The exhibition opens with a reception on Friday, January 11 from 6-8pm in the gallery located in Loso Hall.  The show will run through Friday, February 1. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm.

The biennial Faculty Exhibition features work from the six nationally and internationally recognized artists who make up EOU’s art department and offers a collective view of their recent creative endeavors. The integration of the each artist’s body of work into the communal space of the Nightingale Gallery allows viewers to explore visual relationships amongst the artists as well as consider the newest trends in the work of some of this area’s most dynamic and respected artists.

The six artists with works on exhibit are Professor of sculpture, Doug Kaigler; Associate Professor and Director of the Nightingale Gallery, Cory Peeke; Associate Professor of painting, Jessica Plattner; Assistant Professor of printmaking, Susan Murrell; Assistant Professor of photography, Michael Sell and Visiting Assistant Professor of ceramics Jess Riva Cooper.

Doug Kaigler will present some of his most recent sculptural works which both feature and explore the elemental materials of wood, stone and water. Cory Peeke and Jessica Plattner will each present some of their most recent collage works. Peeke’s works feature found vintage photography which through the process of collage combines with other elements to become something both fresh and familiar. Plattner’s collages depict her infant daughter in a variety of surreal settings and act as a meditation on the magical possibilities of childhood. Susan Murrell will exhibit a selection of prints made during her summer residency at the Crow Shadow Institute. The photographic portraits that Mike Sell has on view are part of his larger investigation into fictional and real selves and how the Internet enables users to fictionalize themselves in a public manner. And visiting artist Jess Riva Cooper, who is filling in for Peter Johnson while he is on sabbatical, will present a selection of her newest ceramic sculpture inspired by the literature of Yiddish folklore, science fiction, and magical realism.

“Just as we six artists have come together to create a vibrant Art program at Eastern Oregon University we have worked together to create a dynamic exhibition which explores the individual talents of each as well as the collaborative nature inherent in our close knit program,” said Cory Peeke, Nightingale Gallery Director.

For more on each individual artist and their work please visit the EOU Art program faculty webpage: http://www.eou.edu/art/faculty/.

In conjunction with the exhibit the artists will present a gallery talk about their work on Thursday, January 24 from 5-7 p.m. in Nightingale Gallery. The talk is free and open to the public.

The Nightingale Gallery is located in Loso Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR.  Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 11AM-4PM.  For more information please visit our website: http://www.eou.edu/art/nightingale-gallery/ or follow us on Facebook.

This year’s Featured Artist is Linda Peterson. Peterson grew up in Burns and has drawn and painted from a very young age. She attended Eastern Oregon University where she majored in Education with Art as a secondary degree and taught for many years before becoming an Artist-in-Education.

Peterson along with Jan Clark, Sue Orlaske and Denise Elizabeth Stone form the Batik Convergence group. The group is dedicated to exploring batik watercolor which is a method of painting with watercolors on handmade papers using beeswax to create a resist for the paint. Peterson, both individually and as a member of the group, has exhibited widely and won numerous awards for her painting including Best of Show at the 3rd annual Union County Arts and Culture Center exhibit.  Peterson has generously donated one of her signature batik watercolors to be this year’s main raffle piece.

“Linda is an extremely productive and generous artist who has participated in Season’s Faire since its inception,” said Cory Peeke, Vice Chair of the Arts Commission and Director of the Nightingale Gallery. Linda’s playful work “Curtain Time” is sure to be a hit with the auction attendees.

The other participating artists have each donated a piece of their work, which will be auctioned to the public, beginning at 7:30 pm.  The auction pieces may be previewed from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the Loso Hall lobby outside the Nightingale Gallery.

Hors d’oeuvres and exquisite desserts created by local culinary experts will be served throughout the evening.  There will be a no-host wine bar as well as coffee and punch available.

Funds raised from this event benefit the annual Arts for All festival, a children’s day of hands-on art experiences offered at no cost.  Children can experiment with painting, printmaking, pottery, music, weaving, theater and many other types of art.  Held the third weekend in April, Friday is reserved for children with special needs while Saturday is open to everyone.  It is estimated that as many as 500 children participate each year.

