Art About Agriculture Competition and Touring Exhibition 2025
The Art About Agriculture Competition and Touring Exhibition 2025 is honored to showcase 57 Pacific Northwest artists in dialogue with our region's agricultural practices and abundance. Selected by a blind jury, where artist names were removed from review materials to ensure equal opportunity, this exhibition celebrates the diverse creative and lived experiences of the artists and their work. We are thrilled to include 10 jury-selected artworks from 9 students representing OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, OSU College of Art and Art History, OSU College of Science, OSU College of Engineering, Pendleton Center for the Arts, and Clackamas Community College! Each student received a scholarship or honorarium to help offset participation expenses. Student awards were made possible in partnership with OSU College of Agricultural Sciences’ Academic Programs Office, OSU College of Science, and the Margaret Hogg Memorial Art About Agriculture Fund.
The 2025 tour launches at Oregon State University’s Giustina Gallery with an opening day reception on Monday, May 5th from 5-7:30pm. The exhibition will then embark on an incredible tour to the Pendleton Center for the Arts (Pendleton, OR) from July 3 - August 16. Although Clackamas Community College’s Alexander Gallery (Oregon City, OR) was suddenly unable to accommodate the tour this year, OSU Portland Center has generously offered to host the tour’s grand finale exhibition from September 19 – October 31.
Featured artwork: Doug Cooke, The promise of data #4, 2025, oil on canvas, 24” x 24”.
Art About Agriculture Program
Established in 1983, Art About Agriculture has inspired countless artists throughout the Pacific Northwest to consider food, fiber, and natural resources in their creative practices. Founded on the idea that art can promote agricultural awareness and appreciation, the Art About Agriculture Permanent Collection can be found on display in public spaces throughout Oregon.
The majority of artworks acquisitioned into the Art About Agriculture Permanent Collection were acquired through the annual competition process with purchase awards funded by essential donations and endowments. Our dynamic collection and unique art loan program have a growing need for funds to maintain, conserve and display art in publicly accessible spaces. Please consider donating to Art About Agriculture; all donations directly support art and artists.
Oregon State University is one of only two universities in the country with Land-, Sea-, Space-, and Sun-Grant designations, and is a world-class leader in agricultural, environmental, and life sciences.
As the founding College of OSU, the College of Agricultural Sciences is dedicated to serving all Oregonians, embracing differences to find common ground, and encouraging diverse points of view. For more than 42 years, the College has invested in visual arts as an important part of its mission, committed each day to make tomorrow better—for everyone.
May 5 – June 25
Giustina Gallery at The LaSells Stewart Center,
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR
Website
541-737-2402
Opening Reception: Monday, May 5 from 5:00 – 7:30pm
July 3 – August 16
Pendleton Center for the Arts
Pendleton, OR
Website
541-278-9201
Opening reception: Thursday, July 3 from 5:30 - 7:00pm
September 19 – October 31
OSU Portland Center
555 SW Morrison St Suite 200
Portland, OR 97204
Website
503-273-4301
Opening public reception: Friday, September 19 from 5:00 - 7:00pm. This event is free and all are welcome!
