GPMA September News

September 2021 eNews

The museum enjoys varying responses from its visitors. Here are a few examples:

I was with a friend the other day and she told me that she had been to the museum to see our latest exhibit. “Why didn’t you come and see me? I asked. She replied, “You know – it was so peaceful and the art was so wonderful, I really didn’t want to talk.”

Yesterday a couple was here and they had lots of questions. It turns out they thought Gallery One was the museum. (That is a common response from people who say, “we didn’t know you were here.”) They stayed a long time and had an interesting conversation with Kristen about various books in our library.

Today, our current exhibit artist, Ilene, brought some of her friends to see the exhibit and it was wonderful to hear her talk about each of her paintings. (You too can meet Ilene on First Friday. She will be here from 5:30 – 7:00 on September 3. We hope to see you.

The museum can be an oasis or a gathering place. What is very apparent is that it is a comfortable place to visit.
Enjoy!

Hyla, Executive Director

Introducing New Board Members

The museum is very excited to introduce our newest board members, Nancy Sterling and Pam Zaklan. As you can see, they will be wonderful assets for the museum.

Nancy Sterling grew up in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington with a BFA. Entering the world of advertising in the late 60s, she became one of the first women in the country to be promoted to Art Director in an ad agency, and shortly thereafter to Creative Director. She worked at agencies in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Georgetown, staying in this career for about 20 years until she left advertising to open her own graphic design agency. Today she is excited to be able to devote almost full time to pursue a new direction – dimensional mixed media wall hangings and sculptures using clay, wood, and findings. Nancy’s art can be seen in Gallery One. She also enjoys engaging with her community.

Throughout Pam Zaklan’s life, she appreciated, supported, and respected the Arts. During her profession as an educator for 35 years, teaching art was a joy that children always enjoyed. As a teacher, she looked forward to inviting local Artists-in-Residence into my classroom to connect with students. Later as an elementary principal for 11 years, her school held yearly fundraisers allowing us to hire local Artist-in-Residence to work with all grade levels. She moved to Grants Pass to retire 11 years ago and has been involved in the building of a farm consisting of six structures and three acres of fencing. We have installed a small orchard, vineyard, berry patches, large garden area, two small, forested areas, and four acres of hay for a total of seven acres. Her travels over the years have taken her to over sixty-four countries. She always makes sure to visit history museums, art museums, and botanical gardens which is like a living museum. Board Secretary Changes

Amy King has moved to Seattle with her husband Dennis. We will miss her. She was an enthusiastic board member and a great secretary. We wish her well. (She promises to stay in touch!) Kate Bortells is our new secretary. Thanks Kate! Current Exhibition

Ilene Gienger-Stanfield Painting Outside

Ilene will be at the museum on First Friday, September 3 from 5:30pm – 7:00pm

What’s Next?

September 17 through October 15 2021 Membership Exhibit

This year’s Membership Exhibit will be earlier than usual because of the traveling exhibition that will be installed beginning mid-October. For those of you who are artists – think about what you would want to have in the exhibit. (Each artist can submit two works of art.) Art drop-off will be September 12 and 13 from noon to 4pm on both days.

October 26 through December 18 Sayaka Gans Reclaimed Creations

This traveling exhibition consists of sculptures of animals in motion by Sayaka Ganz.

Art Workshops

Easy to sign up Website: https://gpmuseum.com/index.php/2016-classes/adult-classes or Phone: 541-479-3290

Watercolor Pet Portrait Workshop with Marianne Nielsen
Saturday, September 18 10:30am – 5pm (1/2 hour for lunch)

Learn to paint your favorite animal or pet using your own reference photo. Emphasis on eyes, noses and fur. (Watercolor experience required) This is a popular and satisfying workshop for all those animal lovers. Your finished painting makes a wonderful gift or a special treasure for yourself.

$45 for GPMA members $50 for non-members

What to bring: 1) One quarter sheet of cold or hot press watercolor paper 2) Your favorite brushes and watercolor palette, 3) Masking fluid, water container, pencil, and a color reference photo. Please transfer the image onto your watercolor paper the BEFORE the workshop. Take special care to denote the color changes on the animal if any. 

Tip: For the purpose of this workshop, your photo should be a head and shoulder shot with the animal looking at the camera so we can concentrate on the facial features and personality of your pet.   Marianne has been teaching watercolor since 2007 and is a member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon for several years. She also shows her work at Gallery One. and is September’s featured artist there.

Most Mondays from 1pm – 3pm.

