Arts Hound

Aloha Hawaii! After 32 years in the 50th state, the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival is coming to Eugene for the first time 7:30 pm Saturday, March 22, at the Hult. Grammy nominee and Na Hoku Hanohano (often called the “Hawaiian Grammys”) award winner Stephen Inglis will demonstrate his fancy fingerstylings, and virtuoso slack key guitarist L.T. Smooth will show how he got his nickname. Don’t miss ukulele prodigy Taimane, who started plucking at age 5 and now riffs on tunes from “Stairway to Heaven” to “Phantom of the Opera.” 

Grab bag: Head down to MECCA for the “Fill a Bag for a Buck” event 11 am to 5 pm March 21 and 22 at 449 Willamette. After a big makeover earlier this month, the Materials Exchange Center for the Community Arts is overflowing with paint, cards, craft kits, fabric scraps, “do-dads galore” and pretty much anything else that a crafter could dream up. 

Alt-country star Carrie Rodriguez is eschewing the traditional venue and playing an intimate house concert 8 pm Tuesday, March 25, at 755 River Rd. Contact Mike Meyer at mmeyer@efn.org for more info.

See works from the estate of the late, great internationally renowned Oregon sculptor Jan Zach, the prime mover behind the 1974 Oregon International Sculpture Symposium, March 26 through April 26 at the Karin Clarke Gallery. Born in Czechoslovakia, Zach brought his colossal stone and steel style of work to Eugene in 1958, when he began teaching sculpture at the UO. See his hulking “Prometheus” year-round on the north lawn of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

I’ll take Jell-O molds for $500, Trebek. Maude Kerns is hosting its 26th annual Jell-O Art Show with the theme “Jell-O Jeopardy” 5 to 8 pm Saturday, March 29. Get your gelatin game on: Jell-O artists can drop off their works for display 3 to 4:30 pm the day of the show.