very nice gallery. well represents a nice variety of artists. A nice space, well laid out, and…read moreKathy, the new owner is thoughtful, very polite, and enthusiastic, and shares. She is very nice. Her husband too. Thank You, tom

Great art! Incredible work from some of this valleys artists, Check it out!read more

When I travel, I love visiting galleries featuring local artists. On this Ashland trip, I had the…read morepleasure of wandering into Art on First. It's directly across the side street from the Ashland Springs hotel and featured a nice slice of interesting creative items, across many mediums. I enjoyed a nice chat with the owner, and left with a notebook featuring a cover from a cigar box, a leather backbone, and some pretty heavy duty paper. Of course, I didn't need it, but the whole heft, artistry, and how if fit in my hand, all came together. I felt it was a little pricey, but good value and my local support.

From the owner: ART on FIRST is an artist/woman/latina-owned gallery in the heart of downtown Ashland…read more The perfect place to expand your art collection and shop for unique hand-made gifts. ART on FIRST features artists and artisans, both local and from afar, whose passion and originality truly shines through in their work. ART on FIRST is also the home of AlmaMia Jewelry & Studio, where you can see the collection, meet Karina Mendoza-Wittke, and at times watch her create her pieces. If you are lucky, you may catch other resident-artists at work as well. ART on FIRST truly is a Gallery of Beautiful Things…

It looks like it's been 16 years since Gayle and I walked into a still-in-business Carefree…read moreBuffalo? For whatever reason (besides COVID), our OSF schedule didn't involve coming out to Jacksonville. So on our recent sojourn here, Carefree Buffalo was our fist stop (weird downtown traffic patterns permitting) was Carefree Buffalo. The nice selection of pricey and amazing made-in Oregon William Henry knives are still here, as are a nice section of ones from Santa Fe (New Mexico) Stoneworks. Of course, there's more than knives here, and they'll all nicely displayed and waiting for you to pick it up or ask about it. I ended up buying a cool (and cheap) utility knife, which pretty much kept me for spending more money. After all, I had to behave myself as Gayle was watching. :)

Everything went well! Joseph, the owner of Carefree Buffalo, is extremely knowledgeable about the…read moreproducts he carries, especially the Dinosaur knife Collection. I highly recommend this retailer, Carefree Buffalo, in Jacksonville, OR.

My daughter and I attended a workshop at the LightGarden studio this weekend to make tiles for…read more"Flowers of Hope" (an annual project to provide breast cancer patients with a beautiful glass tile). Jessy has been doing this for many years and it shows! She has many different colors of glass to use, ideas for a pattern, and all the tools you need to make a beautiful tile. We paid $10.00 each to help cover the costs of the materials. It was a great way to help a breast cancer patient and learn the basics of working with glass. I know that I will sign up to work on the Flowers of Hope tiles again next year. And, I plan to go back to additional workshops so that I can make presents (tiles, Christmas ornaments, etc).

From the owner: LightGarden Glass Art specializes in stained, fused glass and mosaic supplies and classes. We do…read morecustom designed glasswork for home or businesses. We work with you to help you create the work of art that you have always want utilizing a computer design program so you can see what it is actually going to look like before we start. LightGarden also carries lots of cabinet glass for upgrading or new construction cabinets.

It was a sunny and worn Ashland morning, so Gayle and I decided to take a nice walk down to the…read moreSouthern Oregon University Campus and among other things wander through the Schneider Museum of Art. It's a relatively small space that consists of 2 large gallery spaces, plus a little bit within the entrance area, and all situated within SOU's Art School campus. There's some nice less formal displays within those buildings as well. A voluntary donation of $5 is requested at a "free will" box at the entrance to the museum. We happened upon the "Fighting Men: Golub, Voulkos, Kirby" Exhibition. Most interesting were the various comic book displays by Jack Kirby and Leon Golub's cautionary paintings that depict the violence stemming from political power gone awry. Bridging this gap are Peter Voulkos' powerful ceramic pieces. You can easily (and slowly) spend up to ~30 minutes here. I would also recommend entering and leaving the Museum on the University side, just so you can enjoy wandering around this pretty campus.

This is a small art museum on the campus of Southern Oregon University. This is a very modern and…read morecontemporary building with 4 exhibits rooms featuring different artists. It's a great stop and it doesn't matter what time of the year you visit Ashland. It is especially great on a day when it is 100 degrees F. It will definitely not break your budget to cool down while looking at some cool art because admission is free. We enjoyed looking at and comparing how each artist has their own style and that was so great for kids to understand that it's important to be yourself and that it's great that no two people or artists are the same. We came in the summer so it was very empty and parking was easy to find. I'm not sure how it is when it's school season.