Emerging talent

Recent Occidental College graduate Andrew Dakopolos brings his work home in an exhibit at Coffee House Cafe through May 31.

His oil paintings, which incorporate elements of sculpture, employ the use of bright colors and deep hues.

The reception for his show coincides with Emerge Oregon Art Series' one-night art show at the same location on May 7 from 7-10 p.m. Salem's Find Your Smile plays Dakopolos' opening while hip hop artists Diezel P and Skeptikal along with Portland DJ Wels play the backroom where the latest installment of the Willamette Valley's up and coming artists display their non-traditional work.

A snapshot of spring

While this time of year usually draws the plein air painter into the outdoors, photography instructor Joel Zak hopes to prepare participants in his class to become confident enough to take their new-found artistic skills and use them in everyday life.

The professional photographer teaches a two-part event as part of his "Art of Seeing" seminar series in the Park House at the Silverton Art Association that teaches how to discover a new way of seeing so that a new vision can be captured.

A classroom workshop is scheduled for May 15 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., while a local field trip affords his students the opportunity to practice what's been taught on May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Zak's two-part seminar costs $60.

Hallie Ford enters into the new year

Yes, it is May, five months too late for that celebration. Salem's university gallery, however, has recently announced its exhibition lineup for the upcoming 2010-2011 season.

Among the talent is Mexican folk artist Alfredo Arreguin, who is a painter and printmaker; an exhibition of 26 contemporary artists displaying their responses to environmental issues confronting the Northwest such as waste management and climate change; Dutch immigrant Henk Pander, whose art documents and interprets American technology, materialism, topography and disaster in paintings and drawings that recall the grand tradition of his native country's art; plus three other planned shows.

Included among this array of artistic mediums is also five planned smaller displays in the Study Gallery, many of which directly coincide with the main exhibits. Extra art from Arreguin's collection and Pander's drawings are among the extended pieces that are arranged for this area.