Astoria Visual Arts (AVA)

The upcoming exhibit at Astoria Visual Arts is going to be a good one!! Opens during Artwalk, November 11, 12-8pm with an artist talk with curator and organizer Judith Altruda at 5:00pm.

Shoalwater celebrations: Modern artists cherish, preserve tribal culture A month-long exhibit of art by members of northwest Pacific County’s Shoalwater Bay Tribe will open in Astoria next week.

STEW is the title of the joint show featuring artists Liv Joyce & Dustin Nord, Coastal Oregon Artist Residency award winners. In case you can't read the strewn about labels blanketing the floor, they are old Oyster Stew labels someone was throwing out.

See the COAR exhibit for another 2 days, through Oct 31, at 1312 Commercial Street (next to Sleeper Coffee).
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Pics from the COAR artist talk on Oct 27 with Dustin Nord & Liv Joyce. It was a great talk!! Thanks to those that came!!

UPDATE: Their show has been extended through Halloween!!! Oct 31st, 8:00am - 6:00pm, will be the last day to catch this year's COAR exhibit. The Recology team will be slinging candy from 3:00-5:00pm!

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AVA's annual Member Show will be up for one more week! This exhibit is juried for cash awards and is sponsored by the Ford Family Foundation. This year's juror was art historian Bill Ittmann from Manzanita.

Award winners are:
Lezlie Amara Piper (Best of Show)
Kristen Playford (Best 2D)
Heather Goguen (Most Creative Use of Materials)
Rhonda Gewin (Most Unique Use of Materials)
Daniel Stearns, Roger Dorband, Donna Lee Rollins, Iris Douglas, Chris Wagon, Kerry Davis and Anna Daedalus received Juror's Awards.

Thanks everyone for supporting AVA!

See the show through November 4!

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ARTIST TALK TONIGHT at 5:00pm .coffee
Artists, Liv Joyce & Dustin Nord, will talk about their experience with the Coastal Oregon Artist Residency as they each got paid a stipend by Recology Western Oregon to produce a body of work in 4 months from your trash.

Catch the artists on Carol Newman's radio show, Arts Live & Local, on KMUN at 3:00pm today!
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Hey! Come listen to these two extremely ingenuitive artists talk about their experience during the Coastal Oregon Artist Residency. There are always crazy, funny stories associated with what people throw away. Hope to see you there!

You can also catch them on Carol Newman's radio program, Arts, Live & Local, on KMUN on Friday @ 3:00pm.

Did you notice the "trashy photos"? :D

Liv Joyce

Thanks everyone for coming to our annual members meeting yesterday! The members unanimously elected 5 new board members and updated our bylaws.

Welcome Laurie Anderson, Lisa Smith, Mark Gorman, Linh DePledge, and Michelle Gates to our leadership team!! Thanks to renewing board members, Cindy Price, Ray Merritt, David Savinar, and Janelle Baglien, for staying the course!

Thanks to Philip Barasch, Liv Joyce, Dustin Nord, and Keri Domer for wonderful updates!

AVA's annual MEMBER MEETING is Saturday, October 21 @ 3:00pm. We are excited to here from Philip Barasch, Anna Kaufman, Liv Joyce, and Dustin Nord as they share stories about the impact AVA's programming has had in their lives. We will share a slide show of program highlights, elect new Board Members and thank everyone for their support and time. We will eat food and plan for the future. We may even make some ART! Hope to see you there!

The Coastal Oregon Artist Residency Exhibit opens this weekend at 1332 Commercial Street in Astoria! (Next to Sleeper Coffee) It's astounding what these two artists created out of discarded materials! Catch the opening reception October 14 from noon - 8pm. See you there!

The Coastal Oregon Artist Residency Exhibit opens this weekend at 1332 Commercial Street in Astoria! (Next to Sleeper Coffee) It's astounding what these two artists created out of discarded materials! Catch the opening reception October 14 from noon - 8pm. See you there!

The 3rd annual Arts Summit at Clatsop Community College is happening this weekend and is FREE to attend. See you there!

Arts Council of Clatsop County

Our annual Member exhibit opens this week on Saturday, October 14 from 12:00 - 8:00pm. If you are a Member and want to participate (or if you want to become a Member), artwork delivery times start today!

