Pulse Editor
Jacquelyn Lewis
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Thursday
Metalsmithing
students are
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Sculptures grace the streets of Downtown Eugene on
Broadway and Willamette Street where art galleries
provide an interesting stroll through the artistic realm.
Downtown: where it's art
Downtown Eugene’s
numerous galleries
provide a free and visually
stimulating afternoon
Jacquelyn Lewis
Pulse Editor
Willamette Street is bustling
on an unseasonably warm Sat
urday, and soft afternoon light
filters into Eugene’s Downtown
art galleries. The area is a vir
tual treasure trove of creation
and contemplation, and while
students might not have
enough money to purchase
any of the collections, viewing
this art is an afternoon well
spent — and absolutely free.
Inside White Lotus Gallery
at 767 Willamette St., the sun
shine radiates off paintings and
ceramics, illuminating art from
today all the way back to the
15th century.
“This gallery is dedicated to
Asian art and showing high-end
artifacts ,” owner Dick Easley
said. Easley, a University alum
nus, operates the gallery with
alumna Hue-Ping Lin.
“Our stock and trade is con
temporary Chinese prints and
paintings and modern and an
tique Japanese prints,” he said.
Easley also pointed out ce
ramics from a 15th-century
Vietnamese shipwreck and
pottery from local artist Dan
Schmitt, whose work has been
commissioned by the Smith
sonian Institution. A deeper
look into the gallery’s winding
back room uncovers addition
al paintings, small artifacts and
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Galleries in the Downtown area exhibit international pieces and installations unique to the Eugene area.
antique Japanese furniture.
The gallery — in its 11th
year of business — is cur
rently hosting “Food is a
benefit for FOOD for Lane
County displaying local
artists’ perceptions of food.
The show will continue
through March 28. In con
junction with the benefit,
White Lotus will host the
Empty Bowls Sale on March
7, where customers can pur
chase a bowl and receive a
coupon for free soup at one of
Eugene’s restaurants.
Easley said the gallery also
attracts art lovers because it
contains artwork they might
not see elsewhere. The collec
tion, open Tuesday through
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30
p.m., includes many contem
porary Chinese prints and
paintings from the region’s
leading academics.
“In some cases, we’re the
only gallery in the United States
showing this work,” he said.
Easley emphasized that
students should not be intimi
dated by the gallery’s artistic
atmosphere.
“We sincerely welcome stu
dents,” he said. “This is not a
snobby gallery. It’s a friendly
place.”
Gallery director Brent Hous
ton said Criterion Gallery, lo
cated at 790 Willamette St.,
also welcomes students,
whether they want to view the
gallery’s current exhibits or
propose their own.
The bulk of Criterion’s d
isplays come from Oregon
artists. Houston, who became
director nearly four months
ago, said the gallery is
Turn to Art, page 7
Eugene Station runs the gamut of demographics
Eugene Station, the hub for local LTD
busses, provides a bustling social
scene for people from all walks of life
Reporter’s notebook
Aaron Shakra
Pulse Reporter
I woke up early on a cloudy Sunday, a time
when some college students are either sleeping in
or hung over from another Saturday night of in
dulgence and avarice. The question weighing on
my mind during this already atypical morning
was: Is there such a thing as bus “culture”?
I headed Downtown to Eugene Station, de
parting from the University Station on Kincaid
Street. Students ride the bus free, as long as
they have their student ID. However, it was a
mistake to assume busses would be running at
the same frequency on the weekends as the
weekdays. On Sundays, they come in intervals
of hours instead of minutes. Rather than wait
ing another hour for a bus to take me Down
town, I elected to reach Eugene Station — my
destination of choice — by foot.
When I arrived, I sat down to observe the
place silently. The station was mostly desolate,
yet there were still things to see. An older gen
tleman with a walking stick circumnavigated
the lettered arrival points, apparently looking at
bus times. A police car drove around both of the
station’s throughways. A boxed-in parked car
close to the McDonald Theatre pulled out and
drove into the station, clanking down off the
thick edge of the sidewalk.
Eventually, this form of observation became re
dundant. I moved into the LTD Center building in
search of some experiences and stories from the
employers at the counter. However, they declined
to comment and instead referred me to the public
relations telephone number.
Over at the New Odyssey Juice and Java Bar
on the corner of West 10th Avenue and
Willamette Street, I talked to manager Walt
Hunt, and was beginning to make some progress
in my search.
“There’s a definite bus culture,” Hunt said.
“It brings people together, different layers of so
ciety — people who live in tents, street kids,
businessmen, high school kids. That’s what’s in
teresting, seeing all these mixes of people; it’s a
real socializer.”
Turn to Station, page 6
Emerald
Eugene Station serves as a nexus for both social interaction and transportation.