Patrick F. McManus’ Pot Luck
Winery Tasting Hours
Art Shows: A Bit of Sunshine | Grayout
Gale Everett & Diane Ryan | Drawing in Oregon

TGIF, everyone! Coming up tonight we’ve got a wine tasting at First Alt South, the Emerald City Jazz Kings in concert, and OSU Theatre’s The Misanthrope.

Saturday is just packed with stuff to do. The Diet and Optimum Health Conference public session is tomorrow, as is the Courthouse Window Sale. There’s an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast to benefit the Ten Rivers Food Web programs, the Farmers Market, and a Day of Sharing at Many Hands Trading to benefit the Furniture Share. Art in the Garden happens on Saturday, and 4 Spirits, Hard Times and Vivacity Spirits all have tasting hours tomorrow.

There are historical tours of Adair Village and an intro class to the Lindy Hop. The Big Conversation Series at the library is tackling Oregon’s controversial ballot initiatives, there’s a wine tasting at WineStyles, another showing of The Misanthrope, and Patrick F. McManus’ Pot Luck at the Whiteside Theatre.

Sunday has some fun stuff happening, too. Cooped Up in Corvallis happens on Sunday, as do more tasting hours at Hard Times. The Soroptimists of Corvallis have their spring tea and there’s a tour of the Independent School. The Misanthrope has a matinee show, and Vivacity Spirits is hosting a special distillery tour and tasting. Reservations are required for that one, so give them a call today to get in.

Have a great weekend!

Art Shows: A Bit of Sunshine | Grayout
Gale Everett & Diane Ryan | Making A Mark

We’ve got a busy week ahead, with lots planned. Make sure to check out the Historic Preservation Month events, for starters. There’s some fun stuff coming up, particularly this weekend.

Tonight is the Sprout Film Festival, Science Pub – Steve Lawson and Chris Petersen will talk about Linus Pauling’s legacy – and a book release party for Elle’s Log, written and illustrated by OSU’s Judith Li and M.L. Herring.

Sara Watkins is in concert at the Majestic on Wednesday, with a wine tasting before the concert, and Tatiana Hargreaves opening. The Ride of Silence is also on Wednesday.

Matt Krumenauer will be speaking at this week’s Starker Lecture on Thursday, and later on in the evening you can head to Teddy Roosevelt’s Oregon Roadshow, a family-friendly evening of history and fun.

Coming up Friday is the Emerald City Jazz Kings with a Judy Garland retrospective, plus OSU Theatre’s The Misanthrope (Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2pm). We’re looking forward to Art in the Garden on Saturday, as well as Patrick F. McManus’ Pot Luck at the Whiteside Theatre. Sunday is the Soroptimists’ Spring Tea and a special private tour of Vivacity Spirits Distillery. You need reservations for that one and it’s sure to go fast, so give them a call today.

Be sure to check out our events calendar to see everything that’s happening this week!

Winery Tasting Room Hours
Art Shows: A Bit of Sunshine | Grayout
Gale Everett & Diane Ryan | Making a Mark

We’re looking forward to a pretty May weekend here in Corvallis (don’t let the clouds slow you down!), and we have a lot happening to help us celebrate Mother’s Day. Here’s a look at what’s going on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Quick warning, though – several of these events (particularly the Mother’s Day events) require registration, so start making calls today!

Natural Areas Celebration Week continues through Monday, so make sure you check that out. The whole weekend is full of nature hikes and other fun events featuring Corvallis’ gorgeous great outdoors. National Historic Preservation Month has some great events on offer this weekend, too! The OSAA State Band Championships begin on Friday, and so does the Oregon State Startup Weekend.

We’ve got our two regular wine tastings on Friday, at First Alt South and WineStyles, plus a bonfire and wine tasting at Tyee, with “owling” in the evening. The OSU Theatre’s performance of The Misanthrope opens Friday, too.

