» Eye on the Arts by Victoria Tierney

Friday, July 03, 2009 | No comments posted. There are two exciting arts events happening this weekend in Bandon.

First, Kirk and Elizabeth Day, who own the Harbortown Events Center in Old Town Bandon, are presenting the first “Grand Salon” Art Show at their facility — a one-week-only showcase of some of the area’s finest artists, which will open Friday, July 3, with a big event from 7-11 p.m., and then remain on display through Sunday, July 12.

Kirk and Elizabeth, well known patrons of the arts and former gallery owners (they had a gallery featuring glass arts and other works by local artists and artisans south of Bandon) are particularly excited about showcasing works by some of the South Coast’s younger artists, such as John Castaldi, who just graduated from Bandon High School this year and has been granted a major scholarship at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Daemian Hawthorne, formerly of Port Orford, whose large oils have already been snapped up by many major collectors.

The show, which is being billed as “The BIG Show” will also include sculptures by Ruthanne McSurdy-Wong, whose work was recently shown at the Coos Art Museum; Catie Shindler, whose basket-art is scheduled to be featured at the Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center this fall; Paul Fisher, whose whimsical giant tin sculptures have graced many a Bandon parade; and Phil Clausen of Riverton, who was featured last year on Art Beat, on PBS-TV.

Among the painters whose works will be on display are Susan D’Amico of Bandon, Elaine Roemen of Port Orford, Janne LaValle of Lakeside, Alexandra Eyer of Gold Beach and Terry Rutledge of Bandon.

Works by curators of the exhibit, Kirk Day, Susan Lehman and myself, also will be on display. In addition to the weeklong show, Friday’s festivities will include music by Jim Sylvester and Friends and an event by the University of Bandon Faculty of Vision, entitled “Beyond Burning Man — The Creation of Balloon Woman.” The University of Bandon, which flourished between about l980 and l990, was a university founded “entirely upon rumor” that celebrated life in Bandon at its Bohemian best. All those who attend the event on Friday and help create “Balloon Woman” will be issued a University of Bandon student/faculty card.

There is no charge for this event, which will help to kick off a great Fourth of July weekend which includes events on Saturday in City Park, the opening of the new art show at Southern Coos Hospital and a new show opening at the SAGE Gallery.

New show at hospital

An opening reception for the new art show at Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center, with live music and refreshments, will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the hospital.

The show features three artists whose work has one thing is common — they are all bold experimenters.

Pat Snyder taught art and computer science at Marshfield High in Coos Bay from l967 until l998, and since then he has been an absolutely fearless and dedicated explorer of all kinds of media: graphite (amazingly beautiful detailed drawings of trees and buildings), collage, oils and acrylics (his paintings have won awards several times in the Expressions West show at CAM and are on display at SOCC), and monotypes and prints. Every time I see his work I am bowled over by both his boldness and his artistic sensitivity. I’m sure you’ll appreciate his work. Candace Kreitlow is both a musician and a weaver who moved to our area just a few years ago and hit the ground running. Within weeks of her arrival she was playing the harp for a Bandon Playhouse production of “The Fantastiks.” Since then, she has been exhibiting her eye-dazzling weavings at Second Street Gallery in Bandon, Triangle Square Gallery in Port Orford and Earthworks Gallery in Newport, as well as at galleries in her former home of Wisconsin and in Hawaii. She also finds time to record CDs and to help her husband Pete Bauer with his wood sculptures. Candace has played the harp for our hospital openings in the past, but for this one she has gotten her pals Julie Hawthorne and Will Hubell to come with Julie’s stand-up bass and Will’s keyboard. I’m sure they will be delightful.

Vicki Affatati is someone who came to my attention when I saw the kids art show a few years ago at the Coos Art Museum. Her students (at the Lighthouse Charter School in Hauser) had made the most wonderful Egyptian display. Then I met her again when she was painting fabulous sets with Ruthanne McSurdy-Wong for the Sprague Theater, and later I saw her painting windows around town with Margaret Anderson. Vicki has lived in Chicago (where her first contact with the art world was as a live model), Virginia, and Alaska, and in addition to home schooling her two daughters, has found time to work in pastels, tempera, acrylics and on silk. Her work has the same beauty and high energy that she has. This is the first major show of her work here in Bandon.

— Victoria Tierney is a local artist involved with theater and the arts in Bandon.