SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2021 | 3A
Community News
Backstreet Gallery features Anderson and Damon-Dawson in August
“Living by Water” is
the theme Kristin An-
derson and Kathryn Da-
mon-Dawson chose for
their joint Featured Artist
Exhibit at Backstreet Gal-
lery during August.
Fused glass artist An-
derson came from her an-
alytical engineering career
to balance that left-brain
activity with her creativity
in working with glass. Per-
haps her technical back-
ground influences the geo-
metric patterns that much
of her work contains.
Anderson is constantly
using the gleaming quality
of glass while she experi-
ments with color, design
and unique forms. In ad-
dition, she often combines
metal with her glass pieces.
Whether it’s utilitarian
or decorative, Anderson’s
fused glass is unique. She
creates angular vases, dec-
orative plates and unusual
bowls.
Her dazzling jewel-
ry pieces include pen-
dants and
br a c e l e t s
that can
enhance
any outfit.
For a spe-
cial way
to display
your busi-
ness cards
or
pho-
tographs,
consider
her card-
h o l d -
ers
and
picture
frames.
Anderson is the pres-
ident of the Florence
Regional Arts Alliance
(FRAA). She is also on the
board of the Lane Coun-
ty Cultural Coalition,
which, through funding
provided by the Oregon
Cultural Trust, distributes
grant funds each year in
arts, heritage and human-
ities providing support
for cultural programs and
projects throughout Lane
County.
Anderson has an inno-
vative approach to leader-
ship in financial expertise
that she brings to Back-
street and FRAA. As the
Backstreet treasurer, she
researched and updated
systems for barcodes to
ease sales procedures.
She is also an award-win-
ning blog writer—top
Glass Art Blogs & Websites
for Glass Artist. It is locat-
ed at idlecreativity.word-
paintings
from over
3,000 cat-
egorized
images in
her files.
Many of
these pho-
tos have
been gift-
ed to her
by
her
hu s b and,
At Backstreet Gallery, featured artists Rand, and
Kathryn Damon-Dawson’s osprey breaks p h o t o g -
rules by the Port of Siuslaw and Kristin
rapher
Anderson’s fused glass gleams in green.
Stephanie
Ames.
Damon-Dawson
press.com/.
Damon-Dawson
is juxtaposes forms within
an accomplished water- the picture frame, creating
color painter and plati- stories open to the viewers’
num-award winner with interpretation.
Birds with their unique
the Watercolor Society of
Oregon. This past year, she feather-patterns are her
continued to create paint- favored characters. “Con-
ings, adding 30 more to templation” depicts a Great
her inventory that speak Blue Heron contemplating
to the theme of life around a Japanese fishing float at its
feet. “Osprey Rules” shows
water.
She photographs and an Osprey disagreeing with
collects images of char- a Port of Siuslaw “No Div-
acters and forms for her ing, No Fishing” sign. Fi-
nally, “Hallelujah” weaves
seven Sandhill Cranes to-
gether in celebratory song.
Damon-Dawson
also
enjoys the challenge of
painting people actively in-
volved in life. “Hard Day’s
Work” colorfully captures
two dockworkers, off-load-
ing and scrubbing crabbing
gear. “Discovery” portrays
a girl in her summer dress
exploring beach debris.
In a setting of old-growth
trees and Siltcoos Lake, Da-
mon-Dawson’s studio pro-
vides privacy, inspiration
and space to work. She is a
founding member of Back-
street Gallery — created
in 2005 — and is current-
ly Membership Chair. She
has facilitated membership
of five new members since
January 2021.
Find both artists at www.
backstreetgallery.org and
1421 Bay St. in Historic Old
Town Florence. Backstreet
Gallery is open daily ex-
cept Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 5
p.m.
City gives Quince Street Development Update
Garage Sale
Fri. 07/30 & Sat. 07/31
8am-3pm
4936 S. Loftus Rd,
Household, Men’s stuff,
collectables, books,
records, glassware, beer
signs and more.
7/28-8/1 & 8/5-8/8
10am-5pm
6563 Highway 126
(Across from
Siuslaw Marina)
Books, Bedding, Kitchen,
Yard. Something for
everybody.
Fri-Sat, 7/30 & 7/31
9am-4pm
13225 Highway 36,
Swisshome
Tools & Misc. Too much to
mention.
Next weekend
2-Family Garage Sale
Aug 6 & 7th
9am-?
