Cook Memorial Library opens exhibit pairing fiber art and poetry in La Grande

Fiber art and poetry have taken over Cook Memorial Library, turning the La Grande branch into a free public gallery with an unusual pairing that links Eastern Oregon University to downtown foot traffic. The exhibit, Sweet Release at Low Tide, opened Friday, April 10, and remains on display through June 30.

Heather Tomlinson brings the fiber side of the show. She is a professor of theatre arts at Eastern Oregon University, where she has taught for more than 15 years and focuses on costume design, construction and stage makeup. Her work has ranged from designs for Pippin, Dracula and Endgame to fiber art shown locally and nationally, and her resume lists a 2025 duo exhibition with Gregory Rawlins in Astoria, Oregon, a partnership that now carries into La Grande.

Rawlins contributes poetry and mixed-media collage shaped by his own EOU connection. He earned an MFA with a focus in poetry from Eastern Oregon University in 2023, after the pandemic’s cancellation of music gigs pushed him deeper into writing, and he later published his poetry collection Chainsaw Mandala in spring 2025. In Sweet Release at Low Tide, his literary background meets visual texture and composition, giving the exhibit a cross-disciplinary feel that is rare for a small-town library wall.

The setting matters as much as the art. Cook Memorial Library at 2006 Fourth Street in La Grande lists public hours, Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Sunday, making the show easy to see without a ticket or a special trip. With the exhibit up for nearly three months, it gives students, families, retirees and passersby time to stop in once or return more than once.

The library’s latest exhibit also reflects a familiar pattern in Union County: Eastern Oregon University artists using a civic space to reach beyond campus. In this case, the result is a show that pairs clothing, textiles and theatrical craft with poetry and collage, while giving La Grande residents a direct, no-cost look at two artists with deep roots in the community.