Coast calendar: Studio tours, exhibits closing, steampunk ahead

May 15, 2019

Lori Tobias

Coast, Culture, Family, Film, Visual Art

It’s not happening on the Coast, but you could say it is of the Coast. That’s the opening of an exhibit of poetry and photography by Oregon State University faculty member Joseph Ohmann Krause in The Little Gallery on the OSU campus in Corvallis. Inspired by Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi (1854-1916), Drawing in the Northern Light combines eight poems with photos, most of them taken on the Oregon Coast.

Oregon State University professor Joseph Ohmann Krause combines his photographs of the Oregon Coast with his poetry in “Drawing in the Northern Light” in The Little Gallery on the OSU campus. — *Oregon State University professor Joseph Ohmann Krause combines photographs of the Oregon Coast with poetry in “Drawing in the Northern Light,” a show on the OSU campus.*

The idea came to Krause, a French professor, after he happened upon a catalog of Hammershøi’s, said Helen Wilhelm, curator of The Little Gallery.

“In Hammershøi’s work, a lot of the paintings have to do with an empty room, or you can see beyond into a farther room,” Wilhelm said. “You get the feeling that, yes there are people who live in these rooms, but they just left. There is a sense of mystery, calm. Even a bit of isolation.

“In Dr. Krause’s photos, there is never a person in them,” she continued. “There may be an empty beach scene, but you get the sense that someone was there earlier. The word ‘absence’ is the major word that comes to mind. The opposite of chaos.”

The opening is 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 4, in 210 Kidder Hall. Someone will be on hand to read the poems, and Wilhelm is hoping to find musicians to play compositions by Danish composer Dieterich Buxtehude, who has also inspired Krause. “It’s going to be really elegant and lovely,” Wilhelm said.

The show is on view from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays (closed during lunch) May 28 through Sept. 30.

Cynthia Longhat-Adams of Depoe Bay is a multi-media artist whose work frequently focuses on nature and animals, such as “Appaloosa.” She is participating in this weekend’s Art on the Edge Studio Tour. — *Cynthia Longhat-Adams’ work, such as “Appaloosa,” frequently focuses on nature and animals. She is participating in the Art on the Edge Studio Tour.*

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ART that is actually on the Oregon Coast, check out this weekend’s self-guided Art on the Edge Studio Tour, presented by the Lincoln City Cultural Center, May 17-19. A $10 handcrafted button available through the cultural center gets visitors into 21 studios from Neskowin to Depoe Bay. For more details, check out my interview last week with the center’s Krista Eddy.

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THIS IS THE LAST WEEK to catch three artists at the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita. Paul Hughes’ world-traveling photography, reflecting an “abiding love of the North Oregon Coast,” is on display, along with Beth Yazhari’s multi-layered art of paint, textiles, bead, and photographs, and the ceramic birds, bowls, vases, and bird feeders of popular Manzanita potter Kathleen Larson. The work is on display through Sunday, May 19.

ALSO AT THE HOFFMAN CENTER, Friday is movie night, with the monthly Film Series presenting Amélie Ravalec’s 2019 documentary Art & Mind. Art experts and scientists offer their thoughts on the connection between art and madness, exploring the work of artists including Hieronymus Bosch, Francisco Goya, Vincent Van Gogh, William Blake, Edvard Munch, and Salvador Dali. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. May 17 and tickets are $10 at the door.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF EXHIBIT comes May 25 to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. Steampunk: Powered by Imagination is “modeled after a subgenre of science fiction, art, technology, and fashion inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery: steampunk,” according to the aquarium’s website.

This is the first time the exhibit will be on display anywhere, and aquarium spokeswoman Sally Compton promises it is very much a work of art, with handcrafted, hand-painted, and antique pieces featured. “It’s like a museum exhibit in a marine environment, with lots of intricate sculptures with lighting features.”

I’ll be on hand for the ribbon-cutting and will write more afterward – I think it’s going to be a good one.

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This story is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust, investing in Oregon’s arts, humanities and heritage, and the Lincoln County Cultural Coalition.

Lori Tobias

Lori Tobias is a journalist of many years, and was a staff writer for The Oregonian for more than a decade, and a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. Her memoir “Storm Beat – A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast” was published in 2020 by Oregon State University press. She is also the author of the novel Wander, winner of the 2017 Nancy Pearl Book Award for literary fiction and a finalist for the 2017 International Book Awards for new fiction. She lives on the Oregon Coast with her husband Chan and rescue pup Gus.