Studio/Gallery Open House on Wednesday June 12th – 5 pm at 900 Main Street.
Commerce and culture merge on Main Street in Downtown Oregon City. Wednesday, June 12th a new creative enterprise will open its doors in downtown Oregon City. S.L.O.T. Studio and Gallery will open at 900 Main Street next to Coffee Rush in the Settler’s Corner building on the corner of 9th and Main Street in Downtown Oregon City.
Artist Entrepreneur Vonda Martin has been preparing the space over the last four months through a collaboration with the property owner. Together they remodeled the space while accenting the authentic elements of the suite, like polished concrete floors and large front windows.
“We worked to bring this space back to it’s authentic essentials,” said Brian Slack, who’s family owns the building. “Bringing in a creative tenant adds diversity to our tenant mix and contributes a new dimension to what downtown Oregon City offers visitors, shoppers and residents.”
A public open house and exhibit of three Northwest artists will introduce visitors to this “renewed” space at 5 pm on Wednesday June 12th. “RECLAIMED TERRITORY” is an exhibit exploring assemblage. Assemblage is a diverse art form first explored by Picasso. It uses non-traditional and predominately reclaimed materials to create art. Vonda Martin, the curator of the exhibit and the entrepreneur leading this cultural enterprise is a working artist who has a background in art, interior design and retail management. She focuses on empowering artists through personal mentoring and improvement of their skills by connecting them with existing art organizations locally and regionally.
Creative entrepreneurs and professionals are adding new energy to this old downtown. The SLOT Studio and Gallery will bring art into the heart of Oregon City.
According to artist Vonda Martin, the gallery’s name S.L.O.T. (Secret Life of Turtles) is a critical element of what the gallery is all about, “Art doesn’t exist without the artist. I respect the artist and this name references the day in and day out unseen commitment artists make to being true to their calling and profession.”
“Artists need a broad range of skills including artistic, professional and marketing. Unless they are doing a commission work, everything they do is on complete trust that the work they create will touch the spirit of one person who will invest in bringing that into their business or home,” said Vonda Martin. “ I am inspired by the artists that I know and see their hard work, financial commitment and know that just as in the story of the tortoise and the hare, they may move slowly and you will never see the hard work that they put in everyday but at the end of the race they will be a winner.
