LINCOLN CITY – Linda Gettmann and Charlene Virts will share the Featured Artist Gallery Feb. 25 – April 24, 2022, at the Fiber Arts Studio Gallery in the Lincoln City Cultural Center. The opening reception, in person, will be held from 5-7 pm Friday, Feb. 25.

Both from Central Oregon, the two artists and their contrast in expressions, materials, function, and art make a dramatic presentation from soft, dreamy scarves, complex patterns and color play, and sturdy saddle blankets to intricately curved pine needle basket sculptures.

Charlene Virts weaves wall hangings, colorful hand-painted scarves, and natural dyed saddle blankets. In basketry, she creates one of a kind sculptures using Ponderosa pine needles collected near her home enjoying the way the pine needle coil and creates movement around the sagebrush and juniper branches collected in the aftermath of fires as the center element of the work.

In 40 years working in fiber related arts, Virts has made her home in several places in the West: the high desert of Northeastern Nevada, Sonoma Valley wine country, and now in Central Oregon. She is captivated by the beauty and tradition of functional craft and artwork rooted in each region and loves how cultures throughout time have made functional items beautiful.

Her work has been shown at the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko, Nev.; Common Thread traveling show in Nevada; Handweavers Guild of America Small Expressions traveling show; and the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon. Currently her work is shown at the Artist Gallery Sunriver, Ore.

Linda Gettmann is a veteran crafts person who escaped from her corporate office in the financial services industry to have more time for her passions: weaving and knitting. She enjoys designing and weaving all types of items with a focus on function and beauty: cotton towels, table runners, silk and tencel scarves, wool and rayon shawls, and quilted placemats. With 3 floor looms, she always has them warped with a different project and tries to get in some weaving time each day.

An avid fiber nut, Gettmann taught weaving at many fiber festivals, regional guilds, and yarn stores over the past 15 years; and belongs to the Central Oregon Spinners and Weavers Guild and Portland Handweavers Guild. She sells her creations at local art fairs and boutiques under the name “Fiber Art Designs.” Since 2013, her woven designs have often been featured in Handwoven Magazine. She is always on the lookout for new ideas and experiments in the realm of fiber arts.

The new Fiber Arts Studio Gallery is just opposite the main entrance from the Chessman Gallery inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101, in Lincoln City. The Fiber Arts Studio Gallery is open: 10 to 4, Thursday through Sunday. Masks and social distancing required in the building.