Register for the reception
List of Participating Artists
- Kate Ampersand (Portland, OR)
- Tiffanie Andrews (Adams, OR)
- Jean Arnold (Lewiston, ID)
- Morgan Atkinson (Philomath, OR)
- Toni Avery (Wilsonville, OR)
- Craig J. Barber (LaConner, WA)
- Rich Bergeman (Corvallis, OR)
- Gretchen Bracher (Corvallis, OR)
- Christa Brandenburg (McMinnville, OR)
- Clint Brown (Corvallis, OR)
- Judith Burger (Pendleton, OR)
- Marilyn Burkhardt (Cloverdale, OR)
- Carol Chapel (Corvallis, OR)
- Bets Cole (Elmira, OR)
- Andrew Cook (Portland, OR)
- Doug Cooke (Portland, OR)
- Kyla Corbett (Harrisburg, OR)
- Epiphany Couch (Portland, OR)
- Fretta Cravens (Portland, OR)
- Karen Cunagin (Albany, OR)
- Robin Bachtler Cushman (Eugene, OR)
- Joanne Daschel (Lincoln City, OR)
- Natalie Donato (Corvallis, OR)
- Tallmadge Doyle (Eugene, OR)
- Norma Eaton (Albany, OR)
- Lisa Marie Ellis (Portland, OR)
- Carrie Gilbert (West Linn, OR)
- JoAnn Gilles (Portland, OR)
- Kelley Hamby (Bend, OR)
- George Hansen (Mulino, OR)
- Richard Helmick (Portland, OR)
- Yuji Hiratsuka (Corvallis, OR)
- Ralf Huber (Springfield, OR)
- Mary Josephson (Portland, OR)
- Tara Kemp (Eugene, OR)
- Fritz Liedtke (Hillsboro, OR)
- Bill Marshall (Albany, OR)
- Kate McGee (Philomath, OR)
- Andrew Myers (Albany, OR)
- Loren Nelson (Beaverton, OR)
- Lauren Ohlgren (Corvallis, OR)
- Kailei Ouellette (Bend, OR)
- Marie Pratuch (Pendleton, OR)
- Natasha Ramras (Vancouver, WA)
- Erik Sandgren (Portland, OR)
- David Simone (Eugene, OR)
- Kyla Sjogren (Wheeler, OR)
- Marek Stanton (Estacada, OR)
- Andrea Stone (Baker City, OR)
- Russell Strand (Tillamook, OR)
- Nolan Streitberger (Albany, OR)
- Dee Vadnais (Deer Island, OR)
- Keith Van Norman (Corvallis, OR)
- Suze Wehr (Portland, OR)
- Meredith Williams (Corvallis, OR)
- Renée Zangara (Portland, OR)
- Dragomira Zheleva (Corvallis, OR)
Contact Art About Agriculture:
Oregon State University
College of Agricultural Sciences
Art About Agriculture
248 Strand Agriculture Hall
Corvallis, OR 97331
artaboutag@oregonstate.edu
541-737-5534
Thank you Donors, Patrons, and Volunteers!
Suzanne Reed
The LaSells Stewart Center / Giustina Gallery
Jerri Bartholomew, Gretchen Bracher, Mary Corp, Ben Davis, and Russell Karow
2025 Art About Agriculture Advisory Council
Celeste Anderle and Ashly Mauer
Art About Agriculture Assistants
Judith Baumann
Juror
Nika Blasser
Juror
Michael Bondi
Juror
Betty Brose
Betty Brose Art About Agriculture Fund
Gene and Cande Buccola
The Gene and Cande Buccola Art About Agriculture Purchase Award
Stella and James Coakley
The Sheldon L. Ladd Art About Agriculture Purchase Award
William Cook and Gwil Evans
The Roy D. Nielsen Art About Agriculture Award Fund
Eric J. Frey
Juror
Brenda and Gordon Hood
The Brenda and Gordon Hood Art About Agriculture Fund
Margaret Hogg
The Margaret Hogg Memorial Art About Agriculture Fund
Russell Karow
Russell Karow Student Art Purchase Award
Sara Knott
OSU Portland Center
Roberta Lavadour
Pendleton Center for the Arts
Lamb Foundation
The Paul and Reese Lamb Memorial Art About Agriculture Award Fund
Roundhouse Foundation
The Roundhouse Foundation Purchase Award
Karen Russo
Juror
Staci Simonich
Office of the Dean, OSU College of Agricultural Sciences
Gayle Strome
The Carey L. and Glen S. Strome Agricultural Art Memorial Purchase Award Fund
Judith Baumann is a professional collaborative printer, artist, and educator currently residing in Pendleton, OR. As the former Master Printer and Studio Director for Crow’s Shadow for the Arts (2017 – 2024), Baumann collaborated with dozens of renowned artists invited to participate in the Crow’s Shadow Artist-in-Residence Program. She holds an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and in 2015, participated in Tamarind Institute's prestigious Professional Printer Training Program. She taught printmaking and drawing at several institutions, most notably Evergreen State College (2005-2014) and Northern Arizona University (2015-2017). She has lectured and led numerous workshops all over the country, including Sitka Center for Art and Ecology (Otis, OR), Washington State University (Vancouver), University of Alabama (Huntsville), and Murray State University (Murray, KY). Baumann’s work has been shown nationally in group, juried and solo exhibitions and is held in public special collections across the country. She creates unique printmedia editions of her own work and fine art print collaborations under the imprint, Renegade Cascade Editions. She specializes in lithography, letterpress and digital integration in print. In 2025, Baumann accepted a year-long Collaborative Printer position at High Point Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, MN.
