By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald – One of the Oakridge-Westfir area’s best-kept secrets may be its flourishing arts scene, impressive by any standard for a community this size.
However, the cat, as they say, may soon be out of the bag.
The Oakridge Art Council, representing more than two dozen artists in the community, is gearing up for a coming-out party at its new digs – a spanking-new gallery in an historic building that once provided offices for the town’s Pope & Talbot mill bosses.
The spacious quarters at Highway 58 and Industrial Park Way, at the east end of town, were quietly opened this weekend for any art lovers who might drop by for a quick sneak preview, and there was plenty to see.
Oil paintings. Watercolors. Found-object art. Framed poetry and more, much more, now featuring the works of 17 local artists with several more lined up to add to the exhibits.
“We’re now open every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4,” said Rene Gobelman, council chair and venue coordinator. “Artists will be here to welcome visitors, and we’re inviting new members.”
The former mill office complex is much more spacious than it appears from the street. Beyond the main gallery space are offices, meeting rooms and workshop areas galore. The OAC, as the council calls itself, is among a handful of enterprises that lease space in the building, which is part of the Oakridge Industrial Park and owned by the City of Oakridge.
Gobelman and her companion at the gallery Sunday, OAC board member and poet Iris Barratt, described council plans — still in their infancy — for ambitious summer events and showings, including the use of outdoor pavilions, especially after COVID-19 has been controlled sufficiently for such activities to be safe again.
The Oakridge Art Council has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email at [email protected]. The new gallery is at 48523 Industrial Park Way, about a quarter-mile east of Greenwaters Park.
Herald Editor Doug Bates is a retired newspaper journalist who lives in Oakridge.
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