- Tuesday, October 10 from 10:00am-12:00pm
- Wednesday, October 11 from 5:00 - 6:30pm
- Thursday, October 12 from 11:00am - 12:30pm

This year's show is juried by art historian Bill Ittmann for cash awards. Space is limited, so if artwork is large (over 36”), only one piece may fit in the show, if work is smaller than 36”, artists may bring up to 3 pieces. All media is welcome.

About the Juror: Traveling a great deal in Europe in his teens, Bill Ittmann developed a love of museums and art history early on. He attended a number of private schools in the U.S. and abroad, and took art courses whenever possible. In 1966, he lived with the renowned California painter Wayne Thiebaud and modeled for a number of his figure paintings and drawings. In St. Louis, he studied at Washington University with Jean Sutherland Boggs, one of the most distinguished art historians of her generation and a specialist in 19th century French art, in particular, Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso. Ittmann received his Masters in Art History at Washington University in 1967. In 1978 Ittmann moved to Cannon Beach where he has resided ever since. Ittmann taught a Survey of 20th Century Visual Arts course at Clatsop Community College between 1998 - 2006 and was Director of the CCC’s Art Center Gallery from 1999 - 2006. He has juried several exhibitions over the years and is an enthusiastic collector of regional and local contemporary art.

Artwork featured: "Boundless Optimism" by AVA Member Dayna Collins https://www.facebook.com/daynajcollins

Parents: Pick up ART CAMP artwork at AVA Friday and Saturday from 2-6pm for art that was displayed at Gathered Bakeshop for the month of September. Also by appointment, please call or text 503-791-0575 to make arrangements. Thanks for participating!! It was a great show!!
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AVA @ the Ten Fifteen Theater! Artists, this is a show for you!

Repost from in part:
We are thrilled to be hosting a special post-show discussion with playwright Greg Berman, and gallerist Charles Froelick following the October 7th performance. This event will be moderated by Astoria Visual Arts member, Philip Barasch and is sponsored in part by a grant from the Clatsop County Cultural Coalition.

Get your tickets while they last! www.thetenfiteentheater.com

This weekend is the last chance to catch Philip Barasch's solo exhibit, "Bearing Witness" at AVA. See all 19 stations on Philip's social media coming soon (17 posted so far). Follow Philip for more updates on Facebook here: Philip Barasch and on Instagram at dancingchapmanstudio.

Gallery hours this weekend:
Friday, 2:00 - 5:00pm
Saturday, 2:00 - 6:00pm
Sunday, 10:00am - 1:00pm

New winter hours will start after the next Artwalk. TBA.

Coastal Oregon Artist Residency Exhibit
October 14 - 28 @ 1332 Commercial Street (next to Sleeper Coffee)

Dustin Nord and Olivia Joyce have been hard at work wading through garbage at the Astoria Transfer Station since June looking for items and materials to resurrect and bring back to life for a new purpose--as art. See what these two inventive artists have been making during the COAR exhibit, titled "Stew", opening October 14 from 12 - 8pm, and running through October 28.

The Coastal Oregon Artist Residency is a partnership program developed by Recology Western Oregon and Astoria Visual Arts to support the creation of art from recycled, repurposed and discarded materials.

Repost Philip Barasch: A lovely article in this week's Our Coast Weekend, and a lovely lead in for "Bearing Witness" as it heads to Grace Episcopal Church. I am absolutely elated by the response to this intimate body of work. It is now taking on a life of it's own, as it will be moving into sacred spaces. Thank you all for your support and for taking the time to visit with me and the exhibit. It has been an honor.

Artist looks to faith in Astoria Visual Arts tribute

Artist looks to faith in Astoria Visual Arts tribute There are several ways to interpret artist Philip Barasch’s exhibition, “Bearing Witness.” At its core, he said, “it’s the last great act of unconditional love” for his wife, Charis, who

Erica Berry will read this Sunday, Sept 24 at 3:00 pm at Astoria Visual Arts, 1000 Duane Street in Astoria. This event is free and open to the public.

Berry is the Portland-based author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear, and she is spending her residency week at the Sou'Wester working on her second nonfiction book, Hot Heads, which she describes as “a mix of cultural criticism, journalism and memoir exploring the influence global warming has on romantic love.”

Berry was selected from among more than 30 accomplished applicants for the fifth year of the North Coast Writer in Residence program, a partnership with AVA & The Writer's Guild of Astoria.

DEADLINE APPROACHING...
Agnes Field Artist Award
Applications are due September 30 by midnight.

