60 works of art from 38 artists as far away as New York and Texas are included in this show ... the first of its kind at Columbia Center for the Arts!

Curator for the show Bill Sturman explains: "Never before has the Columbia Center for the Arts opened it's shows to artists beyond the Pacific Northwest.  But in this case, we wanted to test the waters, to see how many artists would be interested in participating in an art show in Hood River."

Gallery manager Catherine Kiewit was delighted by the response. "We posted a nation-wide call for artists, and were really pleased with the response. 260 works of art in all were entered for consideration. Of course, we couldn't accommodate all that art, so a jury panel selected 60 pieces to be included in the exhibition."

Columbia Center for the Arts director Joanie Thomson adds: "We wanted to do something that would support the special exhibition that the History Musuem of Hood River County now has on display, which is their 'Farm Life' exhibit.”

Participating Artists

38 artists are participating in the show. Roughly half of them come from outside the Pacific Northwest — from Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, New York, and Texas.

Participating artists from the mid-Columbia region, include:

• Stephen Datnoff
• John Joyer
• Christine Knowles
• Peter Marbach
• Cathleen Rehfeld
• Charlene Rivers
• Jessica Robinson
• Mary Rollins
• Rowena Sandford
• Susan Sutherland
• John Maher
• Eric Voigt
• Gayle Weisfield
• Iris Wilson

About the Art

Most of the works are paintings – oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, mixed media, monotype print, collage, colored pencil – but there are also some outstanding photographs, metal jewelry, and fused glass.

The pieces depict the bounty of harvest, pastoral farmlands, equipment and tools, farmers and their families, and the environmental and social concerns relating to agriculture.

About the Jurors

Five jurors were selected to choose which artists would participate in the show, including:

• Judie Hanel – Hood River Valley Residents V.P., Art Collector
• Allan Henderson – Orchardist & Art Collector
• Deanna Joyer – Organic Farmer & Art Collector
• Catherine Kiewit – Columbia Art Gallery Manager
• Artist Bill Sturman – Art & Agriculture Exhibition Curator

About Columbia Art Gallery

Columbia Art Gallery, located in the Columbia Center for the Arts, is a non-profit community gallery with the mission to promote an arts-rich environment in the Columbia River Gorge. Regular hours are Wed. – Sun., 11am – 5pm.