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Arts celebration canceled Jacksonville event withers for lack of volunteers By Melissa Martin JACKSONVILLE � Every August, it was like an old-fashioned picnic with an arts-and-crafts theme: There was food, music and friendship. Fine furniture, blown glass, ceramics, clothing, two-dimensional art, paintings � some 300 artists displayed their crafts and art for Jacksonville Celebrates the Arts, a weekend-long festival on the grounds of the Southern Oregon Historical Society Museum. But the celebration that�s been held every summer for the past nine years has been canceled this year, due to a shortage of volunteers. "That show got a good reputation among artists, not because it was a big money-maker, but because it was like an old-time show,�� said founder John Dodero. "It felt like you were part of a community, not a big production with corporate logos. It wasn�t all about money and a lot of crafts people liked doing it because it felt good." Dodero, a Jacksonville studio potter who sells his work wholesale throughout the United States and Europe, turned the event over to volunteer coordinators Sandy Iverson and Mary Finley, who both experienced burn-out. "They basically came to the same conclusion that I had; it�s typical when you do things like this that most of the jobs fall on a couple of people," Dodero said. During its nine years, Jacksonville Celebrates the Arts raised about $60,000 for Jefferson Public Radio. About 300 to 400 artists from the Western United States showed their wares. Fifty artists were featured each year. Dodero started the event in 1990 after being inspired by a photograph depicting a Fourth of July picnic on the museum grounds. "It was a place where the town congregated, a beautiful setting with everybody in town coming and hanging out. "That�s what we wanted to have, he said. "A community event." Jacksonville Celebrates the Arts also exposed people to the "creative process," Dodero said. It may start up again in a couple of years, he said. "I think what we did was exciting, unique and altruistic. It was a good time when it happened. Maybe somebody else will think of something else to do. " Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA