The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts presents “A Segment of Art” exhibit from January 16 through March 20 in the Coastal Oregon Visual Artists Showcase (COVAS) at the Newport Visual Arts Center. “A Segment of Art” will feature award-winning wood sculptures by Brookings-based artists Dan Gray. The COVAS Showcase features artists from the Oregon coast, rotating through the coast’s seven coastal counties, and Gray will be representing Curry County. The COVAS Showcase will be open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, noon to 4pm, COVID-19 safety guidelines permitting, as well as online at www.coastarts.org.
Dan Gray’s turned wood artworks, which he describes as “segmented sculptures,” have won multiple awards and have been displayed in numerous galleries on the West Coast. Many of his sculptures are inspired by his proximity to the Pacific Ocean, as well as his love of travel. One of his signature pieces, “Nautilus, Station 5,” was featured in Wood Magazine. Gray’s wood sculptures have been described as amazing in their intricate detail. Working with oak, alder, mahogany, purple heart, myrtle, and woods, his sculptures contain anywhere from several hundred to several thousand individual wood pieces.
Dan Gray is a proudly self-proclaimed self-taught artist. “In truth, I never knew I was an artist until late in my life. That fact that I was always creating, I simply took that for granted as part of who I was,” Gray says. “My creativity was out of necessity. To repair something that was broken. To build something needed.”
Though Dan Gray has always worked with wood, he did not always realize wood as an art medium. Fifteen years ago, on a whim, Gray purchased a wood lathe. “From that first moment, when I turned a small piece of wood into a bowl, I was lost,” he says. “Nothing has ever captured me before in the way of that first small bowl.”
Gray has displayed his art in galleries in Vancouver, WA, and in Brookings, and he is currently displaying in Juniper Sky Fine Art Gallery at the Kayenta Art Villiage in Ivins, UT, and well as The Turquoise Turtle Gallery at the artist colony in Tubac, AZ. In addition to creating his segmented wood sculptures, Gray is also a writer and has published two novels and a collection of short stories.
To sign up for event notifications, community members should join the Friends of the VAC e-Newsletter by visiting https://coastarts.org/visual-arts-center/newsletter/.
The VAC adheres to all health and safety protocol provided by the Governor’s Office as well as the City of Newport. All visitors to the VAC are required to wear proper masks and have their temperature taken prior to entry.
The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts manages the Newport Visual Arts Center and the Newport Performing Arts Center and serves as the regional arts council for Oregon’s seven coastal counties.