our first ten years: a soul-warming community celebration!

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It was grand!

Alumni artists, friends, colleagues, faculty, staff, alumni students, and parents: thank you for joining in the celebration. It was like pre-pandemic times!

A momentous event for socializing in the presence of the myriad forms of color beings so beautifully exhibited on the walls of The Art Hall with collage, watercolor, veil painting, acrylic, and oil media all represented.

As one visitor shared: “I get it. The Art Hall is ensouled through color and I feel so ensouled while being there. The colors are alive and imbibe the spirit; days later I continue to feel the warmth and richness; like a floating feeling. I imagine this is what the children, and all who pass through, experience, consciously or unconsciously.”

Another pillar in our local Anthroposophical Community wrote the following. “I couldn’t make the opening but was pleased to have the experience of viewing the installation twice around two exceptional eurythmy performances. What a wonderful exhibit! My eye was immediately drawn to the stunning Michael piece. The exhibit was much appreciated before and after each performance…and provided the opportunity for many interactions between people who were already acquainted, and those who were new to one another.

Our First Ten Years three ring binder was created from all the fliers, blog posts and photographs from our website and is now available to look through at Cedarwood. Marcee Hansen, the school’s new Pedagogical Director/Early Childhood Director, has offered to serve as keeper. So, just stop by and have a look!

During the event Robin skimmed through our history book, recalling the surprises and delights at having the privilege to lead such an initiative, and thanking her son, Atticus Rice (CWS Class of 2011) for collating and formatting over one hundred pages!

We will take down the exhibit on Tuesday, May 16^th, just in time for Cedarwood to prepare for its 25^th anniversary auction.

Please contact Robin at 503-222-1192 or robin@robinlieberman.net for any inquiries.

our ten year anniversary celebration of the art hall!

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When Torin Finser visited Cedarwood Waldorf School in its earliest years, one of the most distinctive takeaways from his recommendations was the importance of honoring community, both Cedarwood and its surrounding neighborhood.

For example, we could host a weekly market in the gym, or the youngest grades could place handmade May Day flower baskets on neighboring doorsteps. While he said to reach out, he implored us to do so by reaching in, to identify the resources we in our school community could share with the larger community outside our walls and to start to collaborate more broadly.

As an Art History major in my undergraduate years, I imagined one day directing an art gallery; maybe an art center where all felt welcomed to share their many forms of creativity, and where delicious, nourishing food would be served.

Fast forward twenty years to when my children led me to Waldorf education, and specifically to this fledgling school in SW Portland, then still running out of a church basement. My family immediately joined an ever deepening and broadening community. While my children graduated in 2008 and 2011, I am still here.

I am here because of all that I was given and continue to receive: a life enhanced by community; a collaborative community where we all raised our children together for the betterment of our and their futures; and at a place where the seeds of creativity are nourished daily for every one of us through an education infused by art. That I can direct our non-profit Art Hall as part of Cedarwood Waldorf School is a miracle, an experience which has contributed to my understanding of life as miraculous.

Our system is one of “pay it forward”. To help us get started with some seed money, Jannebeth Röell, then and still a pillar in the anthroposophical community, offered to donate 50% of her sales from our first exhibit in 2013. It was a great idea and we stuck with it.

These generous donations, from all the artists displaying at our anniversary celebration, have paid for a professional installation system, bountiful reception tables, advertising, travel costs for visiting artists, and more recently the fabulous gallery lighting system.

This ten-year anniversary exhibit and celebration is an honoring of and a thank you to all the artists who have trusted us and invested in our initiative, to their patrons who have also made this possible, and to the school without which none of this would have happened. Thank you, everyone!

Indeed, there are so many people to thank that I would likely leave someone out. So, thank you all…past, present and future members of our Cedarwood Waldorf School Community!

jacob wooton: eclectic & electric

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We shared a joyful opening evening with Jacob Wooton and a delightful mix of guests on Thursday, January 19^th. Former students, mentors, colleagues, and friends all were intrigued by Jacob’s colorful presentation and his successful striving to bring forth his commitment to seeing and painting as one of life’s most valuable endeavors.

Comic books created by Jacob’s students, the seed of his artistic career at Evergreen State College, Washington, were also on hand. And Jacob’s mentor and now dear friend, Jolyn Fry, whom he met in joining the Ulna Studio after moving to Portland, was the first guest to arrive at the opening.

