"Reserve Inspiration" Art Exhibit Opens July 7

Audubon Society of Lincoln City opens its acclaimed exhibition Reserve Inspiration at the Coos Art Museum on July 7, running through September 22. Reserve Inspiration features five coastal artists who share work inspired by the beauty and diversity of Oregon's Marine Reserves in media ranging from painting and scientific illustration to ceramics, collage, and even FirePainting. The opening reception is Friday, July 14, from 5-7 p.m.

Reserve Inspiration presents how the nature of the Reserves inspires artists who explore the following themes in various media:

  • Diversity. In nature as in society, diverse systems are strong systems. Marine reserves ensure protection of diverse species which may not otherwise survive.

  • Change Over Time. Marine reserves differ from each other and offer an opportunity to study systems over decades to detect both sudden and subtle changes, which reveal the health of the ecosystem and our planet.

  • Patience. Like any investment, maintaining and researching a marine reserve require a long-term commitment over generations to observe change in natural cycles.

  • Interconnectedness. Plants, animals, and people are interconnected in marine reserves in ways known and yet to be discovered. Strengthening, not severing, those connections is key not only within the reserve, but also in our human relationship to the natural world.

    The exhibition features five artists of varying media and style:

  • Julie Fiedler is a ceramics artist and painter and directs St. James Santiago School in

    Lincoln City.

  • Cynthia Longhat-Adams is a self-taught multimedia artist who uses pyrographic

    methods, or FirePainting, in an ever-evolving process that powers her growth as an

    artist.

  • Victoria McOmie lives on the central Oregon Coast and is a painter and mixed media

    artist taking creative cues from nature for over four decades.

  • Nora Sherwood holds a certificate in natural science illustration from the University of

    Washington and works for clients in Oregon and beyond.

  • Jill Perry Townsend paints plein air in oils; she loves the ocean and landscape of the

    coast and the adventure of going out into amazing places to paint.

    Coos Art Museum is located at 235 Anderson Ave, Coos Bay, Oregon; check website at https://www.coosart.org/ or call (541) 267-3901 for admission and hours.