Art with impact in Lincoln City
Galleries at the Lincoln City Cultural Center will welcome two mesmerizing and meaningful displays, opening this Friday, July 18.
The Chessman Gallery presents “Survive,” a solo exhibition by Indigenous mixed-media artist Leonard Harmon.
Meanwhile, the Fiber Arts Gallery will host “Coming Around Again: Columbia Basin Basketry Guild; Weaving with Recycled Materials.”
A joint reception with Harmon and Columbia Basin Basketry Guild artists will take place from 5 to 7 pm on Friday. Wine and appetizers will be served.
Chessman Gallery
A proud citizen of the Lenape Tribe of New Jersey and the Nanticoke Tribe of Delaware, Harmon currently lives on Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indian Reservation lands. His vibrant, deeply personal work blends traditional Native craft with contemporary expression — transforming older images and materials into bold new visual narratives that challenge, honor and reimagine cultural memory.
“Leonard Harmon’s art has an incredible ability to draw viewers into an inner world of movement and meaning,” said Gallery Director Krista Eddy. “His fearless use of mixed media and ancestral symbolism creates a powerful, living dialogue between past and present. This show is both timely and timeless.”
Art runs in Harmon’s bloodline: his father was a furniture maker who adorned his pieces with painted feathers, his mother and grandmother were skilled beadworkers and his namesake uncle was a well-known portrait artist featured in the Heard Museum in Arizona. Creativity surrounded him from a young age and later blossomed into a life of multifaceted artistry.
Since then, Harmon’s work has been featured in institutions such as the Toledo Museum of Art, Nanticoke Indian Museum, Camden Historical Society Museum and the Amsterdam Museum. He has also curated impactful Indigenous art shows in Oregon and Ohio, and his reach continues to expand nationally and internationally.
“I draw inspiration from my ancestors to infuse a modern twist into traditional arts,” he said. “My work often utilizes older images to craft new narratives and offer fresh perspectives on history. I’m always exploring new styles and media to discover where my creative mind will lead me next.”
Fiber Arts Gallery
Featuring the work of 23 artists, the Columbia Basin Basketry Guild exhibit showcases innovative and creative ways of reinterpreting multitudes of materials. From fabrics to plastic bags, rope, cords, wire, food cartons and even recording media; an array of discarded items have been saved from landfills and reworked in resourceful ways creating new and useful artistic objects, vessels and wall pieces.
This show was inspired by works of guild founding member Janet Ronacher, some of which are included in this exhibition. Ronacher began exploring recycled items as her medium of choice many years ago after learning about discarded plastics collecting in our oceans. She experimented with different weaving techniques and developed unique sculptural baskets from these materials.
The show offers the viewer playful, thought-provoking pieces with messages — works that are beneficial for the Earth.
The guild began with a small group of weavers in 1989. Today, serves 364 members at all levels of skills and experience. From gallery-represented artists to new students learning basic techniques, all members are enthusiastic makers who find joy and satisfaction in the act of creating traditional or contemporary pieces. For more information about Columbia Basin Basketry Guild visit www.basketryguild.org.
Both exhibits run through Sunday, Aug. 31. The Chessman and Fiber Arts Galleries, located inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101, are open from 10 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Sunday.
For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.