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CORVALLIS, ORE., June 28, 2007 — A pair of towering outdoor sculptures will put the exclamation mark on an art exhibit perfectly suited to this year's da Vinci Days theme of Motion and Commotion.

The festival-sponsored exhibit opens July 12th at ArtCentric. Titled "Simple Machines — A Show of Anti-Functional Artwork," the month-long exhibit will feature the interactive and reactive kinetic sculptures of Portland artist Pete Beeman.

"We are very excited to be able to bring the work of Pete Beeman to Corvallis," said ArtCentric curator Hester Coucke. "It is impossible not to respond to his work with wonder, a smile, and awe for the balance between aesthetics, engineering, and physics. It is as if this work is made for Corvallis, a community with a lot of artists, engineers, and scientists."

The Beeman exhibit is just the first of many art-filled events planned for the 2007 da Vinci Days festival, including:

• CycleDelic, a display of 150 locally crafted art bikes and other whimsical wheeled wonders.
  
  
• Sidewalk Chalk Art, a chance for registered individuals and teams to decorate a concrete canvas, Saturday, July 21st, 9 a.m. until noon, on Madison Avenue near Central Park.
  
  
• Community Artists Open Exhibit, the second annual community gallery exhibit at Giustina Gallery, LaSells Stewart Center.
  
  
• Arts for All, featuring mural-making and sidewalk art for all ages and mobilities, Saturday, 2 to 4 p.m., OSU lower campus.

Sculpture Magazine describes Beeman's work as "the best kind of mélange of art and technology, and absolutely the most fun."

Make that big fun. A 14-foot tower that Beeman calls "Breathing Post" will take up temporary residence in the ArtCentric Plaza on the day the exhibit opens. Sporting bright red accents with rib-like structures, this imposing sculpture expands and contracts in a breathing motion when cranked to life by viewers.

On July 20th, opening day of the three-day festival, Beeman will unveil another behemoth guaranteed to create a commotion when it is put in motion. "Dual Pendulum," a 16-foot-tall prototype for a piece that stands across from Powell's Bookstore in Portland, will be displayed near the entrance of lower campus. This sculpture's spidery looking tripod supports a free-swinging pendulum attached to 50 flexible steel rods. When force is applied, the rods and pendulum interact with each other, creating unusual, graceful, and beautiful effects.

Beeman said his works appeal to those interested in the arts, mechanical engineering, or just lighthearted fun. "They are interactive, reactive, kinetic sculptures, with roots in industrial mechanisms and fabrication, and relatives in useful functional products," Beeman said. "They move, becoming graceful, comical, dynamic, even anthropomorphic. A gathering of these objects creates a kind of funhouse of technology."

The Beeman exhibit will run July 12th through August 12th at ArtCentric (Corvallis Art Center), 700 SW Madison, near Central Park. Hours will be noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, with extended hours during da Vinci Days. A VIP reception for the artist will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 12th, at ArtCentric.

Festival admission bracelets are now on sale. Full weekend passes, which include all events and activities from Friday evening through Sunday, can be purchased at multiple locations around Corvallis, and from the festival's web site: www.davinci-days.org. The price is $15 for adults (13 and up) and $10 for children (6-12.) Bracelets also will be sold at the festival's Main Gate at 11th Street & Madison Avenue. Single-day admissions, available only at the gate, will be $10 for adults and $5 for children. Children five and under will be admitted for free. and will be sold at the festival's Main Gate at 11th Street & Madison Avenue. Single-day admissions, available only at the gate, will be $10 for adults and $5 for children. Children five and under will be admitted for free.

On the Web: www.davinci-days.org