Fourth of July explodes into art in Ocean Park

OCEAN PARK, Wash. - Art will vie for attention with fireworks over Fourth of July weekend in Ocean Park and the historic community of Oysterville. The diverse artistic community of the Long Beach Peninsula is preparing to celebrate America and art in several north end locations during the three-day period before and up to July 4. Oysterville Community Club, Peninsula Arts Association and Ocean Park galleries, studios and shops are combining efforts to dazzle and impress.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 1 and 2, the Oysterville Community Club is sponsoring the first Oysterville Arts and Artisan Fair. More than 20 artists have signed up to offer the fruits of their labor during the fair. Located indoors in the beautifully refurbished schoolhouse and in tents outside on the tree-lined school grounds, all the work is hand-crafted, original and artist inspired.

Participants include local favorites and the offerings range from paintings to clay art to paper, textiles, sculptures, yard art, basketry and even scented soaps. There will be home-made baked goods on sale and all participating artists have donated a piece of work to be raffled off during the fair. Raffle tickets are $1 each or six for $5. All proceeds benefit the schoolhouse restoration and maintenance fund.

Art bargains abound at Peninsula Arts Association's Starving Artists Sale. Held from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 2, at the Ocean Park Library at 1308 256th Place, this longtime tradition is packed with original art, books, supplies, jewelry and good deals. It is a time for association artists to clear out their studios and make room for new endeavors. A portion of all sales directly benefits PAA's High School Graduate Scholarship Fund.

The second Art in the Park will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, July 4, at the Roy Sheldon field on Vernon Street in Ocean Park. This gathering of creative minds features the talent of local artists and is a great way to spend time before and after the Old Fashioned 4th of July Parade that brings thousands to the streets of Ocean Park. This year there is a pre-parade concert in the parking lot of Bank of the Pacific on Bay Avenue.

Bay Avenue is the Ocean Park road that stretches from the Pacific Ocean to Willapa Bay. It is also home to several studios and galleries that will offer special events over the holiday weekend, including:

Bay Avenue Gallery, 1306 Bay Ave., (360) 665-5200, www.bayavenuegallery.

Olympic National Park: One of the wildest places left in the USA ...

Olympic National Park in Washington offers a bit of everything for nature lovers, hikers and adventurers like Pacific Ocean beaches, rain forest valleys, glacier-capped peaks and a dazzling diversity of plants and animals. 95% of this park is still wilderness, making Olympic Wilderness one of the wildest places left in the lower 48 states. The National Park Service says, “This year, nearly 40,000 people will camp in the Olympic Wilderness and several hundred thousand people will take day hikes and walks. Olympic is fragile. But if we care for Olympic, we can preserve its wildness and grandeur for future generations.” In this awe-inspiring national park, visitors can go from glacier, to marvelous moss-draped wilderness, to the sea in one amazing day. [36 Photos]

Olympic National Park has a 73-mile long wilderness coast that is a rare treasure in a country where much of the coastline is prime real estate. According to the National Park Service, “The rocky headlands, beaches, tidepools nurturing a living rainbow of colors and textures, off shore sea stacks topped by nesting seabirds and wind-sheared trees—all are a remnant of a wilder America.” Photo #11 by Urban

Big Cedar Tree and tiny girl. The photographer wrote, “National park service sign: Big Cedar – Western redcedar has been the art and sinew of coastal Indian village life. The trunk is house plank and ocean-going canoe; branches are harpoon line; outer bark is diaper and bandage; inner bark is basket, clothing and mattress. Tree size expresses climate – heavy annual rainfall, and the nourishing damp of ocean fog. In a scramble for growing space other tree species are using the cedar as a standing nurselog.

The art of Richard Diebenkorn

The New York Times biographical service

The Burlington magazine

The Emperor of Ocean Park

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