First Weekend Art Celebration

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 Every month, the town of Toledo takes a weekend to celebrate their arts community and invite the public to join in during First Weekend, a monthly opportunity to connect with their local artisans. 

Many who have visited the Yaquina River Museum of Art in recent years will recognize the Schoolhouse Exhibit Space location, but now the Museum is parting ways with the Schoolhouse and moving back to its original location, the 1926 Vicarage House across the street and realizing the organization’s root intentions to make the 1926 Vicarage an Artist’s House Museum. Previous visitors will recognize the 1926 Vicarage as the Signature Gallery for the late regional artist and Museum Founder Michael Gibbons. Known for promoting the arts and the community at large, Michael and his wife, now widow, Judy Gibbons originated the Museum with a shared dream to create and institution in which to present the art, philosophies, and histories of not only Michael’s work but others who have and do work in the Yaquina region, a dream turned legacy which Judy Gibbons carries today. The 1926 Vicarage House will now be part gallery of Michael’s work, and part house museum for visitors to tour.

As the Yaquina River Museum of Art says goodbye to the Schoolhouse Exhibit Space, YRMA will be hosting a moving sale of items in the Schoolhouse during First Weekend. Furniture, picture frames, and more will be on sale at a 50% discount. In addition to the moving sale, Rusty Brown's celtic wood carved ornaments will be available for purchase for those holiday shopping for loved ones.

At the 1926 Vicarage House for First Weekend December, Michael Gibbons' Signature Gallery will be featuring "Sun on the Face." Painted on location in Olympic National Park, the scene depicts a snow-dusted view of Klahhane Ridge peaking through the deep forested landscape. Gibbons, the late regional artist, immersed himself in his environments to paint en plein air (literally “in the open air” or on location). “When I’m painting in nature, it is the diving experience of the land that feeds my inspiration.” Gibbons said. See this work and other originals at Michael Gibbons’ Signature Gallery, located at 140 NE Alder Street, is open on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 pm. For more information, go to michaelgibbons.net. 

 At Ivan Kelly’s Studio & Gallery, the award winning artist will be featuring “After the Storm,” a coastal Oregon landscape of retreating storm clouds giving way to blue sky against the windswept bluffs as gulls inspect the beach’s wrack line. Ivan has been an American Society of Marine Artists Signature Member since 2000, and is known for his big game, landscapes, and maritime pieces. Ivan Kelly Studio & Gallery, open Noon-4PM Saturday and Sunday, is located at 207 East Graham Street. For more information, please visit ivankelly.com