The Shortcut - Events in Oregon

The Maude Kerns Art Center is proud to present our exciting season opener, “Escape to the Forest,” featuring work by Yoncalla artist Susan Applegate, Eugene artists Joanna Carrabbio and Marco Elliott, and Gearhart, Oregon artist Greg Navratil. The exhibit opens on Friday, January 9, with a free public reception from 5 – 7 pm. “Escape to the Forest” is on view through Friday, February 6.

The four exhibiting artists, whose work is immersed in the natural world, create distinctly personal visions of the rivers and forests of the Pacific Northwest. Their various interpretations reveal a view of nature that is, in the words of Greg Navratil, both “grounded and magical.”

Yoncalla artist Susan Applegate is well known as a painter, muralist, and illustrator. In 2019, Applegate was one of 45 artists exhibiting in the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art “Visual Magic” show honoring artists who began their creative careers in Oregon during the 1960s and 1070s. For “Escape to the Forest,” she displays her paintings of the woods on her property and in the process expresses her personal feelings about the interior of the forest. A path leads through the the woods to a spring head that has provided water for her family over generations. Her simplified shapes and forms suggest a certain monumentality while the image of a well and the path to the spring head symbolize renewal and regeneration. Applegate says that “it is the forest of my interior landscape that I am painting.”

Eugene artists, husband and wife Marco Elliott and Joanna Carrabbio, have in common what they describe as a “humble and profound admiration for the enchanting wildness in Nature.” Carrabbio, who with Elliott spent many years in Los Angeles before relocating to Eugene, is a painter, graphic artist, and accomplished muralist. She displays a series of paintings titled “Leaves,” representing in oil and watercolor the shapes, colors, and textures of leaves. Carrabbio works through a process of layering and scraping away pigment until a satisfactory image emerges. She says: “Although the focus at times has been on detailed representational structures of flora and fauna, this body of work draws from emotions and dream-like memories loosely improvised with color, texture, and design.”

Marco Elliott works in a wide variety of media, including painting, printmaking, assemblage, and mural painting. In 2021, he was selected to exhibit work in the “Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program Exhibition” at the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. For “Escape to the Forest,” Elliott incorporates the female figure within a forest landscape in a series titled “Natural Woman.” Elliott emphasizes the fusion between the physical body and the sylvan environment. Explaining why he uses the image of a female body in these works, Elliott says that he wants to present “a guilt-free Eve set in a pristine forest landscape, not alienated from [it], but a pulsating organism, natural and innocently immersed in the profusion of diverse life forms of the primeval rain forest.”

Gearhart, Oregon artist Greg Navratil has shown his work in solo and group exhibits throughout the United States. In 2025, he had solo shows at both Bayside Art Gallery in Port Hadlock, WA as well as at the Grants Pass Museum of Art in Grants Pass, OR. In his acrylic paintings, Navratil focuses on the abstract and chaotic qualities of nature. He celebrates the natural splendor of the Pacific Northwest by using an unconventional method of applying paint with squeeze bottles to create a sense of spontaneity. Navratil considers his paintings “an invitation to pause and appreciate the complexity hidden in seemingly simple movements - - water dancing over stone, leaves caught in sunlight -- and to find delight in the unexpected details that make nature feel both grounded and magical.”

The public is invited to a free Artist Talk in conjunction with “Escape to the Forest” on Saturday, January 31, from 1 – 2 pm.

Preschool Storytime at the Newport Public Library, 35 NW Nye St., on Wednesdays all school year long!

Enjoy engaging stories followed by a fun, themed craft designed for little hands and big imaginations.

This program is perfect for preschoolers and their caregivers, offering a weekly opportunity to explore creativity, practice early literacy skills, and enjoy quality time together.

All supplies are provided—just bring your curiosity and excitement. We can’t wait to see you at the library!

New Zone Gallery – January Events

In addition to the eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional art created by the New Zone members shown at the New Zone Gallery, located in our beautiful space at 110 East 11th, we will be hosting two Featured Artists and one special exhibit during the month of January. Opening reception is Friday, January 2nd during the First Friday Artwalk complete with live music, libations and hors d’oeuvres. Hope to see you there!

Dagmar Maston – Layer by Layer

What’s it all about?: “Art for Art’s Sake” best describes the approach to my chosen expression of creativity. I am most myself when I forget myself in the process of creating unique papers, dismantling and reassembling them into art works called collage.
 