Nika Blasser is an Instructor of Visual Arts and the Director of the Betty Feves Memorial Gallery at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, OR. Her art explores the potential of common materials to create dynamic, often large-scale abstractions when subjected to natural forces and rigorous, repeated manipulation. Blasser’s work has exhibited throughout Oregon, as well as nationally and internationally. She has been awarded residencies at PLAYA (Sumer Lake, OR), Caldera (Sisters, OR), Ucross Foundation (Ucross, WY), Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), and Taekker AIR Aarhus/Rethinking Matter (Aarhaus, Denmark). Nika Blasser also serves on the City of Pendleton Arts Committee and a board member for the Oregon East Symphony.
The Feves Gallery is a non-profit exhibition space that connects emerging and established artists with students, staff, and the general public in Eastern Oregon. The gallery serves as an important educational tool, fostering an appreciation for the richness and diversity of art and providing personal and professional development by supporting artistic expression. Named after the renowned and innovative Pendleton-based ceramicist, Betty Feves (1918-1985), Feves Gallery provides an environment where artists can explore experimental and non-conventional art and art forms.
Michael Bondi is Emeritus Professor in the College of Forestry, Oregon State University. During his career he was an Extension Forestry Agent, Extension Administrator, and Research Center Director for the College of Agricultural Sciences’ North Willamette Research and Extension Center in Aurora, OR. He is a longtime supporter and organizer of Art-Sci initiatives, especially in dialogue with forestry. Bondi currently serves as Board Chair of Forests Forever, Inc., where in 2013 and 2014 he helped organize the Hopkins Forest of Arts—a collaborative festival featuring arts, crafts, food, music, performances, and demonstrations integrated throughout the Hopkins Demonstration Forest (Oregon City, OR).
North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC) is Oregon State University’s most diverse experiment station serving seven counties in the north valley. Under Bondi’s leadership, NWREC has supported agricultural producers of Oregon’s most important crop systems: berries, vegetables, landscape ornamentals, hazelnuts, Christmas trees, small farm production, pesticide registration research, and agrivoltaics. NWREC also features the history of the Art About Agriculture program through a comprehensive display of historic posters.
Eric J. Frey is an interdisciplinary artist based in Dallas, Oregon, whose practice spans multiple mediums, guided by dynamic inspirations, resources, and motivations. A retired Master Sergeant of the U.S. Army, Frey transitioned to the arts after a distinguished military career, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art & Design, with a concentration in Sculpture and Printmaking, from Western Oregon University in 2019. He furthered his education with a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts, specializing in Installation Art, in 2021.
Currently, Eric serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at Chemeketa Community College, where he teaches courses in Drawing, Color Design, and Art Appreciation. He also holds the position of Art Production Specialist in the Art Department at Western Oregon University. Beyond academia, Frey co-owns Salem on the Edge Art Gallery, a hub for contemporary art in downtown Salem, Oregon.
Eric Received the 2024 Betty Brose and Brenda & Gordon Hood Memorial Art About Agriculture Purchase Awards for Chemeketa Cellars, 2022/2023.
Karen Russo is an Elmira, Oregon-based figurative sculptor. She primarily works with clay due to its malleability, capacity for transformation, and direct connection to the earth. Her visual stories realized through carving and painting are informed by time, nature, and ever-changing landscapes in dialogue with the feminine.
Karen has exhibited extensively throughout Oregon. Her work can be found in both private and public collections, including the Oregon Arts Commission Percent for Art Collection. A recent acquisition, Rising from the Ashes, 2022, was made possible through last year’s Art About Agriculture Touring Exhibition and purchased by the Central Oregon Community College’s Barber Library in Bend, OR. Karen Russo received a 2021 Margaret Hogg Art About Agriculture Purchase Award for her sculpture, River of Grace, 2021.
Karen’s sculptures can be seen at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, OR, where she is represented. View more of her work on her website.