Come with your sketchbook and easel or whatever else you need. The museum can supply chairs. There is a live model. Fee for the model is $10 per week. To sign up to receive email notifications, please call the museum. 541-479-3290. In the News Board member Cal Kenney in the Daily Courier. He always enters flowers, veggies, and art. This year he came away with ten firsts, six seconds, and five thirds. You can see the joy in his face as he carefully displays his zennias.

Another board member, Kate Bortells won a lot of ribbons for her veggies (Mostly tomatoes and peppers.)

And finally, while I don’t have a picture – one of our newest board members, Pam Zaklan, won a lot of ribbons for her entries. Congratulations to all!

Read more – click here! Happenings

A HUGE THANK YOU TO THE FOURWAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION The museum receives money from various sources. An important resource are grants. We are grateful to the many foundations that support us. In particular, this month we want to thank the Fourway Foundation for a $5,000 grant to help pay for a new HVAC system for Gallery One. The old unit was almost laying on its side due to being struck by a car years ago. We were concerned that it was definitely on its last legs. The new unit was installed this week by Rogue Valley Heating & Air. This time they added bollards to protect the equipment from any future auto damage. (The new equipment is on the left).

Exciting news for Gallery One. First of all, Gallery One has had great sales this year. The artists have been very generous with their time, helping to staff the gallery. We wanted to feature them on the website. We are creating a directory of the artists in the gallery. Now you can see who has art in the gallery and also what kind of art each person creates. We hope this will bring an even bigger buzz around this great place to purchase one-of-a-kind art. It’s not quite finished but we couldn’t wait to share the good news and you can take a peek. CLICK THE PICTURE TO ENJOY IT FIRST HAND.

Marianne Neilsen is the featured artist for September

Community involvement with the Chamber of Commerce

On Friday, August 20, the Chamber paired various locations in town with youth who had created their own lemonade stands. The youth even had to invent a recipe for their lemonade. The museum and Shoefly offered to have a booth in front of our entrances. Will Rossknecht was our official purveyor of lemonade. The entire event was fun and a very good learning experience for the students. It also involved Chamber Greeters, student’s families, local businesses, and the community at large. What could be better!

Downstairs from the museum, we have two retail spaces. One is Gallery One and the other is Shoefly. We are so happy to have Sydney and her “store dog” Kobi as our neighbors. Sydney has been so active in community events. There are already conversations about how nice she is and how great her shoe store is. Recently she had a 3-D walkthrough of her store created. You can visit virtually by clicking below. BUT, be sure and visit in person. Shoefly rocks! (Our board secretary Kate Bortells will be working at Shoefly. Life could not be better.)

The museum library is open! Everyone is welcome to browse and enjoy. The library has exactly 1,082 books at the moment. There is also a table and chairs if you want to spend some time reading! As a member, you can check out books and take them home for a period of time.

Southern Oregon University has created a great video about public art. It is definitely worth watching.

Help keep the museum free for all! The museum does not receive government funding (other than grants from the Josephine County Cultural Coalition and the Oregon Cultural Trust via JCCC). Keeping the doors open depends on grants, donations, memberships, sponsorships, and rent from the street level businesses (Shoefly and Gallery One). You can do one-time donations and you can also do monthly donations. It’s easy – and we appreciate you very much! One additional side benefit – the foundations that offer grants are very pleased to see community involvement. Your donations show your support!

What you are supporting: We provide professional opportunities for artists, We sustain free events and admission to the museum, We promote innovation and inclusiveness, We connect residents and visitors through shared conversation, and We contribute to the identity of Grants Pass.

You can DONATE by clicking here

Monthly donations are so amazing. They add up quickly. Just $10 a month means a donation to the museum of $120 for the year. That’s fabulous. Please consider this option. The payments are safely charged to your credit card. Be a “Monthly Sustainer” and click here!

You can also call us at 541-479-3290 or send mail to us at:

Grants Pass Museum of Art, P.O. Box 966, Grants Pass, OR 97528

Do you shop on Amazon? This quarter, we received $27.54. Every little bit helps a lot. Thank you! Did you know that if you go to a special link called Amazon Smile you can choose a nonprofit to benefit from your purchase. Each nonprofit has a unique link. Here’s the portal you can use for the museum. Every little bit helps! CLICK HERE or click the picture to shop and benefit the museum.The best part is that it doesn’t cost you any extra!

THANK YOU! If you get this far…. CBS Sunday Morning never disappoints. They feature culture every week. El Museo del Barrio, is the New York City museum’s first large-scale survey of Latinx contemporary art, featuring the work of more than 40 U.S. and Puerto Rican artists.