Wood you like to go?
Be sure to carve some time out for the new exhibit at Lincoln City’s Chessman Gallery, opening this Friday, Feb. 21.
“Into the Wood” is presented by The Carvers’ Collective, formed in 2023 as a result of a coming together of students from Monica Setziol-Phillips’ carving workshops at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.
An opening reception from 5 to 7 pm will include light refreshments and the chance to chat with the artists.
In addition to individual works, the show will feature a collaborative piece. Each member was given a 12x12” piece of poplar from the same board to carve, then those nine works came together to form a square. The exhibit will include a snapshot of each member along each of their artistic paths.
“There is something so inviting in wood,” Setziol-Phillips said. “People inevitably want to reach out and touch it, perhaps in some way to become involved with it. To have a group of carvers come together in the love of wood and carving is a step in the journey forward, hopefully inspiring others to find their own wood muse and nourish their creative spirits.”
In addition to the Carvers’ Collective exhibit, Setziol-Phillips will show her cut paper illustrations of “Folk Tales from Around the World.”
Setziol-Phillips is an advocate of folk tales and believes they have much to teach us in open and indirect ways. She belongs to Tea & Tales, an informal group of women who gather quarterly to discuss folk tales from around the world and share pots of tea.
The Carvers’ Collective includes Setziol-Phillips and eight of her students. Across years of shared workshops at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, skills were honed, tools sharpened, band-aids applied and friendships forged. These members are dedicated to making time for the craft and to supporting each other along their journeys of expression in wood.
“Into the Wood” will be on display through March 30 in the Chessman Gallery, located inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101. The center is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Sunday.
For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.