Welcome to a guilded age
By Leslie O’Donnell
For the TODAY
Artists will tell you their work is a labor of love, and the results of that labor will be on display this weekend at the aptly named “Labors of Love” fall show of the Yachats Arts Guild.
The Labor Day weekend show takes place Saturday, Sept. 3, through Monday, Sept. 5, and turns the large room at the Yachats Commons into a gallery space for Central Coast artists.
“These artists are a very exciting, good energy group,” said Sherry Secreast, show coordinator and publicist for the arts guild.
The guild presents two shows each year, along with hosting workshops and monthly gatherings. According to its website, the guild was formed in 2007 as a way for Central Coast artists to get together and “showcase the beauty and the varied talents of local artists along the Oregon Coast,” predominantly from Yachats to Seal Rock. Secreast said early shows were held in small rooms, but the group has grown in the ensuing years and now turns the large room at the commons into a gallery, where the artists can display as many pieces of their work as they have room to hang.
The COVID pandemic put a stop to the guild’s in-person shows for two years but, ever resilient, members staged online shows instead before returning to their traditional July in-person show this year.
“Our July 4 show was incredible,” Secreast said, noting that 16 guild members displayed their work.
The guild has 38 members — gaining 10 or 15 of them during the pandemic. As many as 18 members will exhibit their art at “Labors of Love.”
Some longtime guild members are now octogenarians and some are no longer able to create art, but Secreast said they are delighted with the new energy of the group and grateful it is continuing and growing.
A repurposed vintage jewelry assemblage maker, Secreast has been a guild member for about three years. She and her husband bought land in South Lincoln County in 2003 and built a home there when they retired in 2016.
“I’m so grateful and thrilled to be part of the guild,” she said, adding that member Beth Kattleman encouraged her to join.
A variety of media will be on display this weekend, ranging from paintings in encaustic, acrylic, oil and watercolor to pencil drawing, photography, altered books and jewelry. The show offers a chance to chat with the artists as well.
Participating in the show are: Melinda Fellini, oil and cold wax landscapes; Lori Stevens, mixed media paintings; Maeona Urban, oil paintings; Donna Bader, landscape and still life photography; Carol Summers, watercolor paintings; Sherry Secreast, repurposed vintage jewelry assemblages; Beth Kattleman, altered vintage books; Judy Deam, reverse acrylic painting on glass; Gretchen Milhaupt, paintings; Dave Baldwin, mixed media; Jude Toler, silk painting; Carol Cassidy, murals, watercolor gouache, scientific illustration; Phil Schuster, pencil, watercolor, oil painting and Ricki Peterson, semi-precious stone and bead jewelry and Ginger Gouveia, abstract acrylic painting.
In addition to the two annual shows, the guild offers a variety of art classes and has plans, temporarily disrupted by the pandemic, for field trips to area galleries. Members also hope to revive a class where members come together to paint and learn from each other.
An “Art in the Fall” series of workshops, some with a fee to join, begins Sept. 10 with a chance to make a fused glass suncatcher with Jana Boutwell. An “altered books and box collage” program, taught by Beth Kattleman, happens on Saturday, Sept. 17, and on Saturday, Oct.15, Marie-Lise Best will lead a class on wet felting. The series concludes on November 5 with a “beetle in watercolor” workshop from Nora Sherwood.
“People are eager to get out now after COVID, and are no longer forlorn and morose,” Secreast said. “They want to do things now.”
The guild’s message is “Share. Learn. Have fun,” and the “Labors of Love” fall show offers the perfect chance to have some fun while supporting local artists.
Show hours are 10 am to 4 pm daily in the big room in the Yachats Commons, 441 N Hwy. 101. For more information and registration for the workshops, go to yachatsartsguild.org.