Light moving through glass and memories layered in print will fill two new exhibits opening at the Newport Visual Arts Center this Friday, Nov. 6.
“Roots and Refractions” features fused glass by Martha Keane of Whirleybird Glassworks, while Julia Goos explores the ways stories survive and change in “Architecture, Memory, and History.” Both exhibits will open with a public reception from 5 to 7 pm on Friday, with artist talks beginning around 5:30 pm and light refreshments provided.
Keane spent years as a professional arborist studying the architecture of trees, seasonal changes in forests and the small details of the natural world. That close attention now informs glasswork inspired by Oregon’s forests and coastlines.
For Keane, fused glass “moves and changes throughout the day,” and reflects the shifting landscapes that inspire her.
“Nature is endlessly generous with its beauty,” she said. “I try to catch a little of it and hold it up to the light.”
Keane began working in fused glass in 2010 after nearly a decade creating stained glass. Her creative path also included 10 years as a commercial beekeeper, making handcrafted beeswax lotion bars and bee-themed glass. She now works from her Whirleybird Glassworks studio in Lincoln City.
“Roots and Refractions” will be displayed in the second-floor showcase.
In the third-floor Upstairs Gallery, Goos will present prints created during her residency at the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts in Greece. Drawing on printmaking, quilting and book arts, her layered compositions explore remembering and forgetting, revealing and concealing.
Archival materials, stitched forms and printed surfaces offer ways to consider how stories are preserved, altered or lost over time.
An Oregon Coast artist and educator, Goos teaches visual arts at Oregon Coast Community College. She has a master’s degree in printmaking from Illinois State University and a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Wyoming.
She also co-organizes Mother Matrix, a collaborative printmaking initiative supporting artist-mothers through shared studio practices. Her work has been exhibited at Normal Editions Workshop at Illinois State University and the Chessman Gallery in Lincoln City.
The exhibits will remain on display through January 2 at the Newport Visual Arts Center, located at 777 NW Beach Drive. Regular gallery hours are noon to 4 pm Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, go to coastarts.org or call 541-265-2787.