Saturday is just packed with things to do. Starting off bright and early Saturday morning, we’ve got a birding walk and CARDV’s Mother’s Day Run/Walk. There’s the Farmers Market, always fun, and the Finley Wildlife Refuge open house, which is a full day of cool stuff to do. Authors Katie Kacvinsky and Lisa Burstein are at Grass Roots and there’s a Little Sprouts class. Both Hard Times and 4 Spirits have tasting hours, plus you can stop in to 2 Towns Cider House to taste Treos Wines. There’s a wildflower walk Saturday afternoon, a writing workshop at the Library, an Indian dance class, and a tasting at WineStyles in the evening. Also, another showing of The Misanthrope!

Sunday’s also pretty busy. We’ve got a hike and tree tour at Peavy Arboretum, Valley Catering’s Mother’s Day Brunch with seatings at 10am and 12:30pm (call now – you may still be able to get in), and more tasting hours at Hard Times. There’s a walking tour of the OSU campus and a Mother’s Day afternoon tea at New Morning, and finally, the Corvallis Youth Symphony concert featuring Kenji Bunch and friends.

Happy Mother’s Day, and have a great weekend, everyone!

Visit Corvallis’ mission is to strengthen the Corvallis & Benton County economies by marketing both as a desirable destination for meetings, conventions and corporate and leisure travel through collaboration and partnerships, resulting in increased occupancy tax and revenue.

“We see this co-location as an opportunity to better serve the public. Both organizations experienced inquiries that the other organization was better able to address. Instead of sending people down the street to find the relevant information they are looking for – we now offer one stop shopping, if you will,” said Mary Pat Parker, Executive Director of Visit Corvallis.

The Corvallis Chamber of Commerce is a membership driven organization, with more than 530 members, dedicated to serving the business needs of its members, and advancing the interests of business for the good of the community.

“We work hard to advocate and promote our businesses, provide educational and networking opportunities, hold business and community events, and support the region’s economic development and tourism efforts,” says Kevin Dwyer, Executive Director of the Corvallis Chamber. “We see the partnership with Visit Corvallis as an opportunity to create a stronger, more unified business community to collaborate on promoting our area to individuals, businesses and groups.”

Both Parker and Dwyer agree that visiting an area is often the first step people take in determining whether they wish to move to a new place, start a business, or set up residence. “We are part of the economic development picture for Corvallis,” said Dwyer. “If people from outside the area enjoy their stay here and eventually decide to move here, the community benefits from the potential new jobs, housing starts or re-sales, and new taxes that support the parks, roads, schools and other infrastructure that enrich our lives.”

“Tourism is indeed the first step on the ladder of economic vitality,” adds Parker. “People come to our area, stay overnight, eat in our restaurants, shop in our wonderful stores and, hopefully, want to come back time and again, or might consider moving here.”

Dwyer and Parker see collaborative opportunities in helping promote the community to visitors of OSU sporting events, symposiums, workshops and the like, and those attending major events, such as this summer’s MG Rally.

The Chamber and Visit Corvallis are holding a joint Business After Hours on Thursday May 16, 5-7 p.m. at the Chamber-Visit Corvallis offices, 420 NW 2nd Street. The cost is $8 for members of the Chamber and $10 for non-members. The public is invited to this Hawaiian-themed Luau. Bring your lei!

Heidi Schwegler says that Grayout, also known as a ‘mistiness’ of vision, is the temporary loss of time. This project is a merging of video, sound and sculpture in a singular narrative. Each component offers a different perspective on discarded objects that are still recognizable for what they once were, but no longer do what they once did. Schwegler says, “When an object’s purpose ceases (yet it is not fully considered waste) one could say it is lingering in a living death. Its past, present and future are tumbled together in a sort of timelessness.”

“In a digitally mediated world,” she continues, “bombarded with images that tumble by at such a rate it is virtually impossible to deeply consider what you are looking at, having an opportunity to stop and take notice, to consider what is typically overlooked seems to be the exception.” In Grayout Schwegler freezes and loops time so that one may finally digest that which surrounds them. A chain link fence with a repetitively slamming gate and a folded pink tweed mattress that appears to be on the brink of springing open are a few of the objects in this multi-disciplinary installation.

