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Visual Art: Theater: Wine:
Fast
Forward The annual Mayor's Art Show also includes "Fast Forward: The Mayor's Show of Teen Art," a juried exhibit on view at the Maude Kerns Art Center through Oct. 8. This year, 37 young artists (ages 13-18) from a dozen schools and home schools in the greater Eugene area were accepted into the show.
Not just a great opportunity for adolescents to experience the professional side of art, it is also an occasion for viewers to glimpse the world of a varied group of adolescents. Through their art-works and written statements, these students express some of their concerns, aspirations, views of themselves and the world. Above all, they tell what art means to them, how they relate to art, and what role it plays in their lives. In an era of severe funding cuts in education, such an exhibit is a reminder of what is lost when programs from art to athletics that previous generations enjoyed must be treated as a luxury to be trimmed. These young artists all concur about the value of art as a means of self-expression — both an emotional, creative outlet and a reflection of their thoughts and feelings. "When I work on my art," Shawnna Marie Clifton wrote, (18, Riverfront), "I try to think of the most creative way to express my feelings, whether I'm in a bad or good mood." Such self-expression is associated with an experience of freedom for some teens. Ari Werthamer (15, Sheldon) said art "is an activity where I can be myself and do anything I want." Shannon Sullivan (15, Crow) said, "Art is the freedom of self-expression." However, self-expression means something different to each individual. Self-expression may mean exploring an interest in some aspect of the world around them. Art becomes a way to study the natural world by making realistic renderings of its fauna, flora and landforms. This process requires keen observation. Ansel Atkinson (13, Crow Middle)wrote, "When I go out into the wilderness and shoot some pictures with my Pentax K1000, it is a way for me to experience nature and share its wonders with other people." Atkinson's black and white photography already evinces a good eye and sense of composition. Reflecting on the nature of art, he also wrote: "I take my pictures in B&W for its effect. The subject that I take the picture of is still there, but at the same time the colorless subject is now something new." Many of the other photographers are aware of the role of the artist in controlling how reality is ultimately portrayed, and that creativity is as necessary an ingredient for a realistic piece to touch us as for an imaginative one. With his macro-photography of flowers and dripping water, Owen Garrity (13, home school) focuses on what's going on in the moment. Nature is also the subject in Amy Caves (16, North Eugene) and Jessica King's (16, Crow) skillful studies of wild animals, Shannon Sullivan's (15, Crow) charcoal of penguins, and Samantha Westrope's (16, Crow) watercolor landscapes. Jaimie Lewellyn's (14, Crow) watercolors of birds, flowers and edible plants show a bright sense of composition and color. Jesse Spivack (13, Kennedy Middle) depicts her beloved fowls in lovely woodcuts full of zest and humor as well as great observation. Others use the art of landscape and still-life as a way of imaginatively reinterpreting the natural world around them. Alisa Caves turns natural elements such as trees, rocks and sky into animals. And Lily Robertson (15, South Eugene), who paints colorful still-lifes wrote, "If I am painting a scene, and part of it is too drab or dull, I like to change its color to my own interpretation and create my own beauty." A group of young artists from Gateways Learning Center painted 6 matching vertical panels in black, green, yellow and blue, collectively creating a mysterious universe that evokes at once the underworld of the deep sea and the far reaches of outer space. In his B&W landscape photography, Wesley Curtis (16, North Eugene) experiments with multiple exposures to create surreal effects. With their geometric perspective, his roads in the sky emerge from clouds like sunrays. Besides using multiple exposures, Julie Warren (16, North Eugene) also manipulates her pictures through the darkroom process of solarization, of which Pebbles is an excellent example. Other artists choose to explore the human realm. Liesel Sylwester's (15, North Eugene) watercolors imaginatively tell about the world of childhood in excellent illustration style. Mica Russo's (13, Fern Ridge Middle) Glam-Glam is a well-crafted, elegant shadow box involving acrylic and collaged photographs. Kevin Henry (16, North Eugene) and Cassidy Langendoerfer (17, North Eugene) make sensitive portraits of people in their B&W photography, while Brendan Albano (15, South Eugene) uses Photoshop to transform a portrait into a bold digital design. Tilly Anya Hamachek (14, The Village) tells us about the world of "rocker chicks" through fashion design. Martial arts inspired Eli Werthamer's (Sheldon) drawings and paintings. Some works are prompted by the world of art itself. Such is Ren Rossini's (17, South Eugene) Monet, in which the painter is represented by floral magazine clippings. Jessica Williams' (18, Sheldon) Marilyn is an acrylic version of Andy Warhol's famous silkscreens, while her tiny but expressive pen-and-ink Frankenstein derives from literature and film. The artist may also take the concept of self-expression literally to show how she views herself. The self-portrait becomes an opportunity for self-study, not so much through appearance but as a means to define one's identity. About her colorful mixed-media assemblage, Laa-Laa-Land, Jaymi Lawrence (16, Riverfront) said, "My sculpture represents my personality: full of color and the things I love most. I think my personality is colorful, bright, happy, and very shy." Mary Redmon (17, Riverfront) wrote, "One of the things I am inspired most by, are the woods and the living things who dwell in them. Mary and Brandon Forever is one example of my connection with nature. I incorporated many different animals into my