You’re sure to click with this exhibit
The Impressions of the Oregon Coast show by the Yaquina Art Association Photographers will fill part of Newport’s picturesque Pacific Maritime Heritage Center starting on Thursday, March 13.
An opening reception on Thursday at 4 pm will provide the chance to meet and greet the photographers and enjoy light refreshments.
This show highlights the beautiful shorelines, sunsets, night skies, wildlife and icons of the Central Oregon Coast. Viewers will experience the region through the collective lens of Yaquina Art Association Photographers.
The Oregon Coast is a special and unique environment. Geologically, it is a complicated mix of ancient seafloor sediments and massive lava flows from Central Oregon, lifted up by tectonic forces and reshaped by erosion. It is a dynamic entity, oscillating up and down over periods of hundreds of years as the subsea Juan de Fuca plate to the west dives beneath the North American one, first pushing the coast up, and then letting it drop back down as stressed undersea faults break loose. To the west, the Pacific Ocean extends in an unbroken, 5,000-mile reach, allowing space for titanic waves to form and slam into Oregon Coast beaches and bluffs during winter storms.
The diversity of fresh and salt water habitats has allowed a vast variety of living things to flourish — towering spruces, hemlocks and cedars; salmon; seals and sea lions; and birds by the millions — wading birds, aquatic birds, raptors and scores of others. The ebb and flow of 10-foot ocean tides creates a daily dynamic rhythm too, to which all coastal life is attuned.
Indigenous peoples inhabited the Oregon Coast for millennia before European, and later American, colonialism pushed them from much of it. The land remains theirs, in a spiritual sense, though now possessed by others. Subsequent introduction of European technology and commerce has produced the iconic lighthouses, waterfronts and bridges that help characterize the coast today.
Each participating member has selected images that are meaningful to them, creating a stunning visual story of the coast and the life that animates it.
The show will be on display through Sept. 7 at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center, located at 333 SE Bay Blvd. in Newport and open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children aged 13 to 17 and free for kids younger than 12. For more information, go to oregoncoasthistory.org or call 541-265-7509.