Tickets are $15 if purchased in advance or $20 at the door. Advance tickets may be purchased at Sunflower Books, Mitre’s Touch Art Gallery and the EOU Bookstore or by calling Minnie Tucker at 962-1352, Ext. 201.

Questions may be addressed to Minnie Tucker, 962-1352, Ext. 201, e-mail mtucker@cityoflagrande.org.

The exhibition opens Friday, October 5 with a reception for the artist from 6-8pm in the gallery located in Loso Hall.  The show will run through Friday, October 26. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm.

Stone features a collection of Don Gray’s works in both painting and drawing. His depictions of rocks and sky can be seen as metaphors of a larger reality, a reality beyond what we can observe.

“Indigenous peoples around the world think of the entire earth as a living organism.  Modern science increasingly corroborates that intuitive notion” explains Gray.  “It occurred to me that the only reason we think of a rock as inanimate is because its lifespan is unimaginably longer than our own. I sensed the life in these stones as metaphors of the living earth.”

Gray’s exhibit investigates the extraordinary in the ordinary. The multi-panel works make it necessary for viewer to experience the pieces incrementally and cumulatively, building an intrinsic sense of time into the work. The images are at once both vibrant and quiet, they straddle the line between representation and abstraction, and search for meaning in the most basic elements of our natural world.

Gray’s exhibition in the Nightingale coincides with the unveiling of his recently completed mural for EOU’s Inlow Hall. The mural presents portraits of 36 individuals who, as students, faculty or administrators, have had made their mark on EOU’s 83 year history. The official unveiling of the mural will take place on October 12 at 1PM in the Inlow Hall Welcome Center.

Don Gray grew up in rural Oregon and started drawing and painting at a young age. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Eastern Oregon University in 1970. Gray has painted large murals all over the U.S., illustrated books, taught workshops, won numerous awards and exhibited his work in many galleries and museums. In 2007 he began an online journal, www.dailyartwest.com, where he posts small daily paintings and commentary. His work is included in the permanent collections of the State of Oregon, The Hallie Ford Museum, The University of Washington Medical Center, the Frye Art Museum, the Grande Ronde Regional Medical Clinic, and numerous other collections both public and private.

The Nightingale Gallery is located in Loso Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR.  Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 11AM-4PM.  For more information please visit our website: http://www.eou.edu/art/nightingale-gallery/ or follow us on Facebook.

The artwork above is by Tagg Wood of Baker City High School, winner of a University Scholar Award at the 2011 exhibit. Tagg is currently a freshman Art major at EOU.

The “Eastern Oregon Regional High School Exhibition” showcases the range and diversity of talent present in the high schools of eastern Oregon.  Students in grades nine through twelve are able to submit up to two works.  High Schools with students scheduled to exhibit work include: La Grande, Baker City, Burns, Crane Union, Grant Union, Hermiston, Joseph, Ontario, Union and Vale.

The EOU Art Program faculty juries the exhibit and will award a number of honors. Included will be awards for several gifted area high school seniors. Each of these awards comes with an EOU Art Program scholarship.  Awards will also be presented in Best of Show for grades nine, ten, and eleven.  Honorable mentions will also be presented and once again the La Grande Arts Commission will sponsor a cash award for an outstanding work by a La Grande High student artist.

“Each of these young people bring their unique vision  to our annual exhibit, “said Cory Peeke, Nightingale Gallery Director. “The Nightingale Gallery is excited to be able to present the work of such a large selection student artists and I hope the public will come out and support the next generation of regional talent.”

The Nightingale Gallery is located in Loso Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR.  Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 11AM-4PM.  For more information please visit our website:http://www.eou.edu/art/nightingale/index.html or follow us on Facebook.

The exhibition opens Friday, February 10 with a reception for the artist from 6-8pm in the gallery located in Loso Hall.  The show will run through Friday, March 2. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm.

Roscoe Wilson’s installation work engages with the dilemma of consumerism and waste in contemporary society.  Consumerism is a natural attribute of the human condition.  As a society we buy and sell, save, collect, and ultimately discard practically everything that is in our temporary possession. Ours is a throwaway culture that values the quick and easy over the re-useable. Desirous of the next great invention we propagate planned obsolescence instead of sustainable products.