self-portrait." Sometimes, the stakes for creating art are high. Mara Thygeson, art teacher at the alternative Looking-Glass Riverfront School and Career Center, which serves at-risk youth, prepared her students for the mayor's show. "So many of [the students] have the deck stacked against them that it's a miracle, an amazing achievement, that they're able to create art and write so eloquently in their statements," Thygeson said. Many have known severe economic stress, experienced family trauma and dealt with uncertainty and an absence of structure, she said. Despite her sensitivity to the challenges of some of her students face, Thygeson will no longer have the opportunity to work with them at the school. Her position at Riverfront was cut last June due to lack of funding. Riverfront Program Director Cheryl Zwillinger emphasized the cathartic nature of art for at-risk students. "Art is a way to express their issues and traumas. They don't have any other way to do that." For instance, Christine Akin (18, Riverfront) mourned the fact that she can no longer attend art classes, which she loved, because she's already taken the required number of electives. "Since I've stopped taking art," Akin said, "I'm in anger management class." Shawnna Marie Clifton (18, Riverfront), author of the striking colored-pencil Good Against Evil, also finds art therapeutic. "Most of the time when I develop a picture it shows how I want to feel rather than how I actually feel. So if I'm depressed and down, I will create something very cheerful." The process of self-examination can be painful and the therapeutic result hard-won. Brandon Gubred (16, Riverfront) had to surmount frustration and self-doubt to achieve his self-portrait. His parents were getting a divorce, which he represented by an image of them tearing apart. Like many of their fellow-students, Greg Hessel (17) and Matt Mercer (16), both of Riverfront, created self-portraits that show the pull of opposites, which leads to so much anguish during adolescence. Particularly vivid is Rachel Reininger's (16, Riverfront) Reflection, a colored-pencil self-portrait. "This project really helped me to express and understand myself," she wrote. Reininger had to overcome fear and self-doubt, re-examine her struggle with anorexia and depression, her feelings of being judged by others and destructively objectified by men. Art is humanity's common language. Cutting across ages, classes and cultures, art is of value to both individuals and society. For teens as for adults, it is a way to experiment, express ideas and emotions, seek and find. Art is not a luxury but a necessity.
Rent
Proves Timeless Almost a decade after Rent raised the bar for Broadway and shocked its complacent directors out of a slow, slide into boring, irrelevant theater, fans are still packing the room at every performance.
More than 15 years after HIV and AIDS first exploded into the national consciousness, mesmerizing us with fear and mystery, people stand in line for hours to get cheap front-row tickets to a theater production where three of the eight main characters are HIV-positive. Rent is so much more than a slice of life in the late '80s. While everything from the rockin' tunes to the hairstyles and slang capture the essence and energy of New York's Lower East Side during that time period, the themes are universal and eternal. Rent is about life. My life. Your life. Everyone's life. And on one level or another, we can all relate. That's part of the reason that on Feb. 10, Rent beat out Fiddler on the Roof to become the 10th longest running show in Broadway history. "I think people relate to the struggle these characters are going through," said Ava (she doesn't use her last name) who plays the character of Maureen. "These are the stories that are timeless. They're all artists trying to have a life, trying to make a difference. They want to be in love and live their lives to the fullest and at the same time, they're struggling with their own mortality." Rent is about being 20-something and trying to figure who you are, how not to sell out, how to make the most of the time you've got. Who hasn't asked those questions at one point or another? Inspired by Puccini's La Bohéme, Jonathan Larson's creation was first performed off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop on Feb. 13, 1996. The powerful , in-your-face musical rapidly gained popularity and moved to Broadway just two months later. It won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for drama, the 1996 Tony awards for best musical, best score, best book and best featured actor in a musical, the 1996 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best musical, three Obies, and a slew of other awards. But the success was tinged with tragedy because Larson never lived to enjoy the it. Just hours after the final dress rehearsal he died unexpectedly of an aortic aneurysm on Jan. 25, 1996 . Speaking to the Washington Post in 1997, Larson's father Allan said "He (Jonathan Larson) was very confident that it was going to bring about a marriage of the MTV generation and Broadway." The music of Rent, which ranges from the blues to pop to dance club, accomplishes that, and is one of the reasons the production has die-hard fans who've seen it dozens of times, and know every line and every word to every song. "We see a lot of high school and college kids coming to the shows and just freaking out," Ava said. "This show is speaking our language, much more so than a play like Oklahoma. Plays like that are purely for entertainment. And Rent is real life." Since it first opened, Rent established a unique tradition: the first two rows of seating go on sale the day of the show for $20. "Jonathan was himself a struggling artist and his dream was to create a universal piece of musical theater that's available to everyone," said original Rent producer Kevin McCollum. That tradition will continue at The Hult Center when Rent makes its return Oct. 8 and 9. The $20 tickets go on sale an hour before the show at the Hult Center box office. Cash only. For general tickets or more information, call 682-5000.
