Show Preview | Pacific Northwest Plein Air

Goldendale, WA
Maryhill Museum of Art, August 26-28

Yer Za Vue, In the Shadow of Mount Hood, oil, 12 x 16.

This story was featured in the August 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

This month, the 12th annual Pacific Northwest Plein Air show brings together 40 artists to paint the vast, wild beauty of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, from stunning views of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River to the surrounding vineyards and snowy peaks of the Cascades. Participants in the juried event include emerging and established artists from the Pacific Northwest and from around the country.

“Twelve years ago, there were no plein-air events here—none,” says event founder and painter Cathleen Rehfeld Meyers, who lives in the Columbia River Gorge area. “That was my idea for starting this event. The area was completely untapped.” Spanning northern Oregon and southern Washington, the national scenic area encompasses 292,500 acres of dramatically varied ecosystems, from temperate rain forest and waterfalls to dry woodland and grasslands. “It’s an amazingly beautiful place. In a relatively small area in terms of miles, you have an incredibly diverse landscape to paint,” says Meyers.

Carole Gray-Weihman, Klickitat Late Morning, oil, 12 x 16.

This year, Pacific Northwest Plein Air is partnering for the first time with Maryhill Museum of Art in Goldendale, WA. Situated on a bluff 700 feet above the Columbia River Gorge, the museum is housed in a historic, three-story Beaux-Arts mansion that boasts sweeping views of the river below. Between August 22 and 25, event participants are invited to paint anywhere in the national scenic area within 40 to 50 miles of the museum, including on the museum’s grounds. Museum curator Steven Grafe expects to see as many as 160 fresh paintings in the exhibit. “There isn’t a tremendous body of work in the public collection on this area,” notes Grafe. “My hope is that visitors can see some great local landscape paintings.”

The exhibit and sale debuts at the Maryhill Museum on Friday, August 26, with a gala opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m., and concludes at 5 p.m. Sunday. Works hang in the Mary and Bruce Stevenson Wing, where visitors can take in awe-inspiring vistas on the artists’ canvases and from the windows in the exhibit space. Internationally recognized painter Terry Miura juries the show, awarding prizes to the most exceptional works in 14 categories. —Kim Agricola

contact information
509.773.3733
www.maryhillmuseum.org