Local program recognizes art students nationwide
FLORENCE—Siuslaw middle and
high school students have joined forces
with Florence artist, River Gallery
owner and TR Hunter Realtor Jan Jagoe
to promote her endangered species proj-
ect, which awards $1,000 scholarships
to high school art students nationwide.
Alicia Hoxie of Reno High School in
Reno, Nev., received a $1,000 art schol-
arship in November for her charcoal,
pencil, watercolor and pastel drawing of
a Mount Charleston Blue Butterfly.
Zoey Zhao from Tucson, Ariz.,
received a scholarship in May for her
colored pencil drawing of a baby Ocelot.
Brooks Jones from Salt Lake City,
Utah, received a scholarship in
December 2015, for her pen and ink
drawing of a southwestern Willow
Flycatcher.
Jordan Merz from Bonners Ferry High
School in Idaho received a scholarship
in May 2015, for her graphite and char-
coal drawing of a Woodland Caribou.
Paris Meyers, from Albany, Ore.,
received a scholarship in December
P ORCELAIN
COURTESY PHOTO
Jan Jagoe (left) presents a certificate to Reno High School student Alicia
Hoxie for her artwork.
2014 for her watercolor of a humpback
whale.
Pictures of winning artwork are post-
ed online at www.bethewhale.com.
High
school
students
from
Washington will submit their artwork
during the spring semester of 2017.
The endangered animal chosen for
Washington State will be announced in
January, 2017.
The Siuslaw School District receives
10 percent of the funding received by
the “BE The Whale” project. The funds
will be distributed to classroom teachers
and staff to buy classroom supplies.
In addition to 10 percent of the GO
Fund Me account going to the Siuslaw
School District, a portion of all proceeds
will be donated to various endangered
species projects.
Donations to help support this pro-
gram can be made at Oregon Pacific
Bank, 1335 Highway 101, Florence,
Ore. 97439.
Checks should be addressed to the
“BE the Whale” donation fund.
SCULPTURE EXHIBIT CONTINUES AT
COOS BAY — A show of porcelain
sculptures by the late Elena Karina
Canavier will be on display through Feb.
11.
Few people of Oregon’s South Coast
know that we had a major ceramic artist in
our midst. Elena Karina Canavier has
works in important collections throughout
the United States, including the Boston
Museum, the Oakland Museum of Art and
the Smithsonian Institution.
At the time of her death in 2010,
Canavier was building a dream studio on
a mountaintop south of Langlois.
Family members and friends have plans
underway for shows in Los Angeles and
New York, but since the work is currently
here, they have agreed to have the very
first showing of the finest pieces right
here at our own museum in Coos Bay.
Says Coos Art Museum director Steven
Broocks, “This is a very special opportu-
nity for the people of Southern Oregon to
see a show which normally would not
find its way to our area; I am very excited
about this exhibit, which coincides with
the 50th anniversary of the Coos Art
Museum.”
Elena Karina Canavier was born Sept.
2, 1931, in Tientsin, China, where her
Russian father was chief engineer for the
construction of the Mongolian Railway.
The family moved to Los Angeles when
Elena was young, and she studied art at
the Jepson Art Institute, received her
bachelor or arts degree in architecture and
printmaking from University of Southern
California, and her masters degree from
California Southern University in Long
Beach.
While there, she spent a great deal of
time beachcombing, and her fascination
with tide pools and marine creatures trans-
lated into her works of art.
In the 1970s, Canavier moved to
Washington, DC, where she became
Crafts Coordinator for the National
Endowment for the Arts, and later served
as special adviser for the Arts Office of
Vice-President Walter Mondale from
1978 to 1980.
She taught ceramics in Los Angeles and
Washington, D.C., wrote for many publi-
cations including Art Week and Art News,
and was a featured artist in many galleries,
most recently at the prestigious Davis and
Cline Gallery in Ashland.
John Davis said in a telephone inter-
view: “Elena was a consummate artist; her
work was visionary…She was a true mas-
ter of the medium, as well as a delightful
human being.”
Canavier
became
acquainted
with
Bandon artist and cura-
tor Victoria Tierney
shortly after coming to
the South Coast in
2001.
When she started
AVK Arts with funds
left to her by her aunt
and uncle, Antonina
and Vladimir Koulaeff,
she approached Tierney and suggested
that they might work together to promote
the arts in Bandon.
“She was an ideal patron of the arts,”
says Tierney. “She trusted us completely;
I never had to write out long detailed pro-
posals and apply for grants. She simply
wanted to know what each show cost, and
she paid for them.
“She sponsored over 50 shows. It was a
great stroke of wonderful luck for
Bandon.”
In gratitude for this support, Tierney
has offered her services to curate this
show at the Coos Art Museum.
“It is a labor of love for me,” says
Tierney, who serves on the Exhibitions
Committee of the museum. “I think peo-
ple will be blown away by the quality of
CAM
“Acrobat”
porcelain
sculpture by
Elena Karina
Canavier
COURTESY PHOTO
the work. I encourage
all of you to take advantage of the chance
to see this show.”
The museum will also be showing
important works from its Permanent
Collection, as well as scientific illustra-
tions of tidal pool animals done by mem-
bers of the Oregon Guild of Natural
Science Illustrators and low tide photogra-
phy by members of the Willamette Valley
PhotoArts Guild.
These will complement Canavier’s del-
icate porcelain creations inspired by tide
pools and marine creatures.
Coos Art Museum hours are 10 a.m. to
4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 1 to 4
p.m. on Saturday. Museum admission: $5
general, $2 students, veterans and seniors,
free to museum members.
JA N U AR Y 2 0 1 7 • A r ts & E nt e rt ai n m en t • C OAST C ENTRAL •
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