Astoria Visual Arts welcomes applications for the 2nd round of the Agnes Field Artist Awards. Artists residing in Clatsop, Pacific and Wahkiakum County are eligible to apply. Support for a broad range of projects may be considered, including for materials, travel, submission fees, equipment, etc. Project proposals will be awarded based on the merit of the application and the perceived benefit to the artist's professional practice. Artists may apply for $250 - $1000.

Learn more at AstoriaVisualArts.org.

Former award recipients from 2022 include the follow artists who each received $250:
* Iris Sullivan Daire - materials for Indigo Matrix exhibit
* Kate Speranza - materials for Astoria Sidewalk Glass Brooch exhibit
* Stirling Gorsuch - materials to develop a new body of work
* die Famous (Morrison Pierce & Yazmina Nysten) - shipping for significant international exhibit

Art is everywhere. Art can be a resource to explore every nuance of existence in any conceivable medium. In our modern society it can be easy to forget just how insignificant the role art plays in most of our daily lives. It should be explored and utilized more by all ages and walks of life.

Philip Barasch's solo exhibit, Bearing Witness, shares not only his very personal experience witnessing the gradual transcendence of his beloved wife, Charis, to another realm after a shocking diagnosis with a brain tumor. His brave work illustrates how profound art can be.

See Philip's show Friday & Saturday, 2 - 6pm and Sunday, 10 - 1pm.

Erica Berry, this year’s North Coast Writer in Residence, will read this Saturday, September 24 at 3 pm at Astoria Visual Arts, 1000 Duane Street in Astoria. The event is free and open to the public. 

Berry is the Portland-based author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear, and she is spending her residency week at the Sou'Wester working on her second nonfiction book, Hot Heads, which she describes as “a mix of cultural criticism, journalism and memoir exploring the influence global warming has on romantic love.”

Berry was selected from among more than 30 accomplished applicants for the fifth year of the North Coast Writer in Residence program. 

Please support local artists and local food by shopping at the Astoria Co+op this month. AVA is the September Change for Community organization. Thank you!!!

Mark your calendar for Erica Berry's reading at AVA, September 24 at 3:00pm! (Front page of The Astorian today!)

Writer explores the roots of fear The roots of fear were on Erica Berry’s mind as she wrote “Wolfish.”

"Bearing Witness" by Philip Barasch at AVA is a series of 19 oil paintings structured after the Stations of the Cross. This is Station Four. In the 62 days from her diagnosis with a brain tumor, to her departure, Charis Barasch — a devout Christian — literally manifested her theology, revealed to her husband, Philip, in her final weeks. This exhibition embodies both a final wish and an act of unconditional love between husband and wife.

The AVA Gallery is open Friday & Saturday from 2:00 - 6:00pm, Sunday from 10:00am - 1:00pm, and by appointment.

AVA MEMBER ARTISTS: AVA’s annual member exhibition is October 14 - November 4. All member artists are invited to submit artwork.

Join us! Everyone can become an AVA Member. Membership is the financial bedrock that enables all our programming. Learn more at astoriavisualarts.org.

To join the show, bring ready-to-hang artwork to the AVA Gallery, 1000 Duane Street in Astoria, Wednesday, October 11 from 10-11:30am, Thursday, October 12 from 11-12:30pm, or earlier by appointment. Email [email protected] for an appointment.

* The theme "Storytelling" relates the upcoming show "BARTOW" at the 1015 Theater in October. ANY artwork can relate to this theme.

“Bearing Witness” is a series of 19 oil paintings structured after the Stations of the Cross. In the 62 days from her diagnosis with a brain tumor in April 2022, to her departure, Charis Barasch—a devout Christian—literally manifested her theology. "Bearing Witness" expresses in words and text what was revealed to her husband of 33 years, Philip Barasch, in her final weeks. This exhibition embodies both a final wish and an act of unconditional love between husband and wife.

See Bearing Witness through October 8 and come for Philip's artist talk Sunday, October 9 at noon.

Follow Philip

Come see the ART CAMP exhibit at Gathered Bakeshop today through October 1. Kids' artwork, ages 5-12, is represented and a smattering of projects that were made at camp. For most of these kiddos, it is the first time they are displaying their artwork publicly!

We also have Art Camp shirts available, both kids and adult sizes, in a new cubby!