Several charming paintings sold the night of the opening, wonderful others since, and there are still more awaiting new homes! The exhibit will remain hanging until Thursday, March 16^th (closing a day earlier than expected), so please come in and invest in the forever-treasure of art as soon as you are able! You can also see more of Jacob’s work on Instagram.

Please feel free to contact, Robin Lieberman, founder, director, and alumni parent at 503-222-1192 or robin@robinlieberman.net with any questions.

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Our decade-old tradition at The Art Hall has been a version of pay it forward: the artist donates 50% of their sales to The Art Hall. This practice has brought us the gallery level installation system and more recently our gallery quality lighting!

This generosity of our artists, some of whom were on hand at Jacob’s opening, also supports our bountiful reception table, advertising, and long-distance travel of our visiting artists, and has made our nonprofit art gallery a unique and thriving venue for ten years.

Thanks also to the participation of many other members of our community; the steadfast support of current School Chair, Sue Levine; and the reliable expertise of Patricia Lynch, one of our local Art Hall artists and grandmother of CWS students, during our installations.

Please check back here for updates regarding plans for our ten-year anniversary!

jacob wooton: light inside and out

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We are greatly pleased to share The Art Hall with one of Cedarwood’s own faculty members, the prolific artist and Middle School Math and Science Teacher, Jacob Wooton. Jacob truly is a modern-day practitioner of what Goethe put forth for us all:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back—concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. WHATEVER YOU CAN DO, OR DREAM YOU CAN DO, BEGIN IT. BOLDNESS HAS GENIUS, POWER AND MAGIC IN IT. BEGIN IT NOW.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Jacob shares the following in his Artist’s Statement prepared for this show, which so poignantly illustrates the phenomenological approach to life:

I can’t be the only person who believes that any bird’s nest is a more impressive work of art than anything I could ever craft. And yet I keep trying. I think that is because I also believe that there is no better way for me to show my appreciation for the gift of life and time that the universe has granted me, than to venture out into the breathable air and look closely. 

The practice of painting and drawing has been in my life the single most powerful tool to build an understanding of the world, and sometimes a glimpse into myself. It can also be emotionally taxing and sometimes opens darkened doors, and it is the emotional part of creating that seems most magical and elusive.

But I don’t know how to speak to that. Instead, I will offer you the first definition of science that I googled and say that there is nothing in this description that does not agree strongly with the way I create art, and similarly no mention of emotion. But maybe you can imagine some emotions between the cracks in there?

sci·ence /ˈsīəns/ noun. “The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.“

We look forward to seeing you at the opening this Thursday with our signature bountiful reception table!

anne mavor: in-person!

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Finally!

We were at last able to have the long-awaited in-person exhibition featuring watercolor and gouache paintings of Anne Mavor on October 07, 2022. We had introduced Anne and her work in a previous post almost exactly a year ago when featuring her work in an online gallery. This is an update for the October 7, 2022, live opening which followed.

An intimate group of old and new friends of The Art Hall gathered with Anne to enter into her world of spiritual growth, planetary healing, and social good.

All were captivated by the quiet and powerful beauty of her work. We engaged in meaningful conversation about a process Anne has embraced her entire life. Mary Harwell Mavor, Anne’s mother, also an artist, had said, “Making art is the most fun, liberating and powerful thing a person can do.” Indeed.

Please visit Anne’s website for more from this inspiring artist. Orr even better, visit her studio—balm for the soul, for sure.

anne mavor: healing images

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I have known Anne Mavor peripherally for about 15 years through our local Waldorf community. Back then, I only knew of her encaustic work which she taught at Portland Waldorf High School. Then I visited her show of a series of stone paintings inspired by her pilgrimage to her roots in Great Britain: I was met with works that invited one to travel back in place and time. It was mesmerizing. In February 2020, after it traveled around the country, I had the opportunity to meet Anne again and experience her well-known installation, I Am My White Ancestors: Claiming the Legacy of Oppression. This extraordinary exploration has much to teach us all.

Next, I started seeing Anne’s watercolor and gouache paintings on Instagram and was struck by the simple beauty, joy, and sense of connection I experienced, like the more graphic works of Hilma af Klint. I phoned Anne to visit her studio and was met with her gentle warmth in both character and artwork. We agreed that she was to be featured at The Art Hall to welcome students back to school in October 2020.

