The fifteenth Newport Paper Arts Festival is April 23, 24, and 25 at the Newport Visual Arts Center. New classes and instructors have been added expanding the offering to eighteen workshops taught by thirteen artists. The festival features silk and fiber paper making, surface design, wet and needle felting, decorative book binding, paper manipulation, transformational book making, collage, unique paper basketry, wood block printing, jello monoprinting, and mixed media jewelry.

Brochures and registration forms can be picked up at the 9th Street Gallery, Taylor Made Memories, Newport Chamber of Commerce, For ArtSake, the Lincoln County Historical Society, Nye Cottage Beads, the VAC and the PAC or can be downloaded from the links below. Registration for workshops is by postmark so we encourage you to mail your registration form promptly. Choose from six full-day classes each day. Tuition is reduced when you sign up for two or three workshops. Lunches can be ordered for delivery on the registration form, or students can visit one of our local restaurants.

Oregon Coast Council for the Arts welcomes our new instructors and welcomes back those who have been a part of the festival in past years. Cheri Aldrich is a multi media artist focusing on jewelry, paper arts, nature crafting and clay work. She has her work in six galleries, participates in numerous shows, and teaches. Cheri is a co-organizer of the festival. Doris Arndt has shared her love of books and mixed media with students for over 30 years. Her whimsical style has been shown in numerous publications and on the “Carol Duvall Show.” Donna Sakamoto Crispin is an award winning basket maker who teaches basketry, paper making, and silk/natural fiber paper making. She incorporates wild materials in her work with the Japanese belief that plants have spirits that are passed on through the finished craft as is the spirit of the maker.

Patricia Edmonds, an accomplished calligrapher, paper marbler, and book artist, has been teaching for two decades. She took first place with her etched metal birdhouse at “Tweet of Dweams.” Patricia Grass of Green Heron Bookarts authored the book, “How To Make A Book Even If You Think You Can’t.” She owns, operates and teaches classes at the Accidental Bookmaker book arts supply store in Forest Grove, Oregon. Dolores Guffey is a founding and avid member of the North Redwoods Book Arts Guild. She instructs regularly at their workshops. Linda Hendrickson designs and teaches ply-split baskets, rugs, and jewelry using a gripfid. She authored Great Scot! A Beginner’s Guide to Ply-Split Braids and has produced short videos for YouTube and instructional DVDs.

Debby Neely teaches graphic arts and computer software at Clark College and drawing, printmaking and Photoshop at Lower Columbia College. She has a passion for black and white but has added hand colored accents and gold leaf to her woodcuts. Nancy Jane Reid has taught all ages from pre-school through the college level. Retired Director of the Newport Visual Arts Center, she uses digital photography and image transfers in her collage work and is experimenting with rust dyeing. Mike Smith, a lifelong artist/craftsman, maintains a studio in Oregon City where he explores new and familiar materials. He works in a variety of mediums including paper arts, book arts and basketry.

John Watson has an MFA in studio art and teaches workshops on book arts in Eugene. His work has been in many exhibits and is included in public and private collections in the USA, France, Macedonia, Mexico and Venezuela. Tash Wesp makes wearable felted art pieces from hats to capes, vests, blouses, coats, jackets, scarves and neck wraps as well as accessories, bags, jewelry and wall hangings. She is a member of an artist owned cooperative gallery, For Artsake. Jacqueline Wygant has been marbling and exploring book arts for more than twenty years. She uses over-marbling techniques to produce landscape like monoprints and is interested in sculptural and transformational books.

OCCA thanks PUD, the Lincoln County Historical Society, JC Thriftway, the Chamber of Commerce, the 9th Street Gallery, Nye Cottage Vacation Rentals, and the Waves Motel for providing classroom space and lodging for our instructors, and Café Stephanie for catering the lunches. For additional information, please call Sally Houck, Director of the Visual Arts Center at 541-265-6569, or email Ruth Kier, Registrar.