VOL. 43, ISSUE 20 FREE
CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
September 6, 2019
Art takes center stage By ALLYN CANTOR For The Gazette Cannon Beach’s art community is coming together Sept. 20-22 to host a new, environmentally-themed art festival that will highlight local ecology. This celebration of the arts – the Earth & Ocean Arts Festival - is reinventing ways to connect the arts with the protection and conservation of nature. Spearheaded by members of the Cannon Beach Gallery Group, the festival brings together five local nonprofit organizations that will directly receive 50% of the proceeds generated from the festival’s event pass. A number of galleries and artists also are contributing festival proceeds to the nonprofit groups. Cannon Beach will see an array of activities that include dance and music performances, land-art creations, educational talks, and a variety of exhibitions and opportunities to meet both
the artists and members of the nonprofit groups. Highlights to experience outside will include a largescale installation by ecological artist Shelby Silver. The interactive outdoor sculpture “We’ve Made Our Bed,” which incorporates ghost netting and marine rope, speaks about marine animals never truly being safe from the hazards of entanglement, entrapment and indigestion from plastic marine debris. Silver is tracking how many pounds of ghost netting were collected for this project. Her piece will be located in the courtyard near Coaster Theater throughout the weekend. On Saturday, ceramic artists Dave and Boni Deal will do a series of live raku firings on the beach near Whale Park. For nearly 40 years, these Washington artists have collaborated in their rustic off-grid lifestyle, using no electricity. Their work honors Pacific Northwest themes, such as ferns and herons, to
adorn their classic forms. Whale Park also will be the site of a Saturday-evening beach reception featuring a local string band, The Floating Glass Balls. Here, you can experience several land-art creations made during the weekend, including a large-scale basketry sculpture by local artist Debra Carnes in collaboration with members of the Tolovana Arts Colony. In the sculpture garden outside of the Northwest by Northwest Gallery will be artists throughout the weekend, including Angelita Surmon, who works in both kiln-formed glass and a rhythmic painting style to create scenes that “mimic the music of the natural world.” A percentage of sales from this gallery will benefit Friends of Haystack Rock. Inside the galleries, individual artists and exhibitions will be approaching the Earth & Ocean theme in a variety of ways. Kathleen Sheard, a wildlife glass artist and
sea turtle conservationist, has assembled a team of glass artists to create her Spiritual Reliquaries and Wildlife Rondells at Icefire Glassworks throughout the weekend. Sheard works with fused, slumped, cast, and furnace techniques in her glass renditions of animals. At Imprint Gallery, a group show of six artists has been assembled focused on the idea of “Habitat.” The artists here are reflecting on the diversity found in wildlife and the environment. Dragonfire Gallery, too, will be hosting a group show, “Common Ground: The Art of Ecology,” which includes 30 artists creating works that express what is most precious or inspiring to them about the local ecosystem. Ten percent of the proceeds from this show will go to all five participating nonprofits. At Archimedes Gallery, painter Josh Keyes will release a limited-edition print of his painting “End of the
Trail,” with partial proceeds going to the North Coast Land Conservancy. The Earth & Ocean theme has provoked painter Christopher Mathie to think more about how plastic refuse ends up in our oceans and inside the bodies of large majestic marine mammals such as whales. Mathie began a new sculpture process that keeps his studio refuse out of the landfills by using the various materials – most of which are plastic – as a medium for sculpture. He will debut the new sculptures alongside his coastal-themed paintings in a group show at White Bird Gallery. At Cannon Beach Arts Association will be Dorota Haber-Lehigh demonstrating her botanical illustrations. And at Jewelry by Sharon Amber, painter Victoria Brooks will demonstrate plein air painting. A raffle of jewelry artists will also benefit the conservation groups involved with the festival. Local artist Jeffrey Hull
will be painting outside of his gallery during the weekend, with proceeds from the piece he creates going to a nonprofit of the purchaser’s choice. Bronze Coast Gallery will have artist demonstrations, as well as a raffle of three art pieces to benefit the Wildlife Center of the North Coast. In addition to the wealth of visual arts, this inaugural festival will include the nationally acclaimed Artichoke Dance Company, which will perform on the beach. The group increases awareness of plastic pollution, which is at an all-time high in our oceans. The new Earth & Ocean Arts Festival is a timely event coinciding with one of SOLVE’s beach clean-up weekends, as well as the last Concert in the Park of the season. A festival pass can be purchased at https://www. eventbrite.com/e/earth-andocean-arts-festival-tickets-62437590514.
Academy expands curriculum The Cannon Beach Academy began its new school year this week, adding for the first time fourth and fifth grades to its curriculum. Amy Fredrickson, the academy’s director, said the school opened in 2017 and is a tuition-free nonprofit. It is part of the Seaside School District. “If you are trying to create a charter school, you have to distinguish yourself from the (other) public schools,” Fredrickson said. She said the academy is different in three ways: It uses a Direct Instruction curriculum model Spanish is taught on a daily basis Art and music classes are taught weekly “This year has been our most successful year in terms of enrollment,” she said. “Our maximum capacity for enrollment is 50. Forty-five students are enrolled. “We received a grant from the Department of Education, and a large component of the grant was used for marketing and outreach,” said Fredrickson. The school draws students from as far away as Nehalem to the south and Astoria to the north, she said. The only requirement is that students
must live somewhere in Oregon and provide their own transportation. One advantage the school offers is small class sizes of no more than 25 students, she said. For reading, language arts and math, students are
next one,” he said. “In each lesson, we have seven to nine tasks going on at the same time.” Hull said the school uses a “scripted lesson plan that has been used all over and it works … we know this is a well-tested curriculum.”
“If you are trying to create a charter school, you have to distinguish yourself from the (other) public schools.” - Amy Fredrickson divided into groups within the classroom. “Small-group instruction permits the teacher to give feedback in a meaningful way. Teachers can work closely with the students.” If a student is not “grasping a concept, the teacher can provide immediate feedback,” she said. “There is less opportunity for students to fall through the cracks or slide under the radar.” Ryan Hull teaches second, third and fourth grade at the academy, where he’s taught for two and a half years. “What we offer is school choice,” Hull said. The academy’s curriculum is Direct Instruction, which is “a sequential-step approach, where a student masters a task and then goes on to the
Emma Molyneux is a parent of two second-graders who have attended the academy since it opened. She said “one of the key benefits” is the fact that the school’s curriculum model can accommodate both of her children’s learning abilities, although they vary widely. “The children don’t get lost in the system. “The other huge benefit is the community,” which embraces the school much more than if it were located in a large metro area, said Molyneux. Also, it is the only elementary school located within Cannon Beach. Anyone can volunteer at the school, she said. It is not necessary to have a child or grandchild enrolled.
Top row left to right: Dawn Jay, Leticia Campos. Bottom row left to right: Ryan Hull, Amy Fredrickson, Shawna Amela
Bring the family to Captain Kid Amusement Park • Rotowhip • Kid Car Ride • Helicopter/Airplane • Kiddie Carousel • Go Karts
We are an outdoor attraction Open 7 days a week 11-6
• Mini Golf • GyroXtreme • Rock Wall • Snack Shack
H47644
Just 8 miles north of Cannon Beach on HWY 101 2735 S. Roosevelt Dr. Seaside, OR • 503-738-2076