By Brenna Wiegand
“There are paintings in every room – even the bathrooms,” Sandy Tiffee exhaled after hanging the last of 50 artworks throughout Silverton Senior Center.
A visitor, perusing the exhibit, “Faces of Culture,” remarked, “It feels kind of like being at the United Nations.”
Silverton Arts Association members provide a fresh exhibit of local art at the senior center every six weeks.
The April show aligned with Silverton’s month-long Celebration of Cultures, comprising citywide events and programs that bring to fore the rich diversity among the inhabitants of Silverton – and beyond.
At the senior center, you can’t go anywhere without encountering faces of ethnic peoples from Africa to Hawaii and from Peru to Russia – in addition to seniors – done primarily by the painters who meet at Open Studio every Thursday.
“We are mostly your amateur everyday people who are interested in art,” Tiffee said.
The show also reveals the diversity that exists between artists, something vividly cast in a collaborative collage – “The Lady” – at the heart of the exhibit.
Artists of all levels are
invited to Open Studio
9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Thursdays at the
Silverton Art Center,
303 Coolidge St.
$10 monthly fee.
For class information:
www.silvertonarts.org or
503-873-2480
Senior Center Rotating Art Show
The current show, “Faces of Culture”
is on display through May 15 at
Silverton Senior Center, 115 Westfield St.
The center is open
Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
For more information:
www.silvertonseniorcenter.org
or 503-873-3093
To begin, Tiffee cut the canvas for “The Lady” into six chunks – one for each participating artist. They did not see each other’s fractions before amassing them in a group rendition of ‘Self Portrait in a Straw Hat,’ painted in 1782 by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, a French artist.
The result is a remarkably unified set culminating in an entrancing whole.
“That’s the beauty of diversity; it doesn’t all have to line up,” Tiffee said. “You can put different styles, media and colors together and create something beautiful. See, Renaldo put a gold mask on his part of the face.”
The deadline of an upcoming art show provides the artist with motivation to produce – and in this case, a directional theme.
In May, the center will host “Floral Beauty,” followed by “Art of the West” in July.
It provides artists an opportunity to show – and sell – their work.
The senior center benefits from an increased number of visitors – and a 25 percent commission on all sales.
“This is a wonderful place,” Tiffee beamed.
