Now in its eighth year, the Art of Sparkling internship program provides real-world experience for student artists to establish a foundation for future professional success.
DUNDEE, Ore. – September 20, 2023 – On September 17th, Argyle Winery and the Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette University (PNCA) were proud to unveil the 2023 Art of Sparkling artwork at a special reception held at the Argyle Tasting House in Dundee, Oregon. Established by Argyle Winery to promote the values of creativity and artistic storytelling, the Art of Sparkling program is a unique collaboration with PNCA that is now in its eighth year. Each vintage, three PNCA student artists are selected for an internship with Argyle. As part of the internship, each artist creates their own original label artwork for Argyle’s annual three-bottle Art of Sparkling set. The stunning, original labels adorning this year’s Art of Sparkling set were created by student artists Emily Thomas, Ellyse Egan, and Grace Feucht. For those wishing to support the Art of Sparkling program, this year’s Art of Sparkling Set featuring Argyle’s acclaimed 2020 Vintage Brut is available online at https://argylewinery.com/about/community/arts/the-art-of-sparkling/.
“Research tells us that students who experience a high impact experience like an internship in college are more likely to have higher lifetime earnings and remain working as artists and designers post-graduation,” said PNCA Dean Jen Cole. “The partnership with Argyle Winery delivers a triple bottom line—it helps students learn critical work skills, connects them to the agricultural and creative industry in the region, and creates a stunning, memorable product for all to enjoy. This partnership is such a joy to participate in and we were thrilled to join our students and Argyle for another successful year of Art of Sparkling.”
Dean Cole’s assessment of the impact of the program is echoed by past Art of Sparkling alumni, including artist Subin Yang, who participated in the first year of the program and has gone on to become a successful illustrator, with work featured in the The New Yorker, The MET, and Google. “Art of Sparkling was honestly one of my most memorable experiences at PNCA as an illustration student. It was such a great learning experience to meet the clients, visit their worksite in real life, learn about the vineyard, and pitch my idea professionally. Once the design was picked, finalizing my work to fit the medium and seeing the final product in person was truly dreamy. All of this is usually a hard experience to come by as a student (let alone an international student), so every moment was exciting and precious to me.”
After being selected to receive the Argyle internship, this year’s three PNCA student artists visited Dundee, Oregon, where they were able to immerse themselves in the Argyle story by visiting the vineyards, winery, and Tasting House. During their visit, the student artists were hosted by acclaimed Argyle Winemaker Nate Klostermann and Vineyard Manager Erica Miller. During this working retreat, the artists got a behind-the-scenes perspective on Argyle’s approach to viticulture, winemaking, and hospitality—experiences that served as inspiration for each artist’s original artwork. The artwork was then turned into labels for the three-bottle 2023 Art of Sparkling set, which are described as follows:
Emily Thomas is an illustrator and designer currently in her final year at PNCA. Her work focuses primarily on the natural world and botanical themes, with an emphasis on climate change and environmentalism. Embracing an “eco-surreal” style, her piece, Think Big, Start Small, Scale Rapidly is based on the idea of a zoomed-in look at the ecology of Argyle’s vineyards, and the importance of different species working together to create the delicious grapes.
Ellyse Egan is an abstract artist working primarily with paint and photography. Inspired by influential environments and memories, she creates work with an expressive quality that speaks to the powerful aspects of nature and the spaces we find ourselves inhabiting. Her Beyond Branches label features black-and-white vine imagery created with a Kodak Eastman Tourist film camera made in the 1940s. The piece takes inspiration from the snow-covered vineyard during her visit to Argyle in March of 2023.
Grace Feucht is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of nature and nostalgia through a variety of mediums, with a focus on papercuts and printmaking. Her label artwork, which was made by cutting and layering paper, was inspired by traveling through the rolling hills of the Willamette Valley where winemakers have farmed the fertile lands below Mount Hood since the 1970s.
“Great wines tell a story of the vineyards they come from and the growing season that shaped them,” said Argyle Winemaker Nate Klostermann. “Art of Sparkling takes this idea a step further, creating a visual representation of the Argyle story and our wines. The creativity of these student artists is inspiring. While all three shared the same experience during their visit, the three pieces of label art they created are all incredibly unique. That’s the magic of art and the beauty of wine.”
About Argyle Winery
Founded in 1987, Argyle is Oregon’s original sparkling wine house. In the years since, what began as a conviction to grow world-class sparkling wine has grown to include an acclaimed portfolio of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling. Argyle farms nearly 500 acres of estate vineyards in the Willamette Valley. They also welcome guests daily at the Argyle Tasting House, located in the same downtown Dundee space they’ve called home since the beginning. To learn more, visit ArgyleWinery.com.
About Pacific Northwest College of Art
Willamette is a nationally renowned private university with campuses in Portland and Salem, Oregon. Our Portland campus features the northwest’s flagship art and design school, the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), the oldest art and design college in Oregon. PNCA leads art and design degree programs, public galleries and community arts programs which fuel its mission–to help artists and designers live a life of creative practice and build a dynamic, just and thriving arts ecosystem in Oregon.
