Redmond art organization launches new way to have more art on display around community
'Lend Me Your Walls' program to display artists' work around Redmond; art show set for this weekend
(Updated: Adding video, comments from artists)
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- From paintings to quilts to glasswork, Central Oregon has many talented artists, in a variety of mediums. But many talented artists' work has remained unseen, unless they find a way to put it on display.
The Dry Canyon Arts Association is a Redmond organization made up of local artists, with a long-term mission to create a self-supporting Community Arts and Cultural Center for Redmond and surrounding areas.
The chair of the association, Mel Archer, says it's a big issue in the area.
"But if there isn't a place to display your work, you're not showing your work," Archer said Friday. "And so every artist's biggest challenge is to find a place on how to show their work."
In the meantime, board members have been working on a new program to showcase artwork around the community.
It's called Lend Me Your Walls, and the name explains what the program is all about -- using existing venues around Redmond to showcase local artists' work.
Four spots in Redmond are lending their walls to the program at present. They include the Redmond Senior Center, Grace and Hammer Pizza, the SCP Redmond Hotel and the High Desert Music Hall.
Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs, a local artist, teold NewsChannel 21 what the program means to her.
"We store our art in our studios or in our closets, or somewhere in our home, and it's sad that it doesn't get out for other people to enjoy it," Wheeler-Jacobs said. "So it's really special that we have this opportunity to bring it out to the community for others to see."
Artists say creating art provides an outlet for expression, but it's sharing their work with the public that's special.
Artist and board member Terri Dill-Simpson compares being an artist to that of a musician -- saying the work is meant to be shared.
"You have this art inside of you, you have visions you can put it on paper, or in music. But if nobody is there to look at it to appreciate it -- it just kind of falls flat," Dill-Simpson said.
"So to us, to be able to show our art, for people to comment on it -- whether they like it or not, that doesn't matter. Just to have the interaction and to have it out there is what's really important to us," Dill-Simpson added.
The Dry Canyon Arts Association has 72 local artists. They're hoping to one day have an art gallery of their own. But for now -- 'Lend Me Your Walls' is getting those painting, quilts, and glasswork out of studios and closets -- and into public view.
Speaking of public view, there's also an art show and sale hosted by the Dry Canyon Arts Association this Saturday and Sunday at the High Desert Music Hall from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is free to the public.
