Lafayette artist, musician opens gallery

Rachel Thompson/News-Register##Jody Carroll in his new art gallery in Lafayette, which features his own work. Carroll, also a musician, said he wants the gallery at 380 Third St. to be a music venue, as well.

Rachel Thompson/News-Register##

Musician and artist Jody Carroll is opening a new gallery in Lafayette filled with his paintings and photos.

“I’m obsessed with nature,” he said of the oils and photos he’s created in the past decade.

Carroll has toured the country with his blues and mountain music and taught art at Portland State University and Oregon State University.

He spent several years living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he studied the people and their historic music. “I gained a wealth of knowledge,” said Carroll, who calls his eight years in the southeast and Gulf states “a walkabout.”

“America has forgotten its roots,” he said. “Music and culture are the best way to remind ourselves.”

Carroll decided to return to Oregon recently following Hurricane Helene, which devastated the area.

He has lived and performed here on and off since 2000, he said. His parents live in Lafayette and his brother in McMinnville.

He plays old blues and original tunes at local and Portland venues. Starting in March, he will have a regular gig at the Stoller tasting room in Newberg on the second Saturday of each month.

He said his gallery also will occasionally host music events.

Carroll has a master’s degree in painting from PSU and a bachelor’s degree from the Art Center College of Design. He was a commercial illustrator for Disney and other clients after finishing school.

These days, in addition to creating paintings that can hang on the wall, Carroll is a muralist. His recent work includes a mural at the Stoller tasting room and another at Root & Rye in Carlton.

He said his new gallery is “a space for people to look at art. Music is the accent.”

The Jody Carroll Gallery at 380 Third St., Lafayette, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days or by appointment. He will host a grand opening event at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.

For more information about his art, visit jodycarroll.wixsite.com/fineart. For more about Carroll and his music, go to www.jodycarroll.com.