Third Places in Eugene

Searching for Third Place in Eugene

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I'm Sarah, a first-year Graduate student at the University of Oregon. I am pursuing a dual Masters of Arts in Folklore and Arts & Administration and hold an undergraduate double-major Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Folklore. My interests are varied and include community use of place & space, feminism, internet-based lore, authenticity, and foodways. 
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This project, "Third Places in Eugene: A Field Guide" is for my AAD 550 Art in Society course taken in the Fall of 2014. I have spent a great deal of time exploring Eugene to find third places, defined by Ray Oldenburg as "’the core settings of informal public life.’ The third place is a generic designation for a great variety of public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work” (p. 16). I seek to document third places in the Eugene area and present this website as a field guide for those who wish to discover where these places are, and/or learn a little more about them.

 

Third place, although a vague term and ambiguous space, can include several art worlds. Howard Becker’s (2008) description of art worlds in the book Art Worldsis broad enough to justify an analysis of third place as an art world. “The world of art mirrors society at large,” (p. 371) is Becker’s final line in his book. The collective aesthetic surrounding various third places can also mirror societal feelings, interpretations, and expectations. Collective action is required to make third places viable societal spaces. A coffeehouse or museum cannot exist as a third place if no one sees the value in going there.