On November 1, 2014, the Larson Gallery at Yakima Valley Community College will open the 59^th Annual Central Washington Artists’ Exhibition.  83 artworks were chosen by guest juror Michael D’Alessandro;  created by 53 artists from Yakima, Benton, Kittitas, and Walla Walla counties.  The chosen pieces are in a variety of media including acrylic, ceramic, watercolor, glass, jewelry, monoprint, collage, fiber, oil, photography, ink, charcoal, enamel, metals, mixed media, and wood.   The exhibit will open with a reception on Saturday, November 1, from 3-5pm.  Admission to the reception and exhibit is free and open to the public.  The exhibit will continue through December 6, 2014.

83 artists throughout the central Washington region submitted 211 pieces of artwork for this year’s juried exhibition.  Michael D’Alessandro, the juror for this year’s show is the new, and first, executive director of the Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend, Washington.  Michael earned his MFA in creative writing at Naropa University and then moved into a career in arts publications after a dozen years as an architect. He served as Community Resource Coordinator and Development Assistant for the Independent Publishing Resource Center in Portland, a non-profit arts organization specializing in resources for writers, publishers, artists and printers. He has taught creative writing and letterpress printing at the college level and has also worked at the Froelick Gallery in Portland.

At 4pm, during the opening reception, 19 awards will be presented totaling $4,120.  Awards sponsors include Shields Bag & Printing, Larson Gallery Guild, Kurt & Melissa Labberton, Heritage University, Peggy Lewis, Leo Adams, Allied Arts, Baha’i Faith of Yakima, Marcia Blevins, Gasperetti’s, YVCC President’s Award, Delma Tayer, Rob & Michelle Wyles, Yakima Valley Society of Artists, Jeffrey Reynolds, Bruce Simpson & Denali Granholm, Bob Villbrandt, and Oak Hollow.  This exhibition is also made possible through the generous support from Shields Bag & Printing, Christian & Janet Schlect, Heritage University, and Memorial Hospital & Memorial Physicians.

This year’s accepts artists are Karen Allen, Deborah Ann, Gary Bailey, Janice L. Baker, Becky Blair, Margaret Cato, Mindy Clark, Darwin Davis, Judith A. Dilley, Erik Dodge, Rachel Dorn, Eve Draper, Dena Elzie, Robert A. Fisher, Carol Fletcher, W.D. Frank, Laura Gable, Justin Gibbens, Terri Grant, David Hagen, Cheryl H. Hahn, T.A. Harris, Carol Hassen, Mike Hiler, Judy Hurcomb, Anne Hysell, Jerry Johnson, Kathryn Kaye, Eunsil Kim, McKenzie Lakey, Judith Markham, Kelly McKnight, Kristen Michael, Gary Miller, Pat & Karen Miller, Matt Morgan, Richard Nicksic, Jackie Niemi, Jan Nilsson, April Ottey, Julie Prather, Jackie Prout, Jeffrey M. Reynolds, Joseph Schliesman, Gayle Scholl, Penn O. Shelton, Shari Stoddard, Katherine Sylvan, Delma Tayer, Harry Thompson, Barbara Thrall, Thelma Triplett, and Sandra Westford