Each spring local artists in the city of Yachats volunteer to design and paint banners to be hung on the city street lamp poles during the summer months along HWY 101 in Yachats, OR.
This year’s 31 canvas banners are approximately 23″ x 42” with a rounded end. The artist’s designs are applied using acrylic paints. The 2022 theme is “Paths to Yachats.” A theme is given to inspire but is not required. Banners are hung on the lamposts viewable on Hwy 101 in downtown Yachats between July and October. A banner auction is scheduled for the month of October.
Debra Aken
The design for my “Trails to Yachats” banner includes several living creatures to signify the strength, hope and courage of those that live along the trails and deep in the forest of the Yachats area.
You will see the Rain Beetles making their way, symbolizing courage & perseverance in order to reach their goals. Next, the Snails, peaceful animals that go about their business without disturbing those around them. Snails are a gentle reminder to be kind to those around you. The Black-capped Chickadee is a source of positivity; energy, courage, and curiosity, all characteristics which will contribute to survival. Finally, we have the Stellar Jay, flying above all others, leading with the message of hope, fearlessness, adaptability, and the will to live.
Amy Anderson
Nancy Bolton-Rawles
"Walking the trails through the tall trees in itself is a beautiful and peaceful experience but when the sun streams through the trees to me it is breathtaking! I started by painting the whole canvas with a gold gesso and hoped as I painted I would leave areas where some of the gold would show though highlighting the sunlight around and behind the trees. I do believe I accomplished some of that. I also didn’t have a sketch or a plan. I wanted to paint from a deeper more spontaneous place within me and from my own memory of walking the trails. This painting isn’t an exact version of any one trail but a combined memory…a fantasy version, with purple trees and golden sunlight using only colors that moved me while I painted.”
Diana Buckley
Catherine Carey
Carol Cassidy
Rick Cave
Joyce Centofanti
Lucinda Cross
Loren Dickinson
Michael Guerriero
"One finds a way on a path that leads from one direction to another, joining then diverting, attracted by events then repelled by obstacles. Each step taken sheds light for next, then one finds a way."
Lee Haynes
Gary Herd
Julia Irvine
Courtney Jensen
Mr. Frog Among the Red Hot Pokers
"The chorus of frogs croaking in the marshland across the highway along with the spread of Red Hot Pokers blooming in my neighbors yard were my inspiration for painting this banner.
I moved to Yachats with my husband, Skip Sweeney, from the San Francisco Bay Area this past December. I’m delighted daily by the beauty of this special place… the tides, rivers, trails, sunsets, frogs and flowers… all of it!"
Jamie Kish
"I was tickled hearing the theme of the banners this year, Yachats Trails! Our local trail systems are some of my favorite places on the planet, and I wanted to highlight the local flora and fauna that always make my heart happy to see while out hiking.
Species on the banner include- Great Blue Heron, Sea Thrift, Trillium, Salal berries, Blackberries, Fiddlehead ferns, Amanita muscaria And our very special protected species, the Silverspot Butterfly."
Jen Mackey
Cindy Meier
"My banner this 4th year is my way of expressing it is time to take flight and move on with life. Regardless of COVID, other life trials, or just reinventing oneself and moving onto the next journey it is time. I hope everyone finds their way of expression …. whatever that may be. "
Lorrie Owens
“Trail Discoveries”
(banana slug)
"I love looking down to see what may be hidden at my feet, along the forest floor. Will it jump, scurry or perhaps move slowly along without a care. Hmm, what will you find on your next trail walk?"
Amy Parker
Bruce Rawles
"Inspired by the symbolism of new higher, more sustainable foot bridge connecting Yachats to Cape Perpetua, I combined the multi-ridge skyline of the cape as seen from Yachats Ocean Road with the general shape of the bridge from a photo I took shortly after the bridge was opened. Realizing that there are more than just human “paths” to our lovely community, I thought of adding an eagle or seagull or two, but ended up just complementing the human traffic with the vast aquatic migration by means of a sea star and a whale fluke. I’m reminded that I must keep the bridges in my mind open to graciously receive all, regardless of form."
Lauren Rinke
Corina Rose
Lori Stevens
"Dante Alighieri (1321) in the "Paridiso" of his Divine Comedy refers to Christ as "our Pelican.”
John Lyly in his Euphues (1606) wrote, "Pelicane who striketh blood out of its owne bodye to do others good.”
William Shakespeare (1616) in Hamlet wrote, "To his good friend thus wide, Ill ope my arms / And, like the kind, life-rendering pelican / Repast them with my blood.”
Because lore has it that a pelican will peck at its own chest to feed its blood to its young when necessary, it has come to be known as a most generous, loyal and charitable symbol, especially potent in Christian tradition. Additionally, pelicans live in close knit, nurturing and loyal communities. No wonder