A structural sculpture by Dmitri Swain, who is part of a group show at White Bird Gallery.

This weekend, dozens of artists will usher in the season of horizontal rain and high seas as they exhibit work for the Stormy Weather Arts Festival, returning to Cannon Beach for a 37th year.

Starting Friday, the festival will offer meet-and-greets with local artists, live demonstrations and lively music in galleries and at outdoor venues throughout town.

Expect to find workshops like koi painting with artist Dianne Aoki, a mixed-media show with found wood sculptures and cold wax collages, and the signature seascapes of artists like Jeffrey Hull that are a testament to the natural wonders of Cannon Beach.

The weekend will also see a nod to the Friends of Haystack Rock. The nonprofit, which works with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program to preserve intertidal life, including the area’s beloved tufted puffins, is marking its 20th anniversary.

At the Cannon Beach Arts Association, a miniature show featuring artists Jan Ferguson-Bresee and Joyce Ward will act as a fundraiser for the nonprofit, as will a Sunday kids program at the Coaster Theatre Playhouse.

An anniversary celebration will also be hosted by the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday with guest Tim Halloran, who has been monitoring tufted puffins in Cannon Beach for more than a decade.

In all, nine art galleries are participating in this year’s Stormy Weather festival. They are Bronze Coast Gallery, Cannon Beach Arts Association, DragonFire Gallery, House of Orange, Images of the West, Jeffrey Hull Gallery, Northwest by Northwest Gallery, Shearwater Studios and White Bird Gallery.

Meanwhile, the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce will be featuring the work of its first-ever artist of the year.

Donald Scott Masterson, a multimedia artist based in Cannon Beach, was chosen by the chamber as it launched the art program earlier this year. As part of it, he was tapped to design festival posters for both the Cannon Beach Sandcastle Contest in June and the Stormy Weather Arts Festival.

The poster art he created for the festival is titled “Maestro Delle Tempeste,” Italian for “Master of Storms.”

“I wanted to do something a little more universal and bring in the element of us being the composers of our own life,” Masterson said.

He created the poster in two weeks, using what he described as a “Frankenstein method” of printing, scanning, painting and repeating that process.

Masterson’s work covers a variety of media, including film, painting and graphic design. “I do graphic design, and straddling that line it’s fun to do both analog and digital,” he said. “I love composing and putting things together.”

Two string instruments can be spotted in the piece, floating in the crashing waves. While there’s no literal interpretation of the placement, Masterson said they’re meant to represent tragedy and the physicality of our temporal nature.

Prints of Masterson’s poster are available at the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce. The weekend will kick off with an artist reception for Masterson Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the chamber on Spruce Street.

An aptly named “Mother Of All Storms Small Bites and Tasting” event Friday evening at Pelican Brewing Co. will give guests the chance to mingle and try barleywine at 6 p.m. following the reception.

Other goings-on over the weekend include a family-friendly sand art event, with all supplies provided, at the chamber all day Friday and Saturday.

If you’ve been itching to try your hand at painting, the festival’s back-to-back workshops — each with a fee — are an opportunity to get instruction from talented local artists.

At the House of Orange Gallery, Aoki will teach a how-to course on painting koi fish on Friday morning. On Saturday, local artist Dawning McGinnis will give a three-hour lesson at the chamber on painting Haystack Rock.

Meanwhile, the Coaster Theatre will host three nights of back-to-back shows.

Moody, dark pieces of music and poetry will be shared at the “Death, Dreams and Delusions” gathering Friday evening, followed by a Saturday concert featuring the Brent Follis Quartet and vocalist Marilyn Keller.

On Sunday, the Coaster Theatre Kidz program will present Haystack Rocks, an original play by Deanna Duplechain with music by Jeff Swanson.

In the show, kids will act as sea stars, hermit crabs, puffins and other nearshore creatures, reflecting on the joys and challenges of living on Cannon Beach’s iconic Haystack Rock.

Stormy Weather Arts Festival

Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout Cannon Beach

Check the Cannon Beach Gallery Group website for a full list of art gallery happenings. Most events are free; Coaster Theatre weekend show tickets range from $10 to $50.

Tickets can be purchased online or from the theater’s box office.