Cannon Beach Arts Association was founded in 1986 to support, fund and enhance arts in the community of Cannon Beach and the surrounding region.

Among its founders were Steve Martin, founder of Steve Martin Management, now Martin Hospitality, Inc., and Herb Schwab, former Oregon Supreme Court Justice and one-time mayor of Cannon Beach two who understood that the arts are an important part of our identity and that our creative culture is what makes Cannon Beach great, says Andrea Mace, executive director of the CBAA.

Others in at the creation were Rainmar Bartl, Harry Greaver, Jim Hannen, Bill Gittelsohn, Mike Morgan the current Mayor of Cannon Beach and a staunch supporter of the arts Pat Friedland, in whose coffee shop meetings often took place, Steve Tuckman, Gainor Minott and Barbara Temple-Ayres, who heads up the CBAA Summer Art Camp.

CBAA achieves its mission through a range of programming, including exhibits, educational opportunities and a commitment to creating economic viability for working artists.

The most visible and dynamic program of CBAA is the Cannon Beach Gallery. Among the many art galleries that grace the streets of Cannon Beach, it is the only nonprofit. Located in midtown at 1064 S. Hemlock St., the gallery hosts 12 exhibits each year. Every month a new exhibit is hung, featuring two- and three-dimensional artwork, from fiber arts to sculpture and fine art to fine jewelry.

The yearly exhibition schedule is conceived and executed by Mace, who is also executive director of the gallery. She works with a group of artists, known as the CBAA Gallery Committee, to plan invitational, themed group and juried shows. A tireless social networker, Mace has brought attention to the gallerys offerings through her postings on social media and any other way she can think of.

The gallerys newest show, Shadow and Light, is an autumn invitational featuring Susan C. Walsh, which opens Oct. 4 and has an artist reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5. In November, the gallery will host its Annual Miniatures Show, a perennial favorite. And at some point in the future, the gallery anticipates mounting an Under-18 Regional Art Show, which would provide a showcase for the talented young artists in the area, if the necessary funding is secured.

I would like to see us identify and mount an annual fundraiser that can be counted on to help us through the years activities, Mace says. The gallery is the visible component of all that the CBAA accomplishes; in order to maintain and grow our multi-disciplinary approach to the arts, we need to find consistent funding over and above what we already receive.

Maces efforts and those of a cadre of volunteers are what make the gallery possible. The volunteer docent program provides an entry for emerging artists and continued exposure for established artists. Many of the volunteers are artists who are rewarded for the investment of their time in CBAA with opportunities to show their work on the gallerys designated Docent Wall and through the annual year-end exhibit, The Volunteer Show.

In addition to the gallery, CBAA also manages a popular Summer Art Camp that isopen to preschool-aged children through adults, offering a range of classes taught by professional artists and teachers. This week-long event is limited to small classes, providing an intimate setting for students to gain hands-on skills in a variety of mediums. Currently, with the closure of Cannon Beach Elementary School, CBAA is looking for a new venue for Summer Art Camp. Given the limited funding for arts education in local schools, the camp is a vital way to broaden the experience of coastal residents. This camp is a marvelous opportunity for young people, and those not so young, to explore different art forms, experiment with shape and color, and learn the joy of creativity, says Kay Aya, an artist and long-time teacher who has assisted at the camp. This past summer, attendance was at an all-time high.

Another important CBAA program is the Individual Artist Grant. An annual award of $3,000 allows a visual artist, writer, musician or performer to create an innovative body of work over a year-long time frame. Past grant recipients include Jon Broderick, whose Fisher Poets Anthology evolved into the annual Fisherpoets Gathering in Astoria. (In a nod to its roots, the Fisherpoets Gathering still ends every year with a reading at the Cannon Beach Gallery.) The grant has been active for more than 20 years, allowing many regional artists to begin their professional careers.

The CBBA further supports its commitment to arts education with its scholarship program, which awards funds to a graduating high school senior pursuing collegiate study in an arts-related field. A recent recipient, Lake Jiroudek, is at The Julliard School studying jazz guitar. The supplemental scholarship provides Jiroudek with necessary funds for additional expenses.

The newest program is the CBAA Summer Internship. Interns help prep the Cannon Beach Gallery space for exhibits, design marketing materials for shows and interact with exhibiting artists from all over the state. They also assist with retail sales. It is virtually impossible nowadays to find gainful employment if the applicant has no experience in his or her chosen field. An internship is the perfect way to provide that hands-on experience.

With everything that is already in the works and in the planning stage, Mace still has a wish list of things shed like CBAA to accomplish. I want us to remain relevant within the community in providing arts education for artists of all ages and an exhibit space that showcases their work, she says. We need to pause and reflect now that we are moving into our 28th year about whats next. We should be able to say yes to more musical events look at the huge success of the Bela Fleck/Abigail Washburn Concert and to look at art forms other than the visual. For instance, I would like to see all the relevant Cannon Beach books that have gone out of print come back again, starting with Peter Lindseys Comin in Over the Rock and Terence ODonnells Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea. Also, David and Alma Englishs Arch Cape Chronicles should still be in print.

With regular events and future programs, CBAA will remain an important, lively and compelling part of the arts scene in Cannon Beach.