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Artists Thrive at 54th Annual Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts

Artists at work! Lisa Jensen's work will be featured in Artist's Vision: The Skies Opened, and boy are we excited. Here's a little about Lisa... While completing her BA and MA in Art Education through Brigham Young University, Lisa Jensen worked for the Springville Museum of Art in Utah, as an Outreach Educator. There she was a member of Utah’s State-Wide Art Partnership (SWAP), and also the Professional Outreach Programs in the Schools (POPS), where she collaborated with other arts and science organizations (ie, Ballet West, Utah Symphony & Opera, Repertory Dance Theater, Clark Planetarium, etc.) to take outreach programs and teacher professional developments to every elementary, middle, and high school in Utah. This job took her on the road almost every day, traveling to nearby city schools, rural schools, and schools off of dirt roads in the far corners of the state. She regards that time as such an incredible experience, as it allowed her to see a wonderfully broad diversity in teachers and schools (and landscapes!). When she wasn’t traveling, she enjoyed working on shows and writing educational materials for the museum, teaching an Art Education course part-time at BYU, and of course, PAINTING. Although it was hard, she left the museum—and the Utah mountains—when she had her first baby, and moved to Oregon with her husband ten years ago, where she fell hard for the Pacific Northwest. They currently live in Wilsonville, where she is blessed to have her studio right in their home so she can still keep an eye on their three children while she paints (and make sure they get their piano practice done). To learn more about Lisa and Artist's Vision: The Skies Opened, visit https://www.lakewood-center.org/pages/Artists-Vision-call-for-entry-2017

Lake Oswego, OR. The spotlight is on artists every year at the annual Festival of the Arts in Lake Oswego. Visitors see artists like Lisa Jensen whose work was featured in the exhibit, Artist’s Vision: The Skies Opened. It was one of the exhibits that drew thousands of people to the community nine miles south of Portland last weekend.

More than 18,000 people attended the event this year to see more than 1,400 pieces of art from 10 states.

Cindi Lommasson demonstrates her unique techniques with Chinese Brush Painting in the Open Show Pavilion Tent during festival.

Young artists experiment with colored pencils similar to the ones used in the special exhibit entitled, “Beyond the Point” the fine art of colored pencil and graphite,” At Lakewood Center for the Arts. This year’s chosen medium was the pencil—both colored and graphite—dry and water-soluble.

Artist Dee Waggoner poses with her piece entitled “Serenity.” Her art was featured on the cover of the Festival 2017 program guide.

Colored pencil artist Richard Helmick, explains his technique to an art enthusiast.

The community nurtures artists. 39 artists received cash prizes from Festival Sponsors for their work within one of the 6 Festival art exhibits.

The festival wrapped up its run at the end of June, but the next exhibit at the Lakewood Center for the Arts will feature Corinna Campbell-Sack July 18 – September 11th.

From the Lakewood Center for the Arts:

The Festival is a non-profit event created by Lakewood Center for the Arts. Click here to make a contribution.

The Festival, an event created by Lakewood Center for the Arts, is a major regional arts event located in Lake Oswego, Oregon. Lake Oswego is located 9 miles south of Portland, Oregon. The Festival presents the creative endeavors of recognized and emerging artists and enjoys an outstanding reputation for bringing special exhibits of quality and diversity to a weekend that is accessible to everyone. Attracting some 25,000 visitors during the three days of the event, the Festival includes several art exhibits, food booths, music, and fine art and craft.

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.