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offcntrOh, you're from Eugene, too? Boy, there's a bunch of you here.
Heard that a lot last weekend in Salem. So, as far as I could tell, did all the other Eugenians there. Apparently, we stand out in a crowd? Been thinking about why there's so many Eugene artists.
Civic pride? I'm not sure if it still is, but at one point, Eugene's motto was A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors, which never made much sense to me. Did they mean one at a time? Both at once? Since the city cancelled its outdoor arts/music festival, I don't put much credence on this one.
Educational opportunities? This one's a little stronger; both the University of Oregon and Lane Community College have strong, diverse art programs. Add in classes at the UO Craft Center, Maude Kerns, Clay Space, and you've got lots of opportunities to learn your art or craft. Throw in a less-than-stellar economy--what the heck do you do with an MFA in Ceramics--and there's not much else to do except pitch a tent and set out your work.
Even that wouldn't be enough to explain us all. There's one more piece to this puzzle:
Saturday Market. For over forty years, aspiring artists and craftspeople have been able to come downtown every Saturday, sign up for a space, and for a small fee and small percentage of sales, learn the nuts and bolts of running an art/craft business. You can find out what sells and what doesn't, compare your pricing to the prevailing market, learn how to meet, talk to and even sell to customers. Not to mention how to keep track of sales, expenses, inventory and everything else you need to run your business. Saturday Market was a small business incubator long before the term got trendy. The one thing it can't do is support everyone. There just aren't enough potential customers in Eugene to make a living for most of us.
Which is why you'll find us out on the road. Some of us left the Market entirely, some do one or two outside shows a year, some more. At six, Denise and I are about in the middle, I guess. But it's always nice to see familiar faces, wherever we go.
Here's a few we saw last weekend; this is just the pottery contingent…
Dave Parry, Whistlestop Pottery, and Shelly Fredenberg, at her first outdoor fair;
Sandy Brown, who's starting to travel to art fairs, and Robin Russell Sanchez who's scaling back from the road trips to spend more time at home at Saturday Market.
And then there's this guy. What can I say? I see him everywhere.
Heard that a lot last weekend in Salem. So, as far as I could tell, did all the other Eugenians there. Apparently, we stand out in a crowd? Been thinking about why there's so many Eugene artists.
Civic pride? I'm not sure if it still is, but at one point, Eugene's motto was A Great City for the Arts and Outdoors, which never made much sense to me. Did they mean one at a time? Both at once? Since the city cancelled its outdoor arts/music festival, I don't put much credence on this one.
Educational opportunities? This one's a little stronger; both the University of Oregon and Lane Community College have strong, diverse art programs. Add in classes at the UO Craft Center, Maude Kerns, Clay Space, and you've got lots of opportunities to learn your art or craft. Throw in a less-than-stellar economy--what the heck do you do with an MFA in Ceramics--and there's not much else to do except pitch a tent and set out your work.
Even that wouldn't be enough to explain us all. There's one more piece to this puzzle:
Saturday Market. For over forty years, aspiring artists and craftspeople have been able to come downtown every Saturday, sign up for a space, and for a small fee and small percentage of sales, learn the nuts and bolts of running an art/craft business. You can find out what sells and what doesn't, compare your pricing to the prevailing market, learn how to meet, talk to and even sell to customers. Not to mention how to keep track of sales, expenses, inventory and everything else you need to run your business. Saturday Market was a small business incubator long before the term got trendy. The one thing it can't do is support everyone. There just aren't enough potential customers in Eugene to make a living for most of us.
Which is why you'll find us out on the road. Some of us left the Market entirely, some do one or two outside shows a year, some more. At six, Denise and I are about in the middle, I guess. But it's always nice to see familiar faces, wherever we go.
Here's a few we saw last weekend; this is just the pottery contingent…
Dave Parry, Whistlestop Pottery, and Shelly Fredenberg, at her first outdoor fair;
Sandy Brown, who's starting to travel to art fairs, and Robin Russell Sanchez who's scaling back from the road trips to spend more time at home at Saturday Market.
And then there's this guy. What can I say? I see him everywhere.