The Cannon Beach Gallery and Arts Association recently selected Scott C. Johnson as its new director.
After serving as the association’s interim director for the past few months, Johnson said he took over after the former director, Cara Mico, left the position.
Johnson has lived in Cannon Beach for 30 years and shown his art at the White Bird Gallery for more than 25 years, he said.
“Anybody could own a gallery (years ago) because the cost was so minimal compared to now,” Johnson said. “It’s a little more competitive now to keep a business open.”
Many of the artists who founded the “arts colony” in those days have passed on, he said. The term “’colony’ is a historic moniker for what Cannon Beach used to be.”
Asked what Cannon Beach was like for artists some time ago, he said: “It really has to do more with the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, when artists had the freedom to create without a lot of financial restrictions. People could work at being an artist rather than a business person.”
The Cannon Beach Arts Association is a community-supported nonprofit, he said.
Lila Wickham is president of the board of directors of the Cannon Beach Gallery and Arts Association. “The Cannon Beach Arts Association was established in 1986 as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit. The gallery is a component of the association,” she said. “The association pays the rent for the gallery.
“We’re the only nonprofit gallery in Cannon Beach,” said Wickham.
“The purpose of being a nonprofit is to provide local and regional artists with a place to display and sell their work. Most private galleries, you have to pay a fee to show your work.
“We offer artists grants,” she said. “They can submit an application and describe a project, and we provide usually partial funding. The artist produces the work and lectures about their work to the community.
“The biggest thing is, we can’t sustain ourselves without help from the community,” Wickham said. “We’re a nonprofit that can’t function without donations and sponsorship from the community.”
Johnson said his “interest in running the gallery is to create a conducive environment for artists to thrive and be financially supported through sales.
“People come enthusiastically to see art in Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach has a reputation for having exceptional artists.”
He said artists come to Cannon Beach from California, Portland, Seattle and the East Coast. “They have all brought their own flavor from those areas to their art,” including the “second- and-third generation Oregon coast artists.
“Cannon Beach is more like Carmel, more like Taos – small communities where there are a lot of galleries, but you can run out to nature at a moment,” Johnson said.
Asked where he sees art in Cannon Beach going in the future, he said, “I see Cannon Beach remaining one of the main pulls for collectors, art enthusiasts and art-related event participants.”
Cannon Beach has “at least five different art-directed events throughout the year,” Johnson said. “The Cannon Beach Gallery is an ever-changing space for exhibits. It is an all-inclusive media gallery.”
He said the gallery has supported artists-in-residence, including himself once three years ago. The program “puts the artist in contact with the general public and other artists, and helps them formulate a voice for speaking about their process and their visions.”