For two years Anne has patiently collaborated with us in our rescheduling as we adjusted and then readjusted to the pandemic. Always thinking creatively, Chelsea Slaven-Davis, Marketing Director at Cedarwood Waldorf School, offered to create our second online gallery showcasing Healing Images. Please note the flier and do have a look! (Just click here during the show dates, January 25 – March 18, 2022.)

When researching Anne for this blog post I came across her publication from1998 Strong Hearts, Inspired Minds: 21 Artists who are Mothers tell their Stories. What a delight to learn that this highly praised publication was part of my own art library all these years, long before I knew Anne.

Given Anne’s writing skills, please read the following from her own website: her Biography and an entry about Healing Images. Enjoy!

Biography

Anne Mavor is an artist and writer based in Portland, Oregon. Her work combines storytelling, research, performance, visual imagery, and collaboration. Originally from Massachusetts, in 1976 she moved to Los Angeles to join the Feminist Studio Workshop at The Woman’s Building. Anne received a grant from the John Anson Kittredge Fund for her book Strong Hearts, Inspired Minds: 21 Artists who are Mothers tell their Stories, published in 1996 and a writing residency from The Mesa Refuge. Since 2010 paintings from her Mounds and Stones series have been exhibited in Oregon, Washington, and Massachusetts. The touring installation I Am My White Ancestors: Claiming the Legacy of Oppression premiered in 2016 and has been supported by The Puffin Foundation, the Regional Arts and Culture Commission, and individual donations. Anne has a BA in art from Kirkland College and an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University, LA.

Healing Images Statement

This series began in early 2019 to support my internal healing process as I recover from Parkinson’s and transform how I approach the world. Happily, that has also included how I made art. I am so pleased to share this amazing experience with you.

Rather than trying to prove anything, please anyone, or promote my career, I focused on enjoyment and connection to myself. As a result, a stream of gentle abstract shapes made from curves and circles seemed to pour out onto the paper. I made hundreds of paintings, large and small, on all sorts of pieces of paper, whatever I had on hand. If an image did not feel beautiful and true to me, I didn’t force it. Instead, I expressed thanks for what it taught me and moved on to the next one. With my goal of quantity not quality, all were successes. Common themes that surfaced were two shapes wanting to connect and lines of energy winding back to themselves. All reveal my journey of connecting to my soul and heart.

and…now we’re really back!

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The Art Hall at Cedarwood Waldorf School is pleased to announce that we are moving forward with the opening of The New Five Collective exhibit, For the Love of Trees, on Friday, November 12, 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

We are grateful for the staff at Cedarwood for working with The Art Hall for our first in-person exhibit since March 2020 after pandemic restrictions delayed the original opening of this show for two months.

A big shout out to Chelsea Slaven-Davis, Director of Marketing and Communications, for creating an online gallery on The Art Hall page of the CWS website making the exhibit accessible to all. Click here to view.

And another big shout out to Jeremy Smith, Facilities Manager, for his planning for and direction of the installation of our new gallery level lighting system, on display for the first time at this opening. We were able to pay for the installation with years of donations from exhibiting artists and their patrons and for the fixtures with an anonymous donation. We are grateful for everyone’s generosity.

The governor’s still-existing mandates for school settings allow us to invite adults who are both vaccinated and masked to this opening. Attendees will need to provide proof of vaccination upon admission. Please direct any inquiries to Founder/Director, Robin Lieberman by phone at 503-222-1192 or by email at arthall@cedarwoodschool.org.

and…we’re back!

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After thriving through more than a year of hybrid learning during the pandemic, Cedarwood Waldorf School reopened its doors fully to students and faculty this September. The New Five Collective is honored and delighted to share their exhibit For the Love of Tress; installed by director, Robin Lieberman, and ever-supportive colleague Patricia Lynch, with her keen eye and vast experience, just in advance of the school’s reopening. We have already received rave reviews from faculty and staff!

We are also especially delighted to announce that the gallery space is now complete with a beautiful gallery-grade lighting system. We have been saving artists’ contributions and others’ donations for eight years now in hope of achieving this goal. Earlier on, a generous parent installed a gallery level hanging system, for which we will forever be grateful. We also want to give a huge shout out to Jeremy Smith, Facilities Manager at Cedarwood, for designing the lighting system and coordinating its installation with Viking Electric. And last, a big thank you to a patron of The Art Hall who anonymously donated the fixtures from Globe Lighting.