Luka Blakeslee – “A place in time; as seen by a trespasser in the land of death"

The decay of the world around us and the unique ability of the camera to capture the state of its subject permanently.
 
And in the Klausmeier Room – New Works by Jerry Ross

Local artist Jerry Ross, just returned from a tour of Italy, presents “New Works” that include “Bardos” (Bodhisattva), experimental landscapes, small portraits, & sketches.

The New Zone Gallery is located on the corner of Oak St and 11th Ave in Eugene. We are open every day except Monday, 12-6 pm.

See more at newzonegallery.org.

The University of Oregon’s Department of Cinema Studies presents Filmlandia, a screening series celebrating Oregon’s film heritage. The series opens with a free public screening of THE SHINING (1980), Stanley Kubrick’s iconic horror classic featuring exterior scenes filmed at Oregon’s own Timberline Lodge. Join us on Tuesday, January 14 at 6:00 pm in Lawrence Hall 177 to kick off Filmlandia and rediscover this landmark film on the big screen. All are welcome. For complete series details, go to https://blogs.uoregon.edu/cinemaresources/2025/11/13/filmlandia/.

Trivia night at The Garden on Friendly hosted by quality trivia, every Wednesday starting at 6:00PM. Free to play, great prizes, bring a team or play solo!

New Zone Gallery – January Events

In addition to the eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional art created by the New Zone members shown at the New Zone Gallery, located in our beautiful space at 110 East 11th, we will be hosting two Featured Artists and one special exhibit during the month of January. Opening reception is Friday, January 2nd during the First Friday Artwalk complete with live music, libations and hors d’oeuvres. Hope to see you there!

Dagmar Maston – Layer by Layer

What’s it all about?: “Art for Art’s Sake” best describes the approach to my chosen expression of creativity. I am most myself when I forget myself in the process of creating unique papers, dismantling and reassembling them into art works called collage.
 
Luka Blakeslee – “A place in time; as seen by a trespasser in the land of death"

The decay of the world around us and the unique ability of the camera to capture the state of its subject permanently.
 
And in the Klausmeier Room – New Works by Jerry Ross

Local artist Jerry Ross, just returned from a tour of Italy, presents “New Works” that include “Bardos” (Bodhisattva), experimental landscapes, small portraits, & sketches.

The New Zone Gallery is located on the corner of Oak St and 11th Ave in Eugene. We are open every day except Monday, 12-6 pm.

See more at newzonegallery.org.

Bilingual Storytime returns to the Newport Public Library, 35 NW Nye St., on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at 5:30 PM, and will continue all school year long! Families can enjoy stories told in both English and Spanish, followed by a fun, hands-on craft.
This program celebrates language, culture, and community, creating a welcoming space for children and families of all backgrounds.
All supplies are provided—just bring your curiosity. We can’t wait to see you at the library!

Oran Mor Meadery will host the Umpqua Celtic Session on the 3rd Thursday of the month. The first regular session will be on 21 April at Oran Mor starting at 6 pm. Acoustic musicians are welcome who play such instruments as guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, whistle, accordion, concertina, bodhran, Uilleann pipes, etc. FOR MORE INFO: Call or Email Scott Harmon, Tel. 541-445-9100 or 530-8177 EMAIL harmon@zetetix.com

On Thursday, January 15th, the Community Center for the Performing Arts proudly welcomes Traveling Wilburys Revue to the WOW Hall.

GEORGE HARRISON, TOM PETTY, ROY ORBISON, BOB DYLAN, JEFF LYNNE … THE TRAVELING WILBURYS. The super-group that never performed live the music they created out of that brief moment at the invitation of George Harrison to ‘get together and write some songs’. Hits like Handle With Care, End Of The Line, Last Night……

THE TRAVELING WILBURYS REVUE brings that music of the WILBURYS and the hits from each of these individual artists to every show. Here Comes The Sun, Won’t Back Down, Pretty Woman, Like A Rolling Stone, Don’t Bring Me Down, and more that everyone knows and loves. Now fans can finally see and hear these great songs at every performance of THE TRAVELING WILBURYS REVUE.

Band Members

Tom Finch (as George Harrison)
Tom is a California native guitarist and Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame inductee, has toured throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada playing with artists such as Big Brother & the Holding Co., Jefferson Starship, Joan Baez and many others.

Mark Burgess (as Tom Petty)
Mark started playing guitar when he was 9 years old. He attended The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University as a jazz performance major. Employed by Warner Bros as a music engraver. Toured Japan, and worked with Robert Fripp, Kevin Eubanks “Tonight Show”, Sally Struthers, Tom Scott, Don Rickles and more.

