Art in Rural Storefronts Project

 Art in Rural Storefronts Project: 

  • Three Temporary Arts Installations in Downtown Storefronts
  • Art Projects at Harrisburg Schools AND
  • Ice Cream Social with the Artists at the Harrisburg Area Museum

Where: Art Installations at

      • 190 Smith Street (Odd Fellows Hall)
      • 306 S Third Street.( J.B. Woodworks Inc.)

Ice-cream Social will be at the Harrisburg Area Museum (490 Smith Street)

When: Art Installed the months September – November 2015

Ice-cream Social – Saturday, September 19, 2015, 3 – 5 PM

Art in Rural Storefronts is coming to Harrisburg this fall. Four artists created three art installations that will be on view the months of September, October and November in downtown Harrisburg. Each window is an artistic interpretation of things relating in some way to the community and/or the area. The project is a collaboration of Harrisburg business owners, civic leaders, the Harrisburg Area Museum and The Arts Center (Corvallis).

The Odd Fellows Hall on 190 Smith Street will show three of the four artists.

Michael Boonstra & Andrew Myers view are landscape from far and from very up-close. Boonstra’s patterns of the roads , streams and fields as seen from the sky above form the structure of the installation, while Myers’ drawings show flora and fauna from up-close.

Ally Maser composes preserved and dyed grasses to illustrate various components of the landscape in the other Odd Fellows Hall window.

JB Woodworks at 206 S Third Street shows the sculpture of Brandon Cyrus Peery. He will fill the window with carved bees. Peery sees commonalities with bee hives and Harrisburg; both are based in agriculture and industry.  His message is that the individual (bee or Harrisburg resident) and their communities are interrelated, the community depends on each individual to be valued and taken care off, while individuals on their part need to take care of the community.

Art in Rural Storefronts is a program of The Arts Center in Corvallis that is supported by the Oregon Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The program brings contemporary art to rural communities who otherwise would not get to see installation artwork. The Arts Center also coordinates arts education in the public schools in conjunction with the project. Arts Education for youth in the Harrisburg public schools received the support of The Reser Family Foundation.

On September 19 from 3- 5 PM The Arts Center and the Harrisburg Area Museum host an ice-cream social and artist reception. The four artists will present a Questions & Answers Presentation, share how they planned for and created their artworks, and answer questions people might have for them. The ice-cream social is open to everyone, and is free of charge.

Both Boonstra & Myers, as well as Ally Maser have follow up projects. Learn more about those at the ice-cream social!

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