For the Love of Trees was imagined and manifested over many months during the first year of the pandemic and its exhibition space changed several times due to a series of understandable, unfortunate, and recurring pandemic-related restrictions. Hope in the hearts of the Collective’s membership (MJ Connors Davison, Robin Lieberman, Patricia Homan Lynch, Jannebeth Rӧell, and Jenny Siegel) kept the creative fires burning, stoked by their regular meetings in support of one another’s ongoing work.

Fittingly, The New Five Collective was the last group of artists to show their work at The Art Hall as the pandemic unfolded and closed the school to in-person learning. And now with the emergence of the delta variant, they have once again gone with the flow and have delayed the opening reception, even as the show is up. Please keep checking back here or with our curator, Robin, as we hope to host a Closing Reception on Friday, October 01^st, to include artists’ presentations usually slated for our opening.

We at The Art Hall are delighted that The New Five Collective can at last offer their art in this newly refined space as a salve to our collective healing in this still dynamic and uncertain time. We hope that this show does just that for all who enter and remember our connection with our trees. A portion of all sales will be donated to Friends of Trees.

the new five collective: record numbers!

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The New Five Collective, borrowing their name from early abstract artist Hilma af Klint’s esoteric meditation group, The Five, seem to have channeled some of the same exuberant energy as did the work of Hilma, which drew record crowds to the Guggenheim Museum in NY last year: the dynamic richness of this exhibit, showing the work of five powerful women, enchanted a record number of attendees on the Collective’s opening night.

Jenny Siegel, viewing art as prayer, tempted us with three sets of three smaller works, all varying in media and subject. She used embroidery thread to bring a textural component to one series which was sold that night! The more subtle and delicate monotypes had a feminine quality of quiet strength. And her watercolors illustrated Siegel’s ease with vibrant color.

MJ Connors Davison, whose one woman exhibit at The Art Hall in 2015 expressed a non-conformist freedom to break boundaries, both expanded and transformed this spirit with a limited palette in her interpretation of Mary Oliver’s four-stanza poem, When I Am Among The Trees. One can feel the colors pushing past the matted pieces. Titled Enter, Adjust, Settle and Agree, they truly express and reflect the artistic and emotional process at the heart of the poem. MJ dares to push the usual limits.

Patricia Homan Lynch, who previously exhibited her signature square canvas landscape paintings at The Art Hall in 2014, with this show continued her plein air investigation in her oil painting titled Leela’s Place. Four other smaller pieces, primarily in watercolor, showcased Lynch’s unique deftness with the brush and color, drawing the viewer in for further exploration.

Jannebeth Röell, The Art Hall’s inaugural artist in 2013, once again has blessed the white walls with gorgeous colorful veil paintings inspired by the poetry of Mary Oliver, each inviting one to enter a whole new world.

Robin Lieberman, who exhibited her Color on the Camino work in 2015, shared her series of four works inspired by the Mary Oliver poem When I Am Among the Trees, as well as a small mixed media piece, Here I Am, and three other larger veil paintings illustrating her deepening relationship to color, trusting the form to emerge.

The Art Hall was blessed by special guest musicians, The Orion String Quartet PDX, including cellist and Cedarwood alum, Sophia Rice, ’08. Inspired by the event, they filled the air with gorgeous music, a gift of artistic reciprocity.

Two special surprise visitors also attended: Cedarwood’s founding and beloved kindergarten teacher, Robert Adams, and his precious wife, Kathy, who was once part of the administrative staff. After living out of the area for ten years they are reintegrating into the community, a delight for all of us!

The Art Hall thanks alumni parents, Mike and Linda Wheeler of PDX Wines, for their donation of libations and Patricia Homan Lynch for her helpful expertise in hanging the show. And as always, we offer a big shout out to Chelsea Slaven-Davis, Marketing & Communications Director, for assisting with promotion of the event.

Thanks also to Sue Levine, Head of School, and Chiaki Uchiyama, Pedagogical Chair, for their enthusiastic and loving support of The Art Hall and to the many teachers and other community members who joined us in this inaugural exhibit of The New Five Collective.

Many works remain available for purchase and we are planning an additional Saturday morning event to close the exhibit. You may also see the exhibit during school hours. Or feel free to contact Director Robin Lieberman at 503-222-1192 or robin@robinlieberman.net to arrange for a personal tour.

The Art Hall is a non-profit endeavor to support the future of The Arts. We abide by a “pay-it-forward” system whereby each artist donates 50% of their sales to The Art Hall, which supports all aspects of future exhibits and will contribute toward our eventual purchase of professional lighting. We also accept donations directly from patrons wishing to support our mission.