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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2021)
6A | JULY 8, 2021 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Arts & Culture Downtown sprouts a “Garden of People” By Sophia Edelblute sedelblute@ cgsentinel.com On Tuesday, July 6, downtown Cottage Grove got a fi rst peek at artist Uy- en-thi Nguyen’s “Garden of People.” Th rough windows of lo- cal businesses like Delight, the Bookmine and Buster’s Main Street Cafe, portraits of the people of Cottage Grove are on display. Aft er nearly a year of painting, interviewing and getting to know various people in Cottage Grove, Nguyen’s book, “Garden of People, A Portrait of Cottage Grove,” is nearly fi nished. Th e paintings in storefront windows along Main St. are glimpses of the contents of the book. A paper with a title is in each window, including a quote that encapsulates the por- trait and off ers an excerpt from the book. Because of Nguyen’s grant provided by the Lane Arts Council, she was slat- ed to do exhibitions in Eugene and Springfi eld as well. Unfortunately, both of those exhibits were can- celed due to COVID-19 safety concerns. “So I decided, I wanted to do it here,” says Nguy- en, “I was gonna do it at the library, the Bohemia Mining Museum and stuff so I was just like, window fronts can’t close so we’re just gonna do that.” Th e paintings are strate- gically placed in windows which get relatively little sun so they don’t fade, though Nguyen mentions that oil paints don’t suff er as greatly. Th e drawings she created are all in win- dows that won’t get sun so they can also avoid fading. Th e windowfront ex- hibitions are meant to go through July 30 for Art Walk, where Nguyen will also be available to do pre- orders at the Opal Center. Each painted portrait took nearly two or three weeks. Oil paint also takes a bit to dry “and some of them are big,” says Nguy- en, which means they take longer to paint. A lot of people were a bit uneasy to do portraits be- cause of COVID-19 con- cerns, Nguyen recounted. To help solve this problem, she decided to meet people where they wanted. “When I talked to them I wanted them to pick somewhere they were comfortable, so they were in their element,” says Nguyen. “Th en they could Are you a Chamber Member? Ask us how you can become a member today! Contact the Cottaeg Grove Area Chamber of Commerce (541) 942-2411 info@ cgchamber.com SOPHIA EDELBLUTE/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Nguyen’s paintings and sketches are on display until the Art Walk on July 30. All feature people of Cottage Grove and her book details a little bit more about each person. tell me something about that and so sometimes I would meet people in the cemetery or sometimes I’d meet them somewhere they volunteer, sometimes it was where they worked, sometimes it was at their house... I wanted them to be in a place where they were comfortable sharing their story.” Th ere will be something close to 42 paintings fea- tured in the book, which will come out sometime this summer, “maybe in August” Nguyen says. It still needs some proofi ng and color corrections, but it can be preordered on her website. She’s also hop- Proud Sponsor of the Summer Reading Program 3 Items - $500 limit This is truly the place to find that hard to find item or turn your unwanted possessions in to other people’s treasure. 717 Main Street Cottage Grove, OR 97424 Lobby Phone: 541.942.2468 Studio Line: 541.942.5548 Online requests: request@knnd.com Over 30 years of experience Call us for a Free Quote! “We do small remodels, home repairs and decks! Serving Lane & North Douglas Counties 541-670-8172 ccb# 217560 2775 Row River Rd, Cottage Grove 541-942-4415 • bradschevy.com GROVE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT “B UILDING A H EALTHY C OMMUNITY ” Y OUR L OCAL P ROVIDER OF H OME M EDICAL E QUIPMENT ! 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