The Nest; An Emerging Artist Collective

I am excited to announce the emergence of The Nest gallery in January 2020! The Nest; An Artist Collective ( formerly known as Voices Gallery) is re-emerging into a new space in the Conifer Wellness Building at 139 SW 3rd St in downtown Corvallis ( up the stairs to the left of Re-Style Home Store). The Nest will be participating in the Third Thursday Corvallis Art Walk ( CAW) each month in 2020. For the CAW schedule and info about additional galleries you can visit their website at: http://www.corvallisartswalk.com/

 The Nest Artist Collective is made up of 8 artists, many of us teaching artists in the community and all of us mothers. Get to know our Collective and their work below and we hope to see you on the Corvallis Art Walk! 

Meet the Artists: The Nest Gallery

Dawn Lamar Figueroa

Dawn is a Corvallis artist currently working in the medium of colored pencil. She

received a B.A. in Visual Communications and Philosophy/Religion from Kean University in New Jersey.

Her focus of study was illustration and she was trained in photo-realism. She has a strong attention to

detail and considers the act of drawing a meditative practice. Most of her inspiration comes from nature

and world cultures. She is curator of The Historical and Cultural Textile and Apparel Collection at OSU,

and she is Manager of the ArtShop at The Arts Center in Corvallis.

If you would like to see her artwork visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dawn.l.figueroa

South Town Art Walk 2019!

Mark your calendars for the South Town Art Walk happening this Sunday from 10am-5pm! 

This event is near and dear to my heart as a facilitator and has been so beneficial with helping me connect to my community around art. Stop by Diana Rose Studio for pottery, mixed media paintings, macrame wall hangings, skully mugs and more!! For more information and a map of studios you can visit our website at: www.southtownartwalk.com

Hope to see you Sunday!

Diana Rose Studio 

Diana Ryan: ceramics, macrame wall hangings, mixed media paintings, solid lotion bars, gift certificates for art classes

Laurel Buley: organic, locally grown herbal teas and body care

Rebecca Degagne: sculptural ceramics, hanging succulent planters

Julie O’Briant: aesthetic creations, multi media collage dragonflies

Bailey O’Briant: photography, photo cards

New Street Mural in South Corvallis!

  On Sunday July 28th, after months of planning and design, a community street mural was painted at the intersection of Lilly Ave. and Bethel St. in South Corvallis. The work was completed by over 40 volunteers from the community. A small team of neighbors including myself, Rebecka Weinsteiger, Dana Monroe, Katy Blye and Betsy Dasenko worked together with the City as well as the neighborhood at large to make this project happen. The project was inspired by the JANA Street Mural of 2017 ( on 11th and Taylor ST). This placemaking mural project will be featured at Open Streets, a free street festival on August 18th, 2019 that encourages active transportation and engages the community to create spaces where people want to walk, bike and play. In it's third year, Open Streets will happen between two parks in high-density low-income and working class neighborhoods, Lilly Park and Tunison Park.

April Showers bring May Flowers; the Whimsical Ceramic Art of Diana Ryan

My featured show was at Voices Gallery During the third Thursday Corvallis Arts Walk (CAW) this month.  Voices Gallery is an all female collective of 10 local artsits that show during the Corvallis downtown CAW each month.  For this show, I created a body of work in clay and mixed media- fibers and natural found objects. Shown were a series of "petal pots" made using wheel throwing and hand building techniques in porcelain/ paper clay that were fired to cone 6 and then re fired at lower heat with lusters. Additionally displayed were original mixed media paintings and large scale macrame pieces with ceramic elements incorporated. Pictured below are some photos from the show. Thanks again to the students, friends, family and community members who stopped by to see the show!

Voices Gallery Takes over Imagine Coffee

Voices Artist Shannon Finley

Voices Artist Erin Wallace

 Voices Gallery is a collective of 10 local women artists located in downtown Corvallis under the psychedelic eagle mural on 4th St.  I have been privileged to have been involved with this awesome collective since 2016. In addition to showing every Third Thursday as part of the Corvallis Arts Walk, Voices also participates in group shows and exhibitions. This month all 10 of us hung our work at Imagine Coffee located off of Philomath Blvd in Corvallis just West of 53rd St. We are a collective of artists with varied styles and themes, yet somehow our work seems to merge so well together. Our show opening and reception will take place on March 9th from 2-4pm at Imagine Coffee.  For this show I am displaying some functional pottery/ tea sets as well as a brand new series of Macrame Wall Hangings with Clay Elements that I've been really enjoying creating! Scroll down for more images of the Imagine Show and my Macrame Art Statement. 

On the walls at Interzone this March

"Crow and Feather Tryptic"
12"x 24" (side canvases) 24" x 24" (middle canvas)
Acrylic on Canvas with Ceramic Elements
Diana Ryan 2019

I wanted to share some photos of the show I have hanging at Interzone Inc. this month. Interzone is a funky coffee shop on Monroe St in Corvallis that is known for their great coffee, delicious vegetarian menu (with awesome extended weekend menu) and occasionally hosts local punk bands & noise shows. Interzone also happens to be where I had my first barista job in Corvallis after moving back in 2007 from Eugene. I have had several shows here over the years and am excited to be showing again this month. For this show, I created 5 brand new pieces of work as well as showing 3 pieces created in 2007 for my featured show at Voices Gallery. All of the work is painted with acrylic paint and I've used handmade 3D Ceramic Elements in every piece. If you are local I urge you to check out the show in person, if not, here are some less than ideal photos ;)

"Ceramic Feather Tryptic"
Acrylic Paint with Ceramic Elements and Acupuncture Needles
16" x 20" (each canvas)
Diana Ryan 2017

"Nest"
18" x 18"
Acrylic on Canvas with Ceramic Elements
Diana Ryan 2017

"Early Bloomer"
16" x 20" (each canvas)
Acrylic Paint with Ceramic Elements
Diana Ryan 2019

Seating area with artwork

Clay with Bae Couples Class this February!

This February I hosted a couples class for partners interested in pursuing creative clay projects together. Students worked individually and collaboratively on projects using both wheel throwing and hand building techniques. I hired a photographer to come and capture some photos of the couple's working in clay together. A portion of the proceeds was also donated to CARDV (the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence in Corvallis). It was a great class and a fun way to spend a few weekends around Valentine's Day making hands on memories in clay. I've also included the photo that I used for promoting the workshop where my husband and I re-created the scene from the movie "Ghost" and that photo shoot was a blast! Shout out to Mica Habarad for the great photos and the couples for a fun class!