
The Michael Gibbons Signature Gallery is located at 140 NE Alder Street, and will be open from noon to 4 pm on both event days. For more information, go to www.michaelgibbons.net.
Just up the way, artist Ivan Kelly will be featuring his painting “Horned Puffins.” These colorful little seabirds are found on the northwest coast of North America and as far north as eastern Siberia. They are expert divers and live on whatever kind of small fish are plentiful. Kelly, an oil painter of 40 years, has been a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists since 2000 and his paintings have been juried into many national shows.
Ivan Kelly Studio & Gallery is located at 207 East Graham Street, and will be open 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday and noon to 5 pm on Sunday. For more information, go to www.ivankelly.com.
On Main Street, Crow’s Nest Gallery & Studio, now in a new location, will showcase the work of nine artists, including the storybook, found-object assemblage art of founder Janet Runger.
The others assembled for the weekend show include: fused glass artist Alice Haga; tile and ceramic artist Val Bolen; ceramic and mixed media artist Paula Teplitz, whose works on display will include her sculptural jellyfish mobiles; Jeff Gibford, a photographer who digitally manipulates his images; Tish Epperson, a watercolor artist who will be featuring her painting titled “In a Jimmy Buffet Mood;” oil painter Yelizaveta Bhaktina; wildlife photographer Sylvia Hosie, featuring the powerful photograph of a pensive buffalo titled “Tatanka;” and fiber artist Susan Jones, who will be showing her woven jellyfish.
Crow’s Nest Gallery & Studio, now located at 305 N. Main Street in Toledo, will be open from 10 am to 5 pm on both days of First Weekend.