Mission

RecRoom is an intimate space for exhibiting contemporary art in the city of Eugene, Oregon. Our program focuses on culturally relevant, beautifully made, and conceptually rigorous work from artists based in the PNW and around the world. It is a place where people who love and support contemporary art can gather and exchange ideas. Through hosting engaging events and gatherings, we bring emerging and established collectors into dialogue with artists, curators, writers, and academics to build a more lively and robust arts ecosystem. We will celebrate and support excellence; we will encourage, collaborate, and work together to raise the bar for the visual arts in our city.

The inspiration for RecRoom comes from our love of entertaining in our beloved mid-century home. We see this gallery as a salon in the Gertrude Stein or Louise Bourgeois tradition. When we renovated the 300 sf space, it was intended to be a place where we could show our own collection, entertain, and enjoy time with family and friends. After contemplating the viability of opening a conventional storefront gallery, we realized this space was perfectly scaled and suited to our vision.  We love the idea of people experiencing art in a relaxed domestic setting, because ultimately that's where most of the work will live.

BACKGROUND

Sarah Finlay has over 20 years experience working in the visual arts as a gallerist, curator, lecturer, and writer. From 2000-2006, she directed and co-owned (with husband Patrick Murcia) Fusebox, a ground-breaking and critically acclaimed contemporary exhibition space in Washington, DC, dedicated to presenting a rigorous program of intelligent and innovative work. The 1,700 sf gallery promoted and nurtured emerging and mid-career artists from Washington and around the world. Fusebox launched over 60 exhibitions in a broad range of media, producing exhibition brochures with essays by a variety of notable critics, curators, and academics. In addition, the gallery published artist books and digital recordings.  Exhibitions were the subject of articles and critical reviews in local and international journals, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, The Los Angeles Times, Art Forum, Art News, Art Papers, Sculpture, and Tema Celeste.  Fusebox was also the first Washington gallery ever to participate in major international art fairs, including Art Basel Miami Beach Art Positions program, and ARCO in Madrid.

From 2006-2017, Sarah lived in the Bay Area raising her two young children. There she provided professional art consulting services to private individuals with a strong emphasis on educating contemporary collectors and fostering future patrons of the arts. She also did pro-bono consulting for a nonprofit arts organization and was a contributing writer for two online arts and culture publications.