It is this paradoxical dilemma of consuming and wasting that provides the impetus for Wilson’s work. He sees it as his responsibility as an artist to engage with the topic of overconsumption and to encourage public dialogue on the issues surrounding it.

It’s Getting Hot Out Here, consists of several sculptural installations, an

d several drawings and prints that explore the concept of overconsumption especially as related to the fossil fuels coal and oil. The installation revolves around our society’s addictive use of these fuels and their significant affect on climate change. As the artist, himself states, “The abuse of these technologically outdated fuels, the structure of our current society and political system, and the unwillingness to change are all factors that can and will be devastating to our environment and our lives.”

It’s Getting Hot Out Here, investigates these ideas and challenges viewers to reflect on their own relationship to and place in contemporary society’s ongoing cycle of consumerism and waste.

Roscoe Wilson was born and raised in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. His environmental values were shaped in this mostly rural Mid-western setting. Growing up in this region enabled Wilson to experience nature and discover an awareness that only a forest, lake, and field can offer. He went on to receive a B.A. from Wabash College in Indiana, a M.A. in Painting/Printmaking from Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana, and a M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. While at UW he was able to study the history of environmentalism and drew inspiration for his artwork from former Wisconsin residents and environmental pioneers like John Muir and Aldo Leopold. Wilson now resides in Ohio and is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Miami University Hamilton.

In conjunction with the exhibition Roscoe Wilson will present a public lecture on his work Wednesday, February 8 at 6pm in Huber Auditorium of Badgely Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Nightingale Gallery is located in Loso Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR.  Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 11AM-4PM.  For more information please visit our website: http://www.eou.edu/art/nightingale/index.html or follow us on Facebook.

To request images of artwork for publication or to schedule an interview with the artists please contact Gallery Director Cory Peeke at cpeeke@eou.edu.

“Meaning to Glue” is curator Cory Peeke’s examination of 11 contemporary artists who use materials, images and forms which speak to collection, recollection and reinterpretation.

An opening reception is planned for Friday, Jan. 13 from 6-8 p.m. in the gallery located in Loso Hall at EOU.

“Meaning to Glue” presents a selection of works by respected Oregon collagists Ian Clark and Tsilli Pines, internationally recognized artists Andy DuCett, Fred Free, James Gallagher, John Hundt, David King, Hope Kroll and Michael Pfleghaar, as well as relative newcomers Robert McKeown and Joshua Stringer.

King, a collage artist from San Francisco, will give a slide presentation about his work on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. in Ackerman Hall, Room 210. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Collage is about recycling and reinterpretation. The exhibiting artists share an affinity for vintage material, images and elements and utilize those components formally and conceptually not only for their beauty, but to comment on and explore contemporary themes.  A common theme explored by the artists is the place of the handmade image in the digital era and the duality of the transient, disposable nature of culture versus the need to make meaning and solidify a cultural continuity.

“All of the works selected for this exhibit take the traditional, even old-fashioned, and reconfigure it to create something relevant to us today,” Peeke said. “Viewers will be treated to an engaging collection of works that, while made up of vintage materials, speak to a variety of contemporary concerns.”

Modern collage will mark its 100th anniversary in 2012. The art form is typically considered to have begun in 1912 when Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque began combining bits of found printed material into their cubist paintings. The term comes from the French word “coller,” meaning to glue, and it is this translation that gives the exhibit its name.

To commemorate and document the show the gallery has produced a full-color catalog to accompany the exhibit, a first for Nightingale. The catalog includes an essay by the curator and a selection of images, statements and brief biographies for each artist.

Catalogs will be available at the gallery for the duration of the exhibit which closes on Friday, Feb. 3. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information visit www.eou.edu/art/nightingale or connect with the gallery on Facebook.

Nightingale Gallery of Eastern Oregon University is excited to open our 2011-12 exhibition season with our triennial Alumni Exhibition.

