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Art blooms in Medford Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Volunteer Margo Mitchell hangs a large painting in the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in downtown Medford Tuesday in preparation for Art in Bloom, a festival premiering this weekend. New event this weekend combines art and gardening By BILL VARBLE Take some art. Add flowers. Mix in the fullness of spring, a dash of class and a pinch of hope. Voila! What you have is Art in Bloom, a new festival that premiers this weekend in downtown Medford. Organizers hope it's just the first edition of what will be a Rogue Valley fixture - one that could add some much-needed �lan to Medford's image. Two years ago, it was nothing but an idea. "Everything that needed to happen has happened," organizer Russ Levin says. "It's very exciting," says Stephen McCandless of the Craterian. The last hurdle was the weather, Levin says. The forecast calls for sunshine. Stretching from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, the $50,000 festival centers on Vogel Park at the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue, the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater next door and the Rogue Gallery & Art Center behind the Crate. Expect tiny Vogel Park to be crammed with 50 or more artists' booths. Around the corner, Bartlett Avenue will be closed for booths, flowers and food. Admission is free. Look for one exhibit of artwork by West Coast artists, another featuring Southern Oregon artists. Add displays and sales of flowers, plants and garden stuff, and round it out with music, art activities for the younger set and workshops and demonstrations, and organizers believe there's a broad enough appeal for the art-and-flowers gumbo to hit the spot. All the watercolors, oils, prints, acrylics and photos at the Rogue Gallery have floral themes keyed to the festival. Volunteer Margo Mitchell on Tuesday used a hammer to hang Medford artist Lucy Warnick's "Summer Bouquet," a large, floral monoprint. Nearby was "In the Garden of Earthly Delights," an assemblage by Margery Murcer that finds pop culture icons Barbie and Ken in a domestic, if flowery, predicament. Out back, plants for a demonstration of Ikebana, the Japanese flower-arranging art, were stashed where a garden makeover was nearing completion. Landscape architect Byron Williams expected to add the finishing touches Saturday with the help of up to 30 students from Crater High School. The juried exhibit in Vogel features artists from as far as Seattle and Los Angeles. Artists pay $50 each for a space. "We had to prove to the artists we had something to offer," Levin says. "We wanted a message of quality." There's computer art by students and faculty from around the region and pieces from the Best of the Best exhibit of area high school artists at the Craterian. A number of workshops are slated for the Crate. A barbershop quartet will stroll the grounds singing. The Rogue Gallery plans a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. Immediately following, Mayor Lindsay Berryman hosts an invitational reception next door at the Crate honoring philanthropist Dunbar Carpenter for his impact on the arts in Medford. There's even Mother's Day art by Medford elementary school kids displayed at stores around the downtown area. The idea of a spring festival for art and flowers kicked around town for a couple of years. "Russ Levin talked about it," says Judy Barnes, director of the Rogue Gallery. He figured it would be a good fit with urban renewal efforts. "When (arts supporter) Elizabeth Udall and I came along with the same idea, it was like here it comes again," Barnes says. "I think Mayor Berryman was a catalyst." The Craterian's McCandless and Julie Petreto of the Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau got aboard. There was even talk of getting the event together for last year. "Cooler heads prevailed," Barnes says with a laugh. Major sponsors are Bear Creek Corporation, the Mail Tribune, the VCB. Organizers are the VCB, the Rogue Gallery, the city's Parks and Recreation Department, the Craterian, Goodwill Industries and the Heart of Medford Association. The largest grants came from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Money was handled by the non-profit Rogue Valley Foundation, since Art in Bloom doesn't have non-profit status set up yet. The biggest frustration was a poor response from foundations. The committee snagged only one foundation grant, a $5,000 donation from the Carpenter Foundation. Levin and Petreto headed the committee, and the city picked up the cost of coordinator Marianne Wunch. Organizers aren't worried about entertainment overload. "It's the only event of its kind around," Levin says. Salem's annual art fair draws about 100,000 people, he adds. How will Art in Bloom organizers measure success? "We're hoping the artists sell pieces, and people say it was a good event," Levin says. "We hope several thousand people come. I'd just like to stand on the corner of Main and Central and see it jammed." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.