6A | SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 |
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Arts & Culture
Arts
CG gets ‘mugged’
by Sophia Edelblute
sedelblute
@cgsentinel.com
For many longtime res-
idents of Cottage Grove,
the historical significance
of downtown and the
beauty of the many murals
that dot the walls is just an
everyday fact of life. For
Jacob Monroe, a ceramist
out of Eugene, it’s inspira-
tion for his art.
“I heard Cottage Grove
had a preserved historic
district and I knew I need-
ed to check it out,” Mon-
roe said.
Three of his pieces fea-
turing our little town
have been put on display
and showcased all the
way across the country
in a gallery in Humboldt,
Tennessee. Not just any
gallery either, the Com-
panion Gallery, a contem-
porary ceramics art gal-
lery which features work
from all over the US.
“I’ve always had a ton
of respect for them and
always wanted to see my
artwork in their gallery,
and so this experience has
been pretty incredible for
me,” Monroe said.
All three of Monroe’s
Cottage Grove mugs sold
on the opening day.
Monroe has been mak-
ing ceramics as a full-time
job for nearly three years,
and regularly sells at the
Saturday Market in Eu-
gene. He only started re-
cently, as he’s only been in
Eugene for about a year.
“I’ve been meeting a ton
of really amazing people,
and I’m just really enjoy-
ing the culture around
here,” he said.
Talking to people at the
market, in fact a “long
conversation with a cou-
ple from Cottage Grove,”
is how he discovered the
mine of inspiration that
our town had in store.
As a musician originally,
he always had a focus to-
wards the art, and towards
the challenging. When he
was 17, he found ceramics
and decided to put his en-
ergy into it. Getting start-
ed professionally was all
about luck, and a chance
he had to apprentice un-
der someone who knew
all about the science of ce-
ramics.
“I had all these ques-
tions about glaze chemis-
try, and I was really, like
I had found this art that
wasn’t just making some-
thing, there was all this
science behind it,” he said.
“It was really difficult, and
I think I was just attracted
to difficult things.”
From there, he says, one
opportunity led to another
opportunity and now he’s
lucky enough to make art
full time.
He loves creating with
clay and glaze because the
materials he use can be a
bit volatile, as he says, so
it’s especially nice when
they come out of the kiln
and are still in one piece.
“When it works out,
it’s really rewarding,” said
Monroe. “Like when I
open the kiln, and, I’m
making my own porcelain
and using really unstable
clays, [so] when things
turn out at the end it’s a
pretty awesome feeling.”
The best part of the pro-
fession though, he said,
is the moment one of his
pieces finds a home.
“Knowing that they’re
gonna live a life after when
I have agency” and the fact
that each one is a unique,
one-of-a-kind
memory
PHOTO COURTESY OF JACOB MONROE
All three of Monroe’s Cottage Grove mugs sold on the first day of their display in
the Companion Gallery in Humboldt, Tennessee. This mug features the historic
Coca Cola mural on Main St. and 7th. The other two featured the Cottage Grove
Hotel and the I.O.O.F. Hall.
of sorts is something that
keeps him creating.
For now, Cottage Grove
is immortalized in three
ceramic “memories” of
Monroe’s, and in the fu-
ture he hopes to keep
making art as often as he
can.
Free rides offered between Eugene and Roseburg
Umpqua Public Trans-
portation District (UPTD)
has started a new bus route
called the Lane-Douglas
Connector (LDC).
This new service offers
safe, reliable, accessible
transportation to veter-
ans and the general public
in rural communities for
better access to healthcare
services and shopping op-
portunities.
Lane-Douglas Connec-
tor operates from 7:30 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays
and Thursdays with sched-
uled stops at the Veterans
Affairs Hospital in Rose-
burg, Ray’s Food in Drain,
Walmart and PeaceHealth
Medical Center in Cottage
Grove, and the Veterans Af-
fairs Clinic in Eugene (LTD
bus stop nearby).
The stop in Drain serves
as a connection point for
passengers of the North
Douglas Betterment shut-
tle.
The route is operated by
South Lane Wheels as a
pilot project funded by the
Rural Veterans Healthcare
Transportation grant.
For service information
and timetable go to: www.
southlanetransit.com, or to
schedule a ride, call UPTD
dispatch toll-free at 888-
232-8121.
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