1991 Willow LP.
Collectibles,
Kitchenware, household
items, vacuum.
TheSiuslawNews.com
At its meeting on
Wednesday, July 28, the
Florence Urban Renewal
Agency (FURA) received
an update from staff re-
lated to the Quince Street
development progress. The
FURA Board had previous-
ly entered into an Exclusive
Negotiating
Agreement
(ENA) with Sycan B. Corp./
Merete’ Hotel Management
as a result of the Requests
for Expressions of Interest
solicitation in 2020. That
ENA, and its subsequent
extension authorized on
May 26, 2021, expired on
July 1.
Unfortunately, Sycan no-
tified the FURA staff that
they would not be pursu-
ing the project further and
therefore did not request
further extensions of the
ENA.
Subsequent to the exe-
cution of the ENA, on Jan.
13, the agency authorized
the use of $44,000 in agen-
cy funds for “critical path”
due diligence activities, at
the request of Sycan. These
activities included an ALTA
survey, a geotechnical sur-
vey and analysis, and a ho-
tel market feasibility analy-
sis. Since the FURA Board
funded these reports, they
are the property of FURA
and remain essential for fu-
ture development.
Of note, the hotel market
feasibility report indicated
strong demand for addi-
tional lodging in Florence.
Next Steps
After discussion by the
FURA Board, it was deter-
mined that any unsolicited
proposals for development
of the Quince Street prop-
erty would be accepted
at least through Aug. 31,
2021. The board reactivat-
ed the Selection Advisory
Committee to review any
proposals that may be re-
ceived during that time.
Any developers inter-
ested in submitting a pro-
posal should review the
information outlining the
Board’s objectives for the
development offering and
follow the criteria outlined
in the previously published
Request for Expressions of
Interest.
For questions related to
the project, prospective
developers are encouraged
to contact Assistant City
Manager Megan Messmer
at
megan.messmer@ci.
florence.or.us.
The previously pub-
lished Request for Ex-
pressions of Interest is
available on the FURA
website at www.ci.flor-
ence.or.us/urbanrenewal/
quince-street-request-ex-
pressions-interest.
If FURA receives pro-
posals prior to Aug. 31, the
Selection Advisory Com-
mittee will meet with staff
to review. The full FURA
Board would then meet for
review of staff recommen-
dations.
If FURA does not receive
any unsolicited proposals,
staff will bring recommen-
dations to the board for a
second Request for Ex-
pression of Interest to in-
clude reaffirmation of the
development objectives, a
structured timeline, and
a streamlined process in
order to continue the mo-
mentum of the agency.
Project Background
In 2018, the agency pur-
chased the 13.4-acre pre-
vious site of the Siuslaw
Middle School, located
directly across from the
Florence Events Center on
Quince St., from a private
development company that
had owned the properties
since the early 2000s. Since
purchasing this property,
the agency moved toward
a strategy for development
of the Quince Street site for
a hotel in order to support
the Florence Events Center
in being more marketable
for out-of-area events, and
to increase property val-
ues and transient room tax
revenue to support future
housing and economic de-
velopment efforts of the
agency and the community.
For more information
about the Quince Street
development and the
Florence Urban Renewal
agency decision, visit the
Florence Urban Renew-
al agency’s Quince Street
Property
Development
project page at www.ci.flor
ence.or.us/urbanrenewal/
qu i nc e - st re e t - prop e r-
ty-development or con-
tact Messmer at 541-997-
3437 or megan.messmer@
ci.florence.or.us.
EcoGeneration Recycling Take Back
Another EcoGeneration
Recycling Take Back plastic
event is scheduled for Sun-
day, Aug. 1, at the Siuslaw
Middle School pavilion.
The event starts at 11
a.m. with the first hour
being designated for the
elderly and disabled.
The general public is
encouraged to bring their
recyclables between noon
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
JULY 31
AUGUST 1
AUGUST 2
AUGUST 3
Partly Cloudy Mostly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy
69°F
55°F
69°F
53°F
70°F
52°F
69°F
51°F
and 2 p.m.
Ecogeneration.org has
specific information on
how to prepare your recy-
clables and what products
are accepted.
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
FRIDAY
AUGUST 4
AUGUST 5
AUGUST 6
Mostly Sunny
AM Showers
Partly Cloudy
69°F
56°F
66°F
55°F
66°F
54°F
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