Tuesday saw us in Illinois Valley, a small town outside of Grants Pass with some big ideas. First off we met with Jerry Work and Joyce Abrams of the Arts Association, who with the community college have initiated the Illinois Valley Business Entrepreneurial Center or IVCanDo. This centre facilitates artists and small business with practical skills like professional photography of products, websites and other marketing tools. They teach the artist how to better market their product and give them the skills to do so.
The gallery space was chock full of art and fine craft from the area and I'm only sorry that I didn't have more time to browse (or that I didn't buy those fabulous recycled computer chip earrings).
We raced off to their noon Rotary meeting, which went down a treat. This was held in a pizza parlour so I was in hog heaven. Illinois Valley Rotary club is very young and I was impressed by their friendly and laid back atmosphere.
Next stop was the Rough and Ready Timber Mill where they use some of their waste as bio mass to fuel electricity production which in some cases is sent back to the grid. It was noisy, smelly and dirty and I truly regret not having more time and equipment to better capture the atmosphere of the place. My photographic artist friends would have had a field day.
From the huge de-barker reminiscent of an alien transport machine to the men physically hauling the cut lumber to the guys making split timing decisions on the cut of the wood, I was very impressed by the operation. Muttons , Bottoms, Tops and Stiles indeed (different cuts of wood).
Over all Illinois Valley was impressive by the fact that a depressed area (lumber, the main industry has been seriously curtailed since the 80's) can begin to re-think itself in the arts as well as in the old-school arenas.
It also has a martian UFO landing station, but that's another story entirely.
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