The work of these alumni cover a wide range of media from drawing to painting to mixed media to sculpture. The exhibiting artists represent a span of forty years of Art Program graduates. Those showing include nationally recognized 1970 graduate Don Gray as well as up and coming 2009 grads Mariah Boyle and Devin Farrand. Other exhibiting artists include: Shannon Berg (2006), Elizabeth Garton (2011), Jaime Gustavson (2000), Dawn Lepper (2006), Austin McDonald (2005), Jessica Parries (2011), Jessie Street and Marguerite Torres (both 2009)

In addition to presenting a diverse selection of our alumni’s creative work the gallery is pleased to welcome back to campus several of the above mentioned artists. Devin Farrand a sculptor and recent MFA graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art and currently living and working in Los Angeles will present a public presentation on his current body of work Wednesday, September 28 at 6pm in Zabel Hall room 142.

Farrand will also take part in a panel discussion on graduate school experiences for art majors. Other panelists include Mariah Boyle, a current MFA candidate at Washington State University; Shannon Berg, a recent graduate of Montana State University’s graduate program in art; Jaime Gustavson, a 2007 graduate of Vermont College Union Institute’s low-residency MFA program; and Jessie Street, art educator and 2009 graduate of EOU’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program. Each of the 5 bring to the conversation a unique perspective and is representative of a variety of approaches to post-graduate education in the visual arts. The panel will be informative for both current EOU Art majors and others who are considering pursuing a graduate degree. The panel will take place at 6pm on Thursday, September 29 at 6pm in room 116 of Loso Hall. Both presentations are free and the public is encouraged to attend.

“We are pleased to have such talented artists out in the world representing the strengths of our program and this University,” said Cory Peeke, Nightingale Gallery Director. “We are even more pleased they have chosen to share their creative endeavors and insights with our current students and the regional arts community”

The Nightingale Gallery is located in Loso Hall on the campus of Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, OR. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 11AM-4PM. For more information please visit our website: http://www.eou.edu/art/nightingale/index.html or follow us on Facebook.

To request images of artwork for publication or to schedule an interview with one or more of the artists please contact Gallery Director Cory Peeke at cpeeke@eou.edu .

The Nightingale Gallery of Eastern Oregon University is pleased to present Mirrors of Experience, a solo exhibition of local artist and EOU alumna Mariah Boyle.

The exhibition opens Friday, April 2^nd with a reception from 6-8pm in the gallery located in Loso Hall.  The show will run through Friday, April 23rd. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm.

Mirrors of Experience will present a selection of Boyle’s recent large scale charcoal drawings. Boyle’s dynamic works, often feature self-portraits, and are derived from a sense of identity as linked to the loss of important women in her life.  The artist’s exploration of feelings of grief and healing, life and death; lead her to create staged, dreamlike visual narratives. Boyle’s images suggest a loss of immediate control and a sense of a time and place that has been fractured.  They often suggest the experience a dream or fleeting fragment of distant memory.

“Mariah Boyle’s direct approach to drawing combined with her sophisticated use of art historical and literary symbolism makes for a powerful exhibition of drawings,” said Cory Peeke, Nightingale Gallery Director.  “Her works while seemingly romantic representations also present viewers with scenarios both vaguely familiar and disquieting.  The Nightingale is excited to be able to present such a large grouping of these compelling images to the community.”

Mariah Boyle grew up in Vale, Oregon. She attended Eastern Oregon University graduating with her B.A. degree with a major in Art in 2009. She currently lives in La Grande where she is the EOU Art Program’s alumni artist in residence. Boyle was recently accepted into the graduate Art program at Washington State University. She will be moving to Pullman, WA this fall in order to pursue her M.F.A.

Boyle’s work has been exhibited numerous times within the region and also at the Galeria Jesus Gallardo, La Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico as part of the Autoretratos exhibition. Her images have also been recognized with numerous awards including recent inclusion in “Creative Quarterly” Issue #18, two Union County Cultural Enrichment Grants, one in 2009 and 2010, and honorable mentions at both the EOU All-Campus Juried Student Exhibit and the Pendleton Art Center Regional Exhibition both in 2009.

In conjunction with the exhibit Boyle will present a public gallery talk on Wednesday, April 14th at 6pm in the gallery.  The presentation is free and open to the public.

For further information about the exhibition call the gallery, 541-962-3667 or on the web at www.eou.edu/art/.  To request images of artwork for publication or to schedule an interview with the artist please contact Gallery Director Cory Peeke at cpeeke@eou.edu.