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"Bearing Witness" by Philip Barasch documents the extraordinary events that unfolded in the 62 days from his wife's diagnosis with a brain tumor to her departure from this world. A devout Christian, Charis Barasch literally manifested her theology with the understanding that Philip would create this body of work. He carefully documented these miraculous manifestations, knowing at some point they would become visual records.

Station One: The Fall

"On April 29th, 2022, Charis Barasch--my wife of thirty two years--collapsed on our bathroom floor. This incident set into motion what would be her final 62 days."

Dimensions: 22 x 30 in

Medium: oil on multi-media board

NFS

Last night was a beautiful evening at the Cannery Pier Hotel where Jody Miller accepted her award for her photograph "Fog on the Columbia" from the owners of Vesta Hospitality for the My Astoria project.

It's been a real highlight to help connect the new owners of the Cannery Pier Hotel with local artists. We look forward to next year!

Congrats, Jody!!

Thanks everyone who came for Willa Schneberg's reading and poetry workshop last Saturday in conjunction with her solo exhibit Bookish: Ceramic Sculpture & Photography. Each participant in the workshop received a copy of Willa's latest book, The Naked Room (it's GOOD!), and wrote and shared a short piece.

Follow Willa at to see what she's up to next!

for helping us bring this type of quality programming to Astoria!

Astoria Visual Arts is the nonprofit for the Change for Community program at the Astoria Co+op for the month of September!!

Visit the Co+op and round up your purchase to the nearest dollar to support AVA's Youth Education Program. Learn more at AstoriaVisualArts.org.

That's a wrap on three weeks of Art Camps! It takes a whole lot of adults to make these experiences possible for youth in our community and we couldn't be happier with how everything turned out.

Art Camps were made possible by the Oregon Community Foundation - Go Kids program and we couldn't have done it without the partnership with Art Room and support from local businesses.

Thanks so much to all the teachers, parents and volunteers that made this program possible! More pics to come!

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As of June, our two AVA/Recology (COAR) recycling “trash” artists, Liv and Nord, have been up at the Astoria Transfer Station, (“the dump”) hard at work trying to find objects that they can use for their art. So, you may see them up there. They’ll have a gallery show in a few months displaying their art.

Willa Schneberg's solo exhibit "Bookish: Ceramic Sculpture & Photography" is up through September 2. AVA is open Friday & Saturday, 2-6pm and Sunday, 10am - 1pm. We're thrilled to receive funding from the Ford Family Foundation to make this exhibit possible and to support this amazing multidisciplinary artist.

We are thrilled to welcome Willa Schneberg to AVA for a solo exhibit, Bookish: Ceramic Sculpture and Photography, wherein Willa deconstructs the book form. Although she is also an accomplished author, the focus in this show is an aesthetic one: words and what they mean are not at play in these “bookish” sculptures and photographs. Copies of her new poetry book, The Naked Room, are also available.

Please join us for an Artist talk today, August 12 at 5:00pm.

Mark your calendar for Willa to give a reading September 2 at 2:00pm.

A few more images from the Astoria Open Studios Tour.

Karina Andrews
Cicely Gilman
Lezlie Amara Piper
Anna Weber

Anna and friends installed the 20+ foot tall kinetic sculpture "The Conductor" by Astoria artist Jim Fink (now passed on).

We didn't make it around to too many studios yesterday because we were enjoying chatting and drinking so much delicious tea. We'll keep trucking today!

Please tag AVA or send us pics to post from your experiences!

The Astoria Open Studios Tour guide book is now available online at AstoriaVisualArts.org!

Plan your route with the digital, interactive tour guide or pick up a printed version around town soon or at any participating studio during the event.

AVA is open today 2-6p. Artists of Astoria features work created by artists that are participating in the 13th annual Astoria Open Studios Tour, July 29-30.

The Writer’s Guild of Astoria and Astoria Visual Arts are delighted to announce the winner of the 2023 North Coast Writer’s Residency! Erica Berry, a Portland-based author, was selected from among more than 30 applicants. During her residency, she will work on her second nonfiction book, Hot Heads, which she describes as “a mix of cultural criticism, journalism and memoir exploring the influence global warming has on romantic love.”

Read more about Erica at her website:
www.EricaBerry.com
Photo of Erica by Andrea Lonas.

This is the fourth year of the North Coast Writer Residency. Chosen writers are given a travel stipend and hosted in a private setting for a week so that they can focus on their projects.

Erica will give a public reading at the AVA Gallery on September 24 at 3:00pm.