Chris Sanborn (as Roy Orbison)
Chris uses his classical training to sound like Roy Orbison from when he was studying voice in Vienna and performing with jazz vocal groups throughout Europe and with the Austrian National Radio Choir.

Jeff Kaplan (as Bob Dylan)
Jeff hails from Asbury Park, NJ. He was a founding member of Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra, scored a #1 hit on alternative radio as guitarist in the 700 Club, and done stints playing 5-string banjo in many bluegrass bands.

Steve Love (as Jeff Lynne)

Steve was the lead guitar/lead singer for the #1 Sixty’s tribute band, Back Pages, in Northern California.

Chris Lockheed (as Jim Keltner)

Chris has been a studio musician for years. Played, toured with NRPS, THE TUBES, LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS, VAN MORRISON, BLUE CHEER and others. National tours with Rusty Evans & Ring Of Fire, #1 Johnny Cash tribute. Arizona Musicians Hall Of Fame with Goose Creek Symphony, Capitol Records.

The Maude Kerns Art Center is proud to present our exciting season opener, “Escape to the Forest,” featuring work by Yoncalla artist Susan Applegate, Eugene artists Joanna Carrabbio and Marco Elliott, and Gearhart, Oregon artist Greg Navratil. The exhibit opens on Friday, January 9, with a free public reception from 5 – 7 pm. “Escape to the Forest” is on view through Friday, February 6.

The four exhibiting artists, whose work is immersed in the natural world, create distinctly personal visions of the rivers and forests of the Pacific Northwest. Their various interpretations reveal a view of nature that is, in the words of Greg Navratil, both “grounded and magical.”

Yoncalla artist Susan Applegate is well known as a painter, muralist, and illustrator. In 2019, Applegate was one of 45 artists exhibiting in the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art “Visual Magic” show honoring artists who began their creative careers in Oregon during the 1960s and 1070s. For “Escape to the Forest,” she displays her paintings of the woods on her property and in the process expresses her personal feelings about the interior of the forest. A path leads through the the woods to a spring head that has provided water for her family over generations. Her simplified shapes and forms suggest a certain monumentality while the image of a well and the path to the spring head symbolize renewal and regeneration. Applegate says that “it is the forest of my interior landscape that I am painting.”

Eugene artists, husband and wife Marco Elliott and Joanna Carrabbio, have in common what they describe as a “humble and profound admiration for the enchanting wildness in Nature.” Carrabbio, who with Elliott spent many years in Los Angeles before relocating to Eugene, is a painter, graphic artist, and accomplished muralist. She displays a series of paintings titled “Leaves,” representing in oil and watercolor the shapes, colors, and textures of leaves. Carrabbio works through a process of layering and scraping away pigment until a satisfactory image emerges. She says: “Although the focus at times has been on detailed representational structures of flora and fauna, this body of work draws from emotions and dream-like memories loosely improvised with color, texture, and design.”

Marco Elliott works in a wide variety of media, including painting, printmaking, assemblage, and mural painting. In 2021, he was selected to exhibit work in the “Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program Exhibition” at the University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. For “Escape to the Forest,” Elliott incorporates the female figure within a forest landscape in a series titled “Natural Woman.” Elliott emphasizes the fusion between the physical body and the sylvan environment. Explaining why he uses the image of a female body in these works, Elliott says that he wants to present “a guilt-free Eve set in a pristine forest landscape, not alienated from [it], but a pulsating organism, natural and innocently immersed in the profusion of diverse life forms of the primeval rain forest.”

Gearhart, Oregon artist Greg Navratil has shown his work in solo and group exhibits throughout the United States. In 2025, he had solo shows at both Bayside Art Gallery in Port Hadlock, WA as well as at the Grants Pass Museum of Art in Grants Pass, OR. In his acrylic paintings, Navratil focuses on the abstract and chaotic qualities of nature. He celebrates the natural splendor of the Pacific Northwest by using an unconventional method of applying paint with squeeze bottles to create a sense of spontaneity. Navratil considers his paintings “an invitation to pause and appreciate the complexity hidden in seemingly simple movements - - water dancing over stone, leaves caught in sunlight -- and to find delight in the unexpected details that make nature feel both grounded and magical.”

The public is invited to a free Artist Talk in conjunction with “Escape to the Forest” on Saturday, January 31, from 1 – 2 pm.