CORVALLIS, Ore. - Two agriculture-inspired exhibits will be on display this spring at Oregon State University.

Giclée prints of paintings by Ashland artist Betty LaDuke will be featured March 20 through May 3 in the OSU Memorial Union building concourse. In addition, the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences will sponsor its 30th annual Art About Agriculture exhibition, the invitational "Cultivating the Land for a Harvest of Art," in the Giustina Gallery of the OSU LaSells Stewart Center, April 2-27.

In connection with the Art About Agriculture exhibit, LaDuke will give a talk, "Celebrating Slow Food: Drawings, Paintings and Wood Panels from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oregon, USA." The talk runs from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on April 5 in the OSU LaSells Stewart Center Construction and Engineering Hall. It is sponsored in part by the Benton County Cultural Coalition and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

LaDuke has studied people on several continents since 1972. Her detailed sketches are rendered while she interacts with communities and farmers in their tasks of planting, growing and harvesting crops, tending livestock and marketing products. Her work celebrates Heifer International, a global nonprofit that provides cattle and other livestock to families in developing nations.

The artist will meet with OSU students in the MU concourse April 5 from 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. for a gallery talk. In conjunction with the exhibit, Heifer International's documentary, "Dreaming Cows: Betty LaDuke," will be continually aired April 2-5 on a LCD screen located across from the MU Lounge.

LaDuke and friend Maribeth Collins donated two paintings by LaDuke to the Art About Agriculture permanent collection. An inaugural public display at the LaSells Stewart Center will feature the paintings concurrently with the annual show.

A set of primitive, hand-made tools from Indonesia, Central America and other locations will be on display in the Construction and Engineering display case at LaSells. They were donated by Leslie Burrill, widow of the late Larry Burrill, who was a professor in the OSU crop and soil science department and collected the tools in his research and travels.

Artists invited to display their work in the 2012 Art About Agriculture show are:

 Athena: Amy Rogers

Corvallis: Elaine Greene

Pendleton: Hiroko Cannon, Shari Dallas

Portland: Mary Josephson

San Rafael, Calif.: Lara Mehling

Holualoa, Hawaii: Cliff Johns, John Mydock

Hayden, Idaho: Kyle Paliotto

Bellingham, Wash.: Susan Bennerstrom

Spokane, Wash.: Mary Farrell

Walla Walla, Wash.: Mare Blocker

Source: 

Shelley Curtis, 541-737-5534

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