EUGENE MAYOR'S ART SHOW


Eugene Mayor’s Art Show Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony
Thursday before the Eugene Celebration
5:30 P.M., Hult Center

Coordinated by Miriam Alexis Jordan since 2000

Musical group plays music from 5 to 5:30 p.m.

Eugene Mayor welcomes guests to this event, which has traditionally been the kick-off of the Eugene Celebration, thanks musical group, acknowledges the planning committee, and presents a brief speech, before introducing the Master of Ceremony.

A special thank-you is given to the Oregon Eye Associates, a Business Arts Service Award recipient, who has sponsored the Mayor’s Art Show since 1986.

The audience is directed to the program for a list of local business contributors to this annual. 

Over the past several years, the Jacobs Gallery has operated as a successful public/private partnership with the Lane Arts Council, the City of Eugene, and private donors. 

The Master of Ceremony outlines the history.

The Mayor’s Art Show is one of the few joint ventures that celebrate local artists and works.  The Jacobs Gallery continues in the spirit of Maurie Jacobs, who was a respected and admired man, and the leaders with whom he labored, aspired to give Eugene a cultural center worthy of being a model of civic vision.  His wife, Sylvia Jacobs, and their daughters Beverly Zell and Sheila Jacobs Schwartz, continue supporting this vision. A portrait of Maurie Jacobs now graces the south wall of the gallery, thanks to talented artist, arts advocate, and founding member of the Visual Arts Consortium – Dottie Chase. In addition to serving on the Jacobs Gallery Steering Committee, she serves on various art boards including the Emerald Empire Art Association, the Gallery at the Airport, to name a few. 

Dottie captured the spirit of this enterprising generous man in this magnificent portrait, which is not only a valuable work of art, but is a fitting and lasting tribute to a civic and socially-minded community leader who made his creative mark in enhancing our cultural heritage.

As a result of a funding appeal to the community in the spring of 1997, the Jacobs Gallery is continually stabilizing itself in order to continue to make possible this annual Eugene Mayor’s Art Show and a full schedule of exhibits year after year.  This public/private partnership has made this show and all Jacobs Gallery exhibits possible. 

The Jacobs Gallery relies on the support of private donors to serve the community, committed to heightening community awareness of the visual arts. 

The community is encouraged to visit local galleries and consider commissioning work to local artists, invest in joint ventures, and sponsor art exhibits. 

The Master of Ceremony introduces the director of the Jacobs Gallery, who asks the audience respond to the question of how many have submitted work, talks about the Gallery’s exhibition schedule, and encourages the community to visit “Le Salon des Refuses” and the Teen Mayor’s Art Show, sponsored by Maude Kerns Art Center.

The director of the Jacobs Gallery then welcomes the Eugene Mayor back to the podium.

The Mayor honors the visual artists of Lane County, describes the selection of the artwork, and introduces the three jurors who accepted this assignment this year.

The Mayor welcomes the Master of Ceremony back to the podium.

The Jacobs Gallery Steering Committee thanks all their supporters, and in particular, the list of major donors for their continued support who will each receive a signed and framed Mayor’s Art Show posters.

The Master of Ceremony then introduces a representative of the Oregon Eye Associates, who will announce this year’s top awards and present the envelopes to the winners. 

In 1986, the City of Eugene approached the Oregon Eye Associates with a proposal to partner in the first city/business CO-sponsorship of a Eugene Celebration Event.  The event, The Mayor’s Art Show, was then and continues to be the community’s premier art event of the year.

The Show champions the visual arts as an important ingredient in maintaining our area’s remarkable quality of life and gives Oregon Eye Associates a tangible way to offer support.  Oregon Eye Associates is very proud of their long-standing sponsorship of the Mayor’s Art Show and look forward to many more years of successful association.

Awards are presented in this order:

  • The Mayor’s Choice Award, which the Mayor chooses.  The prize is lunch with the Mayor and a $100 gift certificate sponsored by Oregon Art Supply.
  • The Designer’s Choice Award, which the exhibition designer chooses, is sponsored by the Jacobs Gallery.

The following will be cash awards.  A total of $1,000 is given by the Oregon Eye Associates.

  • Three equal Juror’s Choice Awards - each $150.
  • The Best of Show Award for $550

The Mayor extends congratulations, picks up the scissors from the podium, with the special guests in the front two rows to follow him, and they walk to the stairs that lead down to the Jacobs Gallery.

The Mayor stops at the ribbon, cuts the ribbon, and proclaims:
      
“The Eugene Mayor’s Art Show is Open!” 

As the audience leaves the Hult Center lobby, the musical group begins to play an upbeat melody until the crowd is gone or by 6:45 p.m.

jglogo