By Teresa Thomas
Mail Tribune
January 15, 2010 5:00 AM
Members of the Rogue Gallery & Art Center will paint their cake and eat it, too, at the gallery's 50th anniversary celebration on Wednesday, Jan. 20. Fifty cakes by 50 artists will adorn the walls of the gallery. Painted on identical 12-by-12-inch canvases, the cakes reflect the artists' personal style and flair. Four of the paintings have been selected by local cake decorators — Yummykake, the Chocolate Beagle, the Nunan Estate, Kathy Curry and Virginia Theis — to be enjoyed at Wednesday's celebration.
The celebration will kick off at 5 p.m. with a silent auction featuring all 50 painted cakes, starting at $200. Jules Masterjohn, the gallery's new executive director, will preside over the festivities, and Mayor Gary Wheeler will offer a champagne toast. There will be live music by Calysta Rupert-Anderson and the Paul Schmeling Trio.
A tribute video and photo timeline will commemorate 50 years of promoting and exhibiting local, regional and international art in the Rogue Valley.
Eugene Bennett, honorary chairman and one of the gallery's founders, will be present to recognize the years of creative energy and hard work that transformed the fledgling studio into what it is today — a nonprofit, visual arts organization committed to art education, appreciation and development in Southern Oregon.
Bennett planted the seed for the gallery, and it grew with support from Bob Bosworth, Betty Allen, Jack Teeters, Dunbar and Jane Carpenter, and many others. "Bennett made the decision to leave Chicago, where he had a gallery to exhibit in, to come to Medford because he felt Medford needed a gallery," said Nancy Mullen, gallery director from 1979-1987 and from 1992-1999. Bennett, along with Allen, Teeters and Bosworth, met late in 1959 to discuss the need to establish a place where local people could exhibit and see fine art. Within four months, April 1960, Rogue Gallery & Art Center had its nonprofit, tax-exempt status and was lodged in rented space in the old Masonic building."They wanted to exhibit to local people what was going on in the world of art," Mullen said.
Amidst the hard work and financial challenges, the gallery hosted amusing fundraisers and shows, including the "Galeria de Rejection" show, which was judged by three 5-year-olds who awarded all artists with a blue ribbon, and the "Poor Loser" shows, which featured artists who were too late, lazy or lousy to have their work displayed in a legitimate show.
In the spring of 1970, the old Masonic building was to be demolished, so gallery members frantically searched for a new home. The space at 40 S. Bartlett St., was a section of a 1920 auto showroom. Unfortunately, the space was tight and the gallery and classroom had to share a room, Mullen said."We would cover the floor with newspaper and let the kids work on the floor sometimes," she recalled. "We didn't even have desks."
During the 1970s, the gallery brought art to the community by organizing art classes for children and adults, and pioneering the artist residency program. The artists-in-the-school program became a model for the rest of the state, and the gallery continued to produce it until 1984, when the Arts Council of Southern Oregon took over managing it. In 1981, the gallery's board members decided to purchase the 5,600-square-foot building where they were renting, and remodel it to suit their needs. A three-year fundraising campaign raised more than $75,000, and volunteers donated thousands of hours to help with the remodeling to save money.
The project produced a larger gallery, classroom, two offices, a gallery shop, a student quarter and a storage area.With a new space, the gallery's presence grew in the community. The clever fundraisers continued, with themes like "Run for Your Art," and Medford's original "Festival of Trees."Over the past 50 years, the gallery has exhibited the work of international, national and local artists in media that ranged from watercolors to wax. Mullen estimated the gallery had displayed the work of about 24 artists a year, or about 1,200 artists during its half-century.
"From the beginning, they made a conscious decision to exhibit the art of their time ... It wasn't art from the past," Mullen said. "It was what was new, interesting and current."
As the gallery begins its second half-century, Masterjohn plans to continue to promote art education and to display contemporary art.She said that over the next few years she hopes to create consistency in how the gallery operates, add an educational element to many of the exhibits and begin presenting more emerging artists.
The Rogue Gallery and Art Center now has more than 500 members and opens its doors to 20,000 visitors a year. It continues to support art in the community through its teen mentoring program, Studio Sfumato and regular Drop in and Draw sessions. "I'm looking forward to wherever it takes us," Masterjohn said. The 50th anniversary events are sponsored by Southern Oregon Subaru Volvo Mitsubishi. For more information, call 541-772-8118.
Rogue Gallery celebrates its 50th
The Medford gallery's anniversary marks a half-century of exhibiting and teaching fine art
Edible Art Cake by Larry Oswald.
Original painting by Judy Hanson Howard.
Yummykake owner, Larry Oswald with artist, Judy Hanson Howard.