Heidi Schwegler explores a wide range of materials in the service of messy and depressing subject matter. She has participated in numerous shows, including exhibitions at Raid Projects, (LA), Platform China (Beijing), Scope Art 2004 (New York), Hallie Ford Museum (Oregon), and Chambers Gallery (Oregon). Schwegler is a recent Ford Family Fellow (Oregon), received a 2010 MacDowell Colony Fellowship (NH) and several RACC Individual Project Grants (Oregon). She has work in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Craft (Oregon) and the Hallie Ford Museum (Oregon). She has lectured on her work at contemporary art and design at institutions such as the Burg Giebichenstein, (Germany), Cranbrook Academy of Art (Michigan) and Kendall College of Art and Design (Michigan). Reviews of Schwegler’s work have been published in Art in America, ArtNews and the Huffington Post. She earned her MFA from the University of Oregon and is Associate Professor at Oregon College of Art and Craft.

There will be a reception for the artist 12:00–1:00 on Monday, May 13. The gallery and reception are free and open to the public. Fairbanks Gallery is open Monday–Fridays from 8am-5pm. The exhibit concludes on May 28, 2013. This work is funded in part by the Regional Art & Culture Council.

This article was provided by Douglas Russell. For more information, contact him by email or by calling (541) 737-5009.

View from Harris Bridge to the
Harris Bridge Vineyard.
Photo by Sandy Horvath-Dori.
(CC BY 2.0)

Not only is it National Historic Preservation Month, it’s also Natural Areas Celebration Week! There’s lots of neat things happening this week to celebrate both, too.

We’re also looking forward to the Wangechi Mutu Lecture tonight, and the Willamette Angel Conference, which happens on Thursday. The Corvallis Public Library is hosting “Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Music” on Thursday, too, and the Oregon State Startup Weekend kicks off on Friday.

Speaking of Friday, you won’t want to miss out on Tyee Winery’s Bonfire and Wine Tasting, which is a part of both Historic Preservation Month and Natural Areas Celebration Week. If winery events sound like fun, pencil Harris Bridge Vineyard into your schedule on Saturday – they have Raina Rose and Rebecca Loebe playing!

The Corvallis Youth Symphony has a concert featuring Kenji Bunch and friends on Mother’s Day, plus Valley Catering has their Mother’s Day Brunch and New Morning Bakery has a Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea.

Keep an eye on our events calendar – we add new things all the time.

This afternoon starts with the Rayburn Addition Tour (part of Historic Preservation Month), a beautiful walk through one of Corvallis’ oldest neighborhoods. Follow that up with a wine tasting at First Alt South and then head to Gill Coliseum for Sing! or the Majestic for Button Wagon, a family-friendly show featuring illusions, contortions and more.

Saturday is just packed full of things to do. Start out at the Farmers Market or Pet Day at OSU College of Veterinary Medicine (don’t forget the 5k Fun Run, too). There’s a walking tour of Historic Downtown Corvallis at 1:30pm and the Harris Covered Bridge tour at 4pm. WineStyles is hosting a sweet wine tasting in the afternoon, and the Aerial WithOut Limits dance collective has two shows at the Majestic Saturday evening (5pm and 9pm). The Old Mill Center is having their big annual fundraiser, which is always a fun way to support a good cause. There’s the Moms Weekend Comedy Show, with two showtimes (6:30pm and 9pm), and the Arts Center’s Flower Power, a 60′s-themed night that’s part of their 50th anniversary celebrations.

Sunday’s pretty busy, too. The Give Us 5 5K Fun Run/Walk kicks the day off bright and early at 8am. The Spring Garden Festival starts Sunday morning, and there’s a digital photo workshop and nature walk at Finley Wildlife Refuge in the afternoon. (You need reservations for that one, though, so get yours in now.) The AFS International Dessert Tea starts at 3:30pm and Corvallis-OSU Piano International hosts Stuart Isacoff for a recital and lecture starting at 4pm. If you’re more of a jazz fan, instead, be sure to check out the brand new Sunday Jazz Jam at Cloud & Kelly’s.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg, folks. There are distillery tastings and wine tastings, art shows, and more. Be sure to check our events calendar to see everything else that’s happening in the next few days. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Any questions about the report or data therein should be directed to info@visitcorvallis.com or marci@visitcorvallis.com.

In the above graphic, our “Conversions” metrics are looking strikingly better for 2013 as compared to 2012. The disparity is due to developing new conversion actions to measure that we didn’t have in previous years. We’ll have better data to average conversions against next year.