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Admission to our exhibits is always FREE of charge, thanks to the Kinsman Foundation. |
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(tele) 541-278-9201 email us |
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2009 Open Regional May 8 - June 5, 2009 In the East Oregonian Gallery Vote now for the People’s Choice Award!
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More than 130 works of art appear in this most recent Open Regional exhibit, an annual event designed to recognize the creativity of artists from around Eastern Oregon and southeast Washington. The exhibit is hosted by the Arts Council of Pendleton and has been an important part of regional artistic life for the last thirty years.
This year, the Center was thrilled to invite art historian Prudence Roberts (formerly of the Portland Art Museum and now professor at Portland Community College) to judge the exhibit’s entries. Roberts highlighted 19 works with awards in various categories. Katherine Treffinger of Cove, Oregon received the Best of Show award for her abstract oil painting, Sonata. For Roberts, perusing the diverse exhibit was an exciting chance to “just get to look at art.”
One prize, the People’s Choice Award, remains to be awarded at the exhibit’s close. The late Jacqueline Brown, a great friend of the arts in Pendleton, sponsored this prize; now, visitors to the exhibit may choose its honoree by voting at the Center through June 4th. |
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Best of Show: Katherine Treffinger Best Watercolor: Cass Spangrude Best Oil or Acrylic: Michelle Acuff Best Work on Paper: Mare Blocker Best Mixed Media: Bonnie Day Best Sculpture: Rolphe White
First Place: Molly von Borstel Second Place: Billy Emanuel Third Place: Rebecca Emmons
Honorable Mentions were awarded to Kenneth May, Hiroko Cannon and Mariah Boyle.
Special thanks to Banner Bank of Pendleton, whose support made these awards possible. |
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An ongoing Pendleton Center for the Arts program entitled “Everyone’s River, Everyone’s Art” also sponsored awards in a special category for artwork inspired by or depicting the Umatilla River.
Special “Everyone’s River, Everyone’s Art” winners:
Bob Ewen (First Place)
Linda Gray-McKean Shari Dallas Heidi van Kirk Daniel Terry McKinley-Paige Rennison Morgan Matteson
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ABOUT OUR MAIN GALLERY
The East Oregonian Gallery at the Pendleton Center for the Arts is a beautiful space for viewing a wide range of artwork. Funded by the East Oregonian, publisher of the local daily paper since 1875, the gallery is flanked by large windows original to the building, bamboo floor and more than 1800 square feet of display area. Sculpture, paintings, photographs, artist’s books and fiber arts are just a few of the mediums that have been showcased. We invite established artists from outside the area to exhibit as well as local emerging artists. Want your work considered? Get more information here.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Saturday Noon - 4:00 pm
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Upcoming Exhibits |
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June 12 – July 10
July 17 – August 14
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Baskets and other works by Joey Lavadour, Joe Fedderson, Pat Courtney Gold, Mary Schlick and Patrice Walters Ann Greenwood Artist Blankets from the Pendleton Woolen Mills Marie Watt Oregon College of Art and Craft Advanced Student/Faculty/Alumni fibers exhibit Holiday Crafts Exhibit |
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This website is owned and maintained by the Arts Council of Pendleton and the Pendleton Center for the Arts © 2005 The Arts Council of Pendleton is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization established in 1974 This site is generously sponsored by Eastern Oregon Telecom |
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You can view more highlights of our past exhibits and read about the artists here. |
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Michelle Acuff: A Topology of Thinking Jan. 24 - Feb. 20, 2009
In this innovative and unexpected exhibit, Acuff addressed the canonical architecture of the East Oregonian gallery through the assembly of forms and images from a diverse array of sources, including historic sculpture, the field of cognitive science, MRI imaging, and YouTube. The installation explored models of thinking and literacy, the cultural shift from text-based knowledge to digital knowledge, our corporal navigation of space, and its relation to materiality.
Michelle Acuff holds a B.A. from Augustana College and a M.A. and M.F.A. in Sculpture and Intermedia from The University of Iowa. Her work has been exhibited in contemporary galleries and museums across the country and she currently serves as Assistant Professor of Art at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.
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This exhibit was made possible through the generous support of Cayuse Technologies, owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. |



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Meredith Re’ Grimsley: Honey and Pearls
Feb. 27 - March 27, 2009 in the East Oregonian Gallery
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Artist’s Statement
“There is a basin in the mind where words float around a thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.” Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Recognizing my own sense of loss and gratitude, I discovered a spiritual need to create art work that reflects the balance, and simultaneous existence, of joy and pain in my life. My work manifests as a passion for book, paper and fiber arts. Multiple segments, actions, or elements represent pages and books. Garment contours symbolize the body as flesh and vessel. By blanketing the surfaces of pieces with personal journal writings, Bible verses, images or patterns which reflect and affect my choices, behavior, and faith, a sense of identity and spirituality emerge. With my work evolving into symbols serving faith and sacrifice, I strive to understand and expose the need for, purpose of and cycle of repetition in human traditions, speech and relationships. I expose the warmth of spirituality and the loneliness that drives me to seek God. While acknowledging instances of misused religious fervor and manipulation of scripture, I strive to present, and represent, an open heart, forgiveness and humility. All of my work investigates the use, evolution, deterioration, and interpretation of the written, spoken and body language. An individual’s history dictates each individual’s comprehension of his/her environment. Words are tied to each of us inevitably marking our perception and ability to communicate. Even though the mind and body may be alienated, the soul yearns for contact, fuels the imagination and searches for truth. I whisper about my own search, with obscured text, pattern and imagery, to my audience. Exploring underlying currents which impact personal perception, my work examines conversation and body language through mixed media/fiber art, installation, wearable art and performance. Multiples reveal my attempt to slow time looking at each gesture, frame by frame, as though recorded on a film strip. I investigated my own use and understanding of language and challenged myself to judge my own actions with deliberate scrutiny. Recently, I have begun to examine personal faith and communication while omitting, or de-emphasizing, the text which, until this point in time, has coated the surfaces of my pieces. I confront my fears, loss of innocence and intolerances allowing me to reach for a deeper psychological connection with the viewer through both revolting and comforting imagery. Juxtaposing beauty and restriction, my most recent work confronts my parallel questioning and celebration of my spiritual practices. Each object made and hand embroidered stitch reflects moments of meditation over spiritual betterment, spiritual growth and a longing for grace. The “bindings” represent strength of will, integrity, growth, and a connection to my Southern roots. Verbalizing the intent of an artwork gives the viewer an anchor from the artist’s imagination to which to cling. As a visual artist, I understand the nuances, and the importance, of my audience’s personal response to my artwork regardless of my intentions. I hope, as Zora Neale Hurston describes above, that the imagery will connect to the “depth of thought untouched by words and deeper still” for each person who views my work. |
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Past exhibits... |
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Julia Henning - Negotiations April 3 - May 1, 2009 In the East Oregonian Gallery
This exhibit takes as its subject various parts of women’s lives, with musings both perplexing and challenging. It is concerned with differences between the interior and the exterior, of not only appearances, but experience. Using the vocabulary of construction in fabric, wood, and various found materials, the artist focuses on containment, trauma, transformation, and desire, and the fine lines that separate structures that liberate and boundaries that enclose.
The pieces are sculptural objects of clothing, containers of agricultural origin, and structures of indistinct or redirected function and purpose. The processes of sewing, weaving, and building used in these pieces are demonstrations of tactics that enable women to survive and adapt. References are made to rituals of reconciliation, including obsessive repetitions, religious devotion, and re-making.
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This exhibit was made possible through the support of Grable & Hantke, LLP |
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Images provided by the artist |