Hoof it to Toledo
“Surf Runners” by Ivan Kelly
In a small town with a rich art community, each new month brings new chances to see art created in or inspired by the area when Toledo celebrates First Weekend. The open studio event invites art lovers and gallery goers to enjoy a weekend filled with art at all participating locations on Saturday and Sunday, July 3 and 4, along with the Art, Oysters, and Brews event happening on Saturday only.
July’s First Weekend feature is the new exhibition “Private Collection (Gibbons Trust)” now showing at the Yaquina River Museum of Art. The Private Collection exhibition is a show of select works from the art collection of the Michael and Judith Gibbons Trust. One painting that will be on display is “Still Life,” by Bill Kucha. Kucha is among the best known and most admired artists on the Oregon Coast. A lifelong artist and educator, he received a BFA from Boston University in 1967 and an MFA from City University of New York in 1969. “Still Life” is a superb example of a brief period in the artist’s career that ventured away from the watercolors he was known for into oils.
The Yaquina River Museum of Art is located at 151 NE Alder Street, and will be open from noon to 4 pm.
Across the street, Michael Gibbons’ Signature Gallery will be featuring select works from the late artist’s collection, completed on location in Ireland and England. The featured painting, “Famine Cottages” was a work Gibbons completed in Dingle, Ireland. The painting features the stone ruins of cottages along a windswept coastline. Famine cottages were built in the 19th Century and are named for the families who lived in them during the Great Irish Famine. Dingle was one of the hardest-hit locations.
Michael Gibbons’ Signature Gallery is located at 140 NE Alder Street and will be open from noon to 4 pm.
Just one street over, Ivan Kelly’s Studio & Gallery will be displaying “Surf Runners,” a piece depicting wild horses on a morning gallop through the incoming surf, along with other coastal works. Kelly is an award-winning artist known for coastal landscapes and paintings of big game. Ivan Kelly Studio & Gallery is located at 207 E Graham Street and will be open from 11 am to 4 pm on Sunday and from noon to 4 pm on Sunday.
On Main Street, Crow’s Nest Gallery & Studio will be displaying the works of 15 artists. Janet Runger, the founder of Crow’s Nest, will be featuring her storybook found object assemblage art. Alice Haga will be showing her fused glass works, Val Bolen, a tile and ceramic artist, will be displaying her pieces, Paula Teplitz, primarily a ceramic and a mixed-media artist, will be displaying her work such as her sculptural jellyfish mobiles, Jeff Gibford will show his digitally manipulated photography and Tish Epperson will be displaying her vivid watercolor works.
Crow’s Nest Gallery & Studio is located at 305 N. Main Street and will be open from 10 am to 5 pm.
Shell we dance?
The Arts Revitalization of Toledo committee took a chance by scheduling a new event not once, not twice, but three times over the summer. And, based on the success of the first event, it was a gamble that paid off.
The next installation of the First Weekend Art, Oysters and Brews series takes place this Saturday, July 3, featuring brewery tastings, local oysters, local musicians and art for sale.
“It’s been said that the arts are ‘second responders’ and facilitators of our healing from the pandemic — that the arts help mend our hearts and souls or help us begin to make sense of the world around us,” said Catherin Rickbone, retired executive director of the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts and ART Toledo committee member. “That was evident recently at the first ‘Art, Oysters and Brews’ event on Toledo's Main Street. The participating artists in the Arts Toledo project set the tone at art booths and contributed to the artwork in the phantom galleries. People strolled Main Street viewing artwork, enjoying food, music, and yes, even dancing! A welcome relief from the last 14 months.”
"It was wonderful to see so many people come out to enjoy the live music, food, drink and artist booths and visit the art galleries at our First Weekend Art Walk at the initial Art, Oysters and Brew event," said Janet Runger, owner of the Crow's Nest Gallery and Studio. "Those who visited our gallery were able to see the fantastic, creative artwork of the 15 artists represented there. It's a place where old, forgotten objects find a new life as art."
The event series, continuing the first weekend in August, is a great opportunity to visit Main Street’s Phantom Galleries and meet the artists displaying their work.
“The Phantom Galleries have activated vacant storefronts on Main Street,” said Paul Schuytema, executive director of the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County. “Round two will bring even more artists and their work into Toledo, as well as showcase some great locations, ripe for business development.”
Phantom Galleries are small, temporary art galleries created in vacant storefronts that allow visitors to enjoy the works of local and regional artists in a COVID-safe environment.
Each gallery has information about the artist, their displayed work and how it can be purchased, as well as the commercial space and its amenities. QR codes will allow visitors to scan and visit the artist’s page on or learn more about the potential of the commercial spaces.
ART Toledo is currently accepting applications from local artists for the second installment of the Phantom Galleries through July 7.
Art, Oysters and Brews will happen from noon to 5 pm at the corner of North Graham and South Main. For more information, including the application to show your work in a Phantom Gallery, go to ARTToledo.com.