Southern Oregon’s fall arts calendar includes folk concerts, an investigative documentary and two public art projects in Ashland.
JPR arts reporter Vanessa Finney and music director Dave Jackson highlighted upcoming events. They were joined by Ashland artists Jarrett Davidson and John Pugh to discuss Mural Fest III and Pugh’s planned downtown mural, “Where the Crow Lights.”
Mural Fest explores belonging
Twenty-four large mural panels have transformed the entrance to ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum into what Davidson describes as a garden of public art.
Artists created the panels around this year’s theme, “Belonging.” Visitors can walk through the outdoor display through Sept. 30, including when the museum is closed.
“Initially, the vision was to showcase more public art in Ashland,” said Davidson, an Ashland Middle School visual arts teacher and member of the Brothers Grime art team.
Davidson said the festival grew out of his experience preparing exhibitions and seeing mural festivals staged alongside larger art shows. Brothers Grime launched the Ashland event three years ago to give artists a way to create work in public and connect with people who might not otherwise encounter it.
Select panels are available through a silent auction. Fifteen percent of each sale will support future Mural Fest projects, and the remainder will go to the participating artist.
ScienceWorks will also host Books & Brews from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 26. During the event, artist Ursula Barton will lead a community mural project in which participants can throw paint-filled balloons at a museum wall.
Barton will incorporate the splashes into a permanent mural inspired by patterns found in feathers, butterfly wings, reptile scales, fish skin and microscopic life. Participation starts at $10 for one paint-filled balloon and one water-filled balloon.
A landmark mural for downtown Ashland
Pugh is preparing to install “Where the Crow Lights” on the west wall of the Elks Building, across from the Ashland Springs Hotel.
Pugh specializes in trompe l’oeil, a technique that uses realistic imagery to create the illusion that a flat surface has depth or has become part of the surrounding architecture.
The mural will make the building appear to open behind gathered stage curtains, revealing an Indigenous village framed by Ashland’s former Chautauqua Dome. Pugh plans to use non-load-bearing architectural foam along the roof parapet to strengthen the three-dimensional effect.
Pugh developed the design through preliminary drawings, mockups and small three-dimensional models at his Ashland studio. The concept continued to change as he learned more about the Indigenous people who lived in the region.
The project says its title comes from the name Shasta people gave to a village where Ashland now stands.
“The source of enchantment that I was looking for in the first place really lies, from my understanding now, more with the Indigenous population that was here for so long,” Pugh said.
The completed mural will not identify the people depicted as members of a specific tribe. Pugh said he wants the piece to represent regional Indigeneity and Indigenous relationships with the natural world.
The privately funded project has a $250,000 budget. Organizers say the materials and techniques used to create the mural should give it an expected lifespan of about 100 years.
A live video feed of the installation is available at wherethecrowlights.org.
Folk musicians stop in Southern Oregon
Several musicians headed to the Sisters Folk Festival will perform in Southern Oregon before the festival begins.
Multi-instrumentalists Cristina Vane and Madeline Hawthorne will perform Sept. 23 at The Hivve in Grants Pass.
Canadian duo Mama’s Broke will bring its blend of Appalachian, Celtic and old-time music to Fry Family Farm in Medford on Sept. 24. The duo will also perform a live session at JPR that afternoon.
The Sisters Folk Festival runs Sept. 25-27 on seven stages around Sisters.
“They have seven stages throughout town, nestled kind of into the trees,” Jackson said.
The lineup includes singer-songwriter John Gorka, fiddler Michael Cleveland, Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, singer-songwriter Margo Cilker and banjoist Hannah Mayree.
Cilker’s 2023 album, “Valley of Heart’s Delight,” was included on NPR Music’s list of the year’s 50 best albums.
A Mount Shasta mystery comes to Ashland
“The Hole Story”, a true-crime documentary directed by Elijah Sullivan, will screen at Ashland’s Varsity Theatre from Sept. 18-24.
The film begins with the discovery of a mysterious 60-foot hole on Mount Shasta. It uses that mystery to explore local legends, conspiracy theories, misinformation and an unsolved crime.
“This is an award-winning true-crime documentary that goes into urban legends and misinformation and conspiracies,” Finney said.
Guests
- Vanessa Finney, JPR arts reporter, host of The Creative Way and My Better Half
- Dave Jackson, JPR music director, curator, host of Open Air on JPR's Rhythm and News Service
- Jarrett Davidson, Ashland artist and teacher
- John Pugh, mural artist