Lance
in Wonderland
More wine. Lotsa wine. Good wine. Buysumwine. Whew! Glad I got that off my chest and off my desk. Mission accomplished, right? Actually, I just put down my giant golden hookah, exhaled one hugacious puff of dried herbal matter (custom blend of banana leaves, papaya, ylang-ylang, lotus root), decided to get busy, bring on a column fully devoted to wine, just wine — nothing about racists, fascists, warmongering, thieving, conniving, lying, murderous, pus-sucking scoundrels and their mealy-mouthed apologists .... Sorry, won't happen again. Wine: beautiful stuff, tasty as food, with food, essential adjunct of good living. Helpful in ignoring blood-letting, genocidal slaughter, suffering of innocents, "holy" wars .... Ooops. Focus: Genuine, heart-felt kudos to local-guy Dieter Boehm whose High Pass 2002 Pinot Noir, Walnut Ridge Vineyard, won a gold medal, Best of Classification, and Best of Show at this year's Oregon State Fair. Our neighbors in the west foothills confirmed what many of us knew so well, that the southern Willamette Valley yields some of our state's best wines. Check your local wine shop for this wine and others wearing the High Pass colors. Gold medals also went to local folks for LaVelle Vineyards 2003 Riesling Estate, a consistently lovely wine, and Iris Hill 2002 Pinot Gris, really good gris, super value. Note: If the 2002s are off the shelves, grab the 2003s, likely as good, if not better.
Local silver medals: ´ Benton-Lane Winery 2001 Pinot Noir Estate, delicious wine; Chateau Lorane Non-Vintage Apricot Mead (knockout flavors); 2001 Marechal Foch, Organic; 2002 Pinot Gris, Organic; 2002 Viognier (crab wine!); 2002 Baco Noir; High Pass 2002 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, yummy dessert wine; King Estate 2001 Pinot Noir, Domaine (how this wine did not win gold is a deep mystery); 2001 Pinot Noir; 2003 Late Harvest Pinot Gris, Vin Glacé; LaVelle Vineyards 2002 Pinot Gris; maybe the judges had a limited number of golds to dispense or this could have had one. Our neighbors also won a bagful of bronzes, too many to list (mission not quite accomplished, OK?), but the basic lesson is clear: We can drink home-country wines this harvest and sacrifice nothing in quality, gain gobs in value. While we're thinking about hometown values, gotta mention Territorial Vineyards and Wine Company. I admit to being bored by most chardonnays, especially some of the older California-style chards that tend to taste rather like an oak footstool. And most Oregon chards have been, until recently, largely forgettable. But Territorial 2002 Chardonnay tickles my palate, pretty with aromas and flavors of tropical fruits, some citrus notes and vanilla tones from careful use of oak, and, at $13, a bargain. I suggest a taste treat for lovers of chardonnay: Discover the grape's own flavors in a surprising costume. For a long while, Australian chardonnays one-upped the Californians, producing oak-bomb chards that were gooey and saturated with wood at half the Cal-price. They're still beating the Cal-wines to death on price-points, but they have moved toward greater sophistication in managing flavor. Yalumba 2003 Unwooded Chardonnay ($13) is rich in flavors of melons, baked apples, honey and pineapple with a crisp citrus acidity that matches with a wide range of foods — just delish, the real deal. When I wrote the August rosé column, I tried to conduct a fairly comprehensive inductive survey, but inevitably I missed some beauties. And you shouldn't: John Paul, of Cameron Winery in Dundee, is one of my favorite people in Oregon wine. He's smart, witty, deeply wine savvy and thoroughly iconoclastic. He also makes some fine juice of the vine. Cameroni delle Colline Rosse Vino Pinko ($13) is a blast, from label to contents. Gotta love the portrait of Ché Guevara, one of the bravest and most decent men who ever drew breath (and CIA assassins' bullets). The wine is deep pink, bursting with aromas/flavors of fresh raspberries, nicely balanced, revolutionary rosé. Russ Raney, owner/winemaker of Evesham Wood in Salem, is one of the most revered wine mavens in this region, and Evesham Wood 2003 Rosé of Pinot Noir, Vin d'Une Nuit ($11) offers vital lessons in effects of temperature on flavor. We bought the wine way chilled (like most folk think they're supposed to serve white wines, sparklers, and rosés), rolled right home and popped the top — and wondered if Russ had bumped his bean. Cold, the wine was closed in aroma (of course) and delivered these tart rhubarb notes. The wine warmed. We tasted again. Cool, the wine blossomed; flavors emerged of raspberries, strawberries, roses, tingling hints of spice, flat-out terrific, as comely and complex as a light-bodied pinot noir, a modest homage to a master of that grape. It's a steal at this price. There we go, all wine all the time. No more wimpy wine-whining letters from pink racists, right? Hope you voted early and often. I'm firing up the hookah. Lance Sparks has been writing about fine food and wine since the rabbit went down the hole.
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