Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 19, 1978)
Photos by Greg Gawtowstd ....mnw m Visitors find Eugene to be a crafty city By KEVIN HARDEN Of the Emerald There had been nothing like it since the Old Farmers’ Market closed in the 1950s. Downtown Eugene was a bustle of activity. People could be found browsing through the small stalls, sampling fresh produce and handling hand-made crafts that filled nearly every inch of the parking plaza a cross from the Lane County Courthouse. Once little more than an idea, this gathering place for young and old, artisans and craftspeople in downtown Eugene has become an institution which attracts crowds every Saturday from May till December, rain or shine. In its eighth year, the Eugene Saturday Market has been consi dered the largest outlet for area craftworkers who fill its 225 eight foot square vendor stalls week after week with handmade, home grown and often unique products. The market began in May, 1970 with 29 vendors and rainy weather. Three main factors brought the market into existence: a large number of artisans and a lively interest in buying and using local crafts (as shown by the suc cess of annual Christmas craft sales), an abundance of local pro duce and no downtown outlet since the closure of an old Far mers’ Market in the 1950s and a dying downtown in need of re vitalizing. Today, however, Eugene is brimming with outlets for local craftspeople. Besides the Satur ju BANANA IP SPLIT SALE Buy 1 at the regular price | and get the second for only 1 cent Thursday wJune 22nd only nil3th & Hilyard Dairy Queen Dairii Queen Oregon Daily Emerald day Market, three other Markets specializing in home-grown and handcrafted products have made Eugene a craftperson’s paradise. The Fifth Street Public Market, a three-year-old venture located just north of downtown, offers an indoor shopping plaza complete with restaurant, dozens of vend ing booths selling everything from mac.ame to original scenic photography and constant enter tainment by local musicians and singers. The Jefferson Elevator, a grain elevator-turned marketplace at third Avenue and Jefferson Street which began almost two years ago, offers shoppers many of the same products, from tie-dyed baby clothing and old-fashioned photography to an ice cream par lor, while providing another outlet for area craft work. The newest craft center, Made In Oregon (located across from the Fifth Street Public Market), opened a year ago April and pro vides a marketplace for some 60 local craftspeople who specialize in handmade furniture and fix tures. According to Pat Cross, co-owner of the shop, Made in Oregon began because of a need for a large retail space for hand crafted furniture. Cross and her husband had been selling tables, chairs and ac cessories in a stall at the Saturday Market for about six years but found that to be inadequate. The craftspeople working out of their own shops sell furniture through the store. Made In Oregon is still in the building stages and craftspeople from all over the MCAT “sir OCAT • MCAT • SAT • VAT • LSAT NAT’L OENT BDS • NURSING BDS STANLEY H. KAPLAN EDUCATIONAL CENTER Test Preparation Specialists Since 1938 OPEN DAYS, EVENINGS, & WEEKENDS For Information, Please Call: 343-2618 Summer Class in Eugene begins August 5th. state have been invited to take aQvantage of the selling space, Cross said. While established craft workers use the various retail outlets to sell their wares, Eugene citizens with a crafty itch will have dozens of summer arts and crafts classes from which to choose. Maude I. Kerns Art Center is a non-profit, educational, member ship institution which provides area residents with arts and crafts classes, exhibitions, workshops, community projects and special events. The center opens its summer term and eight-week arts and crafts classes this week with 25 courses offered in one session running through the second week in August. The art center’s summer ses sion, beginning June 19 through July 25, offers classed in painting, printmaking and pottery. Jewelry courses will include cast sculpture classes which will teach the basic skills and techni ques of lost wax casting, with an emphasis on the personal crea tion of an original wax sculpture. Two weaving classes will intro duce students to floor loom weav ing and basketry. The Eugene Parks and Recrea tion Department, in cooperation with the four city community cen ters and several community schools, has scheduled nearly 30 adult, teenage and children's arts and crafts classes. Many of the classes will begin the last week of June and continue through Au gust. The 15 adult craft classes in clude a Bargello needlepoint workshop held at Sheldon Com munity Center, a basketry class at the Amazon Center with fiber working macrame, needlepoint, stained glass and warm weather quilting classes also held at Westmoreland and Peterson Bam Centers. Other classes include calli graphy, crocheting, painting, pot tery, basketry for children and ceramics and photography for teenagers. Lane Community College, lo cated south of Eugene on 30th Avenue, has scheduled several summer adult arts and crafts clas ses. The courses, which begin this week, will include backstrap weav ing, basketry, creative stitchery, Japanese cultural embroidery, macrame, pottery and stained glass. Many of the classes will meet for two or three hours each Tuesday and Wednesday even ing. Besides the classes offered by summer recreation programs, SUMMER Mass Schedule NEWMAN CENTER Weekdays 5 p.m. Saturdays: Vigil Mass 5 p.m. Sundays: 9 & 11 a.m. & 8 p.m. St. Thomas More University Parish University of Oregon 1850 Emerald 343-7021 several city craft shops hold con tinuous classes in macrame, tole painting and embroidery. Those offering instruction include Ameri can Handicrafts and Custom Art Wall Plaques in the Oakway Mall, Husfliden Gallerise Ltd. on West 11th Avenue and the Brush and Thimble on River Avenue. On the University campus, the EMU Craft Center, located on the ground floor of the EMU, operates on a regular schedule for the summer term and will provide classes and workshops in such craft work as textiles, stained glass and photography. SCIENCE FICTION and METAPHYSICAL BOOKS _ PERALANDRA 10% OFF ALL BOOKS NOW THRU JUNE! 790 E. 11th Ave. 485-4848 Page 7 Section B
