EUGENE, ORE.- A weekend of Morris Graves programming in conjunction with the publication of “Morris Graves: Selected Letters” takes place April 5 – 6, 2013. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, the University of Oregon Libraries’ Knight Library and the White Lotus Gallery in downtown Eugene are hosting related exhibitions and events.

“Morris Graves: Selected Letters” is a collection of letters to and from Morris Graves, a Pacific Northwest painter well known for paintings influenced by Japanese aesthetics and Asian philosophy. Published by University of Washington Press, it is edited by Vicki Halper and Lawrence Fong.

Halper is a noted curator of American crafts and co-editor of “Choosing Craft: The Artist’s Viewpoint.” She is former associate curator of modern art at the Seattle Art Museum and curatorial fellow of the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Fong was the associate director and curator of American and regional art at the JSMA. His work focuses on modern and contemporary art and design, and he has served on art committees and panels for the Archives of American Art; Design for Excellence, GSA; and the Oregon Arts Commission.

Events include a book signing at White Lotus Gallery during Lane Arts Council’s First Friday ArtWalk; a talk at Knight Library by Robert Yarber, executive director of the Morris Graves Foundation; and presentation by Lawrence Fong and Vicki Halper at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. All three institutions will also have selected works by Graves on view.

“Morris Graves Paintings and Drawings, 1931-1996” will be on view at the White Lotus Gallery, 767 Willamette St., Eugene, Ore., April 5 - May 25, 2013. The exhibition features artwork from the Morris Graves Foundation, including works from the artist’s early career.

“Art and Nature: An Exhibit of the Life of Morris Graves” will be on view April 3-8 and May 3-31 on the UO campus in Knight Library in Special Collections and University Archives, which permanently houses the Morris Graves Papers. The papers comprise more than 120 boxes of materials given to the UO Libraries by the Morris Graves Foundation. They date from the 1920s to 2008 and include personal, family and business correspondence; drawings and notes; photographs; gallery and exhibition materials; financial records; and documents related to Graves’ houses and properties.