CORVALLIS - This holiday season The Arts Center proves the old adage that "Good things come in small packages."

One hundred artists were asked to transform the same box provided by The Arts Center, or one of their own of similar dimension, into a personal shrine.

The concept of the exhibit borrows inspiration from the work of famous New York artist Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), who created boxed assemblages from found objects.

The starting point for everyone was the same, but the outcomes were very different.

The Art Center's exhibit features religious and secular as well as serious and playful shrines.

"We wanted something that still fitted into the holiday atmosphere," said Arts Center curator and assistant director Hester Coucke.

For many of the artists, the project meant working outside their habitual artistic mediums.

"We also wanted to give a lot of artists the opportunity to think outside the box," Coucke said. "I've heard from several artists that said this was so much fun to do."

Participating artists included local, regional and even national artists from as far away as Texas.

A number of the participating artists were also invited to make reliquaries, based on their three-dimensional medium. In the exhibit, shrines are interpreted as boxed wall pieces while reliquaries are free-standing sculptural pieces.

The exhibit called "Shrines and Reliquaries" will be on display Nov. 13 to Dec. 24. An opening reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, will celebrate both the artists' work and the re-opening of the recently remodeled Art Shop.

Heather Boright, who manages the Art Shop, said that competition from other local artist cooperatives such as Teal, the Corvallis Artisans' Market indoor holiday market and Many Hands Trading forced the Arts Center to reassess its role in the holiday marketplace.

"In addition to the redecorating, we've refocused our direction in the shop," Boright said. "We decided it was time to adjust and show art that might not have a place elsewhere in Corvallis."

With fresh coats of green and goldenrod painted on the walls by Boright, new shelves and display cases from IKEA and a reorganized layout with help from Brian Egan of Corvallis Custom Kitchens and Baths, the Art Shop is going for a "fun, colorful and contemporary" vibe, according to Boright.

"We're aiming to be more of a destination for people looking for a special piece," Boright said.

The shop features one-of-a-kind fine art pieces and crafts ranging in price from eclectic jewelry, such as bottle cap earrings by Lisa Lindner starting at $35, to large-format paintings by Salem artist Robert Schlegel that run as high as $450.

Other items in the Art Shop include paintings by Milwaukie artist Marcia Hindman and Corvallis artist Donna Jepson-Minyard, functional glass art by Eric Bailey of Corvallis, and ceramics by Barb Campbell and Terri Inokuma, of Corvallis, just to name a few.

The petite Corrie Woodman Gallery also got a facelift in the remodel and is now more easily distinguishable from the Art Shop and the main gallery, thanks to new walls built by Walter Barkan.

The boxes are small enough to buy as a gift for someone without presuming to take up too much of their wall space. At a starting bid of $50, the boxes can be had for a steal, Couke said.

In addition to the new items for sale in the Art Shop, all pieces on display in the "Shrines and Reliquaries" exhibit will be up for auction from Nov. 13 until an "end of auction" party from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12, featuring handmade sweets and hot cider.

The bidding price for all pieces starts at $50; however, bidders will have the opportunity to bypass the bidding process and pay a "buy-it-now" full value price, set by the artist.

After the silent auction is over, the exhibit and full-price items will remain on display and for sale until 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 24.

This year's exhibit is sponsored with the help of Citizens Bank in Corvallis.

For more information contact Hester Coucke or Heather Boright: hester@theartscenter.net or heather@theartscenter.net or 754-1551.