By Melissa Wagoner It’s been a big year for award-winning graphic novelist Jonathan Case and his newest book, Little Monarchs – published by Holiday House in April 2022. Chosen to represent Oregon’s literary heritage at the upcoming National Book Festival by the Oregon Center for the Book and the State Library of Oregon, the honor means an interview with Case […]
The Main Floor Gallery exhibit at Lunaria Gallery this month is “Life: Adversity and Bliss” featuring the artwork of Lunaria member Michele Ballantyne. “Making art from the heart, from the gut, takes a deeper look than making art that is pretty or people pleasing. Life is full spectrum. Experiences are full spectrum. In this show I embrace the full spectrum, […]
By Melissa Wagoner This year the Silverton Arts Association’s annual “Teen Art Show” featured 105 pieces of art from students at Evergreen, Bethany, Community Roots, Silverton Middle School, Silverton High School and Sequoia Falls Academy. “It’s a long-standing tradition,” Silverton Arts Association Board (SAA) Member and gallery curator, Megan Smith, said of the show, which ran from May 5 to […]
The first Silver Falls Film Festival is set for Friday, Aug. 18 during the Silverton Arts Festival. A series of short movies will be shown outdoors at Coolidge McClaine Park as the kickoff for the festival, which continues Aug. 19-20. More than 600 entries from around the world have been submitted, said Mike Turner, Silverton filmmaker and Silverton Arts Association […]
By James Day The Silverton Arts Association is launching a new family-friendly community arts space at the group’s Arts Center at 300 Coolidge St. The new arts option, which will include a resident artists program, workshops and classes for adults and youth, will debut at 6:30 p.m. on April 7 during First Friday. The association will use the Borland Gallery […]
The Silverton Arts Festival is holding its annual contest that will produce the poster for the event, which is set for Aug. 19-20 at Coolidge McClaine Park. The contest is open to artists 16 and older, with the winner receiving either a 10′ x 10′ festival booth space, valued at $225, or $200 in cash, along with recognition in the […]
By James Day Silverton Area Community Aid will be moving soon into the building that has been occupied by Ratchet Brewing since 2019. Ratchet shut down its Silverton operation on Feb. 11, although its southeast Salem location on 25th Street remains open. Will Mary, one of the co-founders of Ratchet, meanwhile, has opened a restaurant called Palominos on Court Street […]
Brush Creek is launching its 2023 season with the return of one of its favorite shows, The Further MISAdventures of the Seven Dwarfs. The crowd-pleaser brings back the seven dwarfs for a romp through the collected tales of the Brothers Grimm. Did you know that a dwarf helped Rapunzel and her prince? And helped Hansel and Gretel escape the gingerbread […]
Brush Creek Playhouse, just outside of Silverton, will be holding auditions for The Further MISAdventures of the Seven Dwarfs on Saturday, Dec. 3, 11 a.m. and on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2 p.m. This romp through the tales of the Brothers Grimm (written by Emily Wood and Michael Wood and performed by arrangement with Evander Dramatic Press) is great fun and has a […]
By Melissa Wagoner There is no symbol in Silverton’s history more iconic than that of the “Old Oak Tree,” a meeting place initially for the Native tribes of the Molalla and Santiam area and eventually for the white homesteaders who settled here. “The old oak, as everybody called it, was a stately giant, and the early settlers of Silverton looked […]
Lunaria Gallery presents its November show, “New Work: Still Lifes” by member Margo McCafferty. “Most of the works in this show were created using the indirect method, beginning with an India ink grisaille underpainting followed by scumbles and glazes of oil paint,” said McCafferty. Upstairs’ Loft Gallery brings “Hello Winter” featuring gifts created by Lunaria’s members. Both shows run Nov. […]
By Brenna Wiegand A string of past Our Town stories reflect the flurry of activity encircling the old wading pool in Silverton’s Coolidge McClaine Park. It all started in 2014 when Silverton participants in that year’s Ford Family Foundation Leadership program chose to beautify the wading pool/fountain in Coolidge McClaine as its public service project. Ford Family Foundation offered $5,000 […]
By Brenna Wiegand Sequestered on the outskirts of a town known for its murals is a hidden gem of magnificent proportion. Prior to moving to Silverton in 2013, Elizabeth Schellberg and husband Gary Watkins lived in Portland, she a CPA and he an Intel engineer. “I had an artist come and paint a mural on the back of our single […]
By Melissa Wagoner Every month Lunaria – a cooperative fine art gallery established in downtown Silverton in 1995 – celebrates one or more of its 24 members through a gallery show that kicks off with a First Friday gala event. “These gala events provide the public an opportunity to view a wider selection of the featured artist’s work as well […]
By James Day Native Silvertonian Norm English has published a new novel about his hometown and will be on hand to discuss it at a pair of book signings. Fireflies to Butterflies is English’s third book, and he describes it as historic fiction. “The main character is fictional, but the story incorporates interactions with some real people in Silverton during […]
By Melissa Wagoner There’s a special section in the Silver Falls Library that not many people know about. It’s called the Guest Author section and it’s full of serious writers who, despite their age, are given a chance at having their books displayed on the shelf for any and all to check out. Partially inspired by the story of Dillon […]
By Brenna Wiegand Kimberly Shaw began painting individual greeting cards for friends as a labor of love and a satisfying counterpart to her work as an architectural draftswoman in Southern California. She’d been with the firm for 17 years when she quit her job and grew her card business into a national concern that supported her family for the next […]
Lunaria Main Floor Gallery presents the shows, Days Passing Like a Shadow, by Lunaria member Deborah Unger and Portraits of Inspiring Women in Classic Style: Part One by Lunaria member Anne Shams Oct. 5 – 31. Opening Reception is Oct. 7, 7 – 9 p.m. at the gallery, 113 N. Water St., Silverton. There also will be an Artists Talk, […]
EVITCEPSORTER, a retrospective show by Ann Altman will be on exhibit at Lunaria Gallery now through Oct. 3. Altman will show her artwork done in oil pastels, acrylic, oil, watercolor and colored pencil, along with various printmaking techniques and her most recent work in ceramics. She was one of the founding members of Lunaria. The show will include some pioeces […]
The Brush Creek Players is an all-volunteer theater group working together to present quality plays to the greater Silverton, Salem and Mount Angel communities. It is a nonprofit organization that offers a wide variety of productions, including well-known plays, original works, teen/young adult and children/youth shows. This one room schoolhouse theater has been cared for and loved by many over the […]
By Melissa Wagoner When award-winning writer Jonathan Case was writing his latest graphic novel, Little Monarchs, he already knew its promotion would be different than just about any book he’d ever written. “It’s a road trip book,” Jonathan said. Referring to the premise of the novel, which follows ten-year-old protagonist, Elvie, and her biologist caregiver, Flora, on a post-apocalyptic adventure […]
By James Day Silverton’s favorite collie/shepherd mix, Bobbie the Wonder Dog, who traveled on his own more than 2,500 miles to rejoin his family in the 1920s, has been on the move again. And cloned. Silverton residents and his fans from out of town who were used to reading Bobbie’s story on the Water Street mural and then finding the […]
By Brenna Wiegand Silverton Mural Society is getting a big shot in the arm through efforts led by local businessman Lance Kamstra. He would be quick to tell you it wasn’t him but God who orchestrated it all; he’s just remaining faithful. Every year the mural society has struggled for the funds needed to maintain the town’s 29 murals, let […]
By Melissa Wagoner When Michelle Isaksen was invited to a Paint Party five years ago she almost didn’t go. “I thought, ‘I don’t even draw,’” she recalled. “I’d never painted or even sketched.” Thankfully, her husband convinced her to attend. “He basically pushed me out the door,” Isaksen laughed. “But in the end, I had a piece of art that I didn’t […]
Lunaria Gallery in Silverton will present “Pacific Northwest” by Lori Rodrigues in April. These watercolor pieces reflect the depth of the Pacific Northwest wilderness, from wildflowers to volcanoes. Upstairs, in Lunaria’s Loft Gallery, “An Artist’s Evolution” by Jenny Armitage will feature watercolor and pen and ink. Her pieces are created with intention using an impressionist style and landscape patterns of light […]
