Spectators view Myrna Anderson’s “Mt. Hood, Aerial View” at the 2026 Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour’s preview exhibition, which took place at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson on April 17. Sean Avery photos.
Spectators view Myrna Anderson’s “Mt. Hood, Aerial View” at the 2026 Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour’s preview exhibition, which took place at the Columbia Gorge Museum in Stevenson on April 17. Sean Avery photos.
Chris Pothier's oil painting "American Apocalyptic"
Peacock gourd by Andrew Lewis
Daiva Bergman Harris’ mixed media fiber piece “Syncopation”
Paloma Ayala’s “Touching the Wind”
Jen Smith’s charcoal and pastel drawing “Golden Eagle”
STEVENSON—Sitting alone aboard a canoe on the Columbia River, a solemn young ballerina dips her toes into the cold, black water. A hiker, cutting through the morning fog, navigates the devastated, but resilient ruins of the Eagle Creek Fire. Mount Hood, rocky and glaciated in the summer heat, quietly dominates the horizon.
Artists from across the region united at the Columbia Gorge Museum (CGM) in Stevenson on April 17, where a diverse assortment of locally resonant works — oil paintings, sculptures and beyond — graced the Encircle Technology Community Gallery.
The celebration marked the beginning of the 2026 Gorge Artists Open Studios (GAOS) Tour’s inaugural preview exhibition, allowing guests to meet and view works from local talent before their personal studios open for public viewing May 1-3.
The GAOS Tour, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is an annual public showcase that grants residents an up-close encounter with the Gorge’s flourishing arts scene and the intimate environments that have helped shape it.
This year, 50 artists specializing in various media are participating, with around 30 on display at the preview exhibition.
Although CGM has a longstanding partnership with many of the artists whose work hangs on its walls, this is the first time it — or anyone— has hosted the tour’s preview show. For Executive Director Louise “Lou” Palermo, who’s worked in museums big and small across the country, the exhibition presented a unique and unmissable opportunity to support the regional scene.
“We don’t have a problem going to the home store and spending $100 on art,” she said. “How about coming here and supporting an artist who has actually put a lot of thought and skill into something? This is the way to get the word out.”
The exhibition also offers museum members a chance to personally interact with artists they wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to meet. During the curation process, Palermo intentionally selected GAOS Tour participants whose work demonstrated a strong connection to both the museum’s collection and the Gorge area. “You come meet people and fill your heart with artwork that resonates with you,” she said.
According to CGM Assistant Executive Director Madeline Ricks, the preview exhibition aligns with the institution’s broader aim: to support the economy, educate visitors about local arts and culture, and provide a platform for connection.
“By hosting, the museum can make sure that artists know we see them and we value them, while also letting our local community interact with their art on a different level,” Ricks said. “Especially in this day and age, it’s important to give local artists — even if they’re world famous — a space to connect.”
The evening represented Ricks’ first big opening since she joined the CGM team. Upon walking through the door before the masses, she immediately felt a sense of pride — for the museum and the artists. “A lot of work has gone into the show, both in the artwork and how we’ve displayed it,” she said. “So to have so many here with all of their friends and family is really meaningful, and great for the city of Stevenson.”
Among the creatives on display was Jodi Wright, a Mosier-based painter and president of the Columbia Gorge Artists League. The former mechanical engineer and lifelong drawer didn’t start painting until retirement, and has since blossomed into an emerging portraitist, particularly keen on female subjects.
Mosier-based painter Jodi Wright poses with her latest creation “Where There Was Fire”
Her oil painting “Where There Was Fire” portrays a woman hiking through a heartbreaking but familiar Gorge landscape: the aftermath of wildfire, specifically 2017’s Eagle Creek blaze. “Our planet is resilient, our area is resilient, and it always comes back,” Wright said.
The 2026 GAOS Tour marks Wright’s second year as a participant — all the more energizing this time around, she described, when surrounded by her peers. “This kind of thing, you get to interact with each other, you get to buoy each other up and bring the best of the village together.”
The Dalles-based artist Shayna Rae, author of the painstakingly detailed oil painting “Girl on the Columbia,” brings more than a decade of experience in the film and television industry into her work. Her fine art has been featured in exhibitions at venues such as the Oregon Society of Artists and the Salvador Dali Surrealistic Exhibit.
Shayna Rae's "Girl on the Columbia"
Rae is a GAOS Tour first timer and described the sign-up process as surprisingly competitive. “There’s not a lot of occasions where you meet artists,” she said. “But getting a community event where you actually go see and meet each other…it feels cool.”
Chris Bush's woven basket
Gorge Artists Board member Chris Bush is currently operating in her second year as the artists liaison, while participating in her third GAOS Tour overall. She moved to the Gorge in 2020, fell in love with the arts scene, and founded the makerspace Twisted Fibers Basketry in The Dalles to share her love of basket weaving with the community. Her exhibition contribution, a beautifully woven basket tinged with several shades of blue, is reminiscent of the mighty Columbia. “The event brings people to the area that might not normally come here, and they get to see a lot of work,” Bush said. “From ceramicists to potters, it’s been great to see all of our work in one space.”
Brenda Huskey’s pastel painting “Ok, I’ll Go First”
The Mosier-based painter Brenda Huskey is returning for her second year as a stop on the tour. Huskey was strictly an acrylics painter before Wright inspired her to venture into pastels, the medium for her gorgeous and adorable painting, “Ok, I’ll Go First,” which illustrates a clutch of ducklings preparing to leave the nest for the first time. “I think there’s just an atmosphere that artists create,” Huskey said. “It inspires you to do something different, to try something new.”
Visit CGM for the preview exhibition before its departure on April 26. The GAOS Tour will commence on Friday, May 1. For more information, visitwww.gorgeartists.org.
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