News

Curry Arts has been awarded a $1,000 grant by the Curry County Cultural Coalition (CCCC) to help fund music at the annual Gold Beach Brew & Art Festival. The 2018 festival will be held Saturday, September 8. Tammy DeLaney submitted the grant request on behalf of Curry Arts.

The CCCC recently awarded a number of other grants totaling $8,320 to 11 organizations whose projects most closely fit the goals and guidelines of the Oregon Cultural Trust (OCT) and the CCCC of increasing public participation in Oregon culture. The recipients for projects to be completed in 2019 are:

· Brookings Area Council for the Arts for its American Music Festival Concerts in the Park series at Azalea Park, Brookings. $750

· Curry Arts, Inc. for the Gold Beach Brew & Art Festival. $1,000

· Ellensburg Theater Company for the ETC Dance Theater Collaborative. $1,000

· Friends of Curry Library for the Children’s Book Illustration. $610

· Friends of Langlois the Library for An Evening with Jane Kirkpatrick. $585

· Pelican Bay Arts Association for the Festival of Art in Stout Park. $375

· Port Orford Arts Council for its Art in Abundance. $1,000

· Port Orford Library Foundation for the Rock Music Day Camp. $750

· Port Orford Library Foundation for the Spotlines free quarterly zine of poetry and graphic arts publication. $500

· South Coast Folk Society for the Curry County Contra Dances. $1,000

· Southern Oregon Public Television for the SOPTV Student Showcase. $ 750

This year’s grant awards will be distributed during a reception co-hosted by the Ellensburg Theater Company and the CCCC on Saturday, December 2nd, from 2 – 4 p.m., at the Ellensburg Theater Company located at 94164 Moore St. in Gold Beach. The event will also feature a silent auction and a tour of the recently renovated Rogue Playhouse, followed by a short theatrical presentation.

Oregon Cultural Trust funds are generated through direct donations, the sales of Cultural Heritage license plates, and individual state tax credits. One third of the money that the OCT grants each year is distributed among 45 county and tribal cultural coalitions, based on population. These autonomous coalitions set their own priorities and re- grant OCT funds within their jurisdictions.

Todd Lensing, Gold Beach schools’ art teacher, presented Curry Arts board members with a BIG Thank You from his art students for donations of Brew & Art Festival proceeds for art supplies.  The thank you was presented at the board meeting on October 24, 2017.

Donations from the annual Brew & Art Festival are used for purchasing art supplies, for special projects such as framing student’s work for art exhibits, and continuation of a ceramics program at the high school.  Mr. Lensing said that in addition to purchasing “awesome” art supplies, this year’s donation will purchase a laptop and printer for each school to be used exclusively by art students for designing and printing artwork ideas in the classroom.

The Curry Arts board took action at the meeting to donate $5,000 from this year’s Brew & Art Festival proceeds to the Gold Beach School arts and music departments, raising the amount donated to these important programs over the last 5 years to over $25,000.

Alexandra Eyer and Pat Renner are pleased to announce that they have had paintings accepted into the 2017 Holiday Art Show sponsored by the Northwest Watercolor Society.  This exhibition will be at the Schack Art Center in Everett, Washington and features work by signature members of the NWWS from November 16^th to December 31^st.

“Glam” is the title of Alexandra’s painting, mostly finished during our Figure Group’s Thursday studio.  Pat’s painting, “Summer Beach,” is a compilation of Myer’s Creek views featuring her three granddaughters.  At the end of each visit, her family traditionally ambles along that famous beach enjoying the glorious sea stacks.

Alexandra’s “Carnelian” (29X21″) was also chosen by juror Paul Jackson to appear in the Watercolor Society of Oregon’s 2017 Fall Exhibition at the Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. The show has been up from Oct. 7 and will end Oct. 26.

The 2017 Brew and Art Festival was a success thanks to the combined efforts of Curry Arts and Soroptimist International of Gold Beach.  The two community groups combined forces as more than 100 volunteers performed, served and displayed original art for beer and art lovers who packed the Event Center on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Curry Arts’ Brew & Art Festival proceeds go directly into the art classrooms of Gold Beach and a portion funds scholarships. The instructional donations are made to a “290 Fund” that is managed by the classroom teacher and used to purchase art supplies. The donations cannot be used to replace school funding that is diverted for other purposes.

More information on the available scholarships can be found here.

 

 

Alexandra Eyer’s painting, “The Artist,” won an Award of Distinction at the Spring 2017 Watercolor Society of Oregon show in Eugene, Oregon.

Her current focus on Alla Prima portraiture continues to evolve through her weekly figure painting group. She has exhibited in national and international exhibitions and is a member of the Hawaii Watercolor Society, a Signature Member of the Northwest Watercolor Society in addition to her active participation in the WSO. She is an active member of Curry Arts, as well.

Alexandra first studied Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts and holds Bachelor and Master of Art Education degrees from Prescott College. She studied portraiture with Daniel Greene at his studio in New York and watercolor with Don Andrews.

She has lived in Gold Beach for over thirty years with her husband, Frank Martinez, with whom she has three grown children and two grandchildren. She and Frank now spend part of the year in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Alexandra’s website is www.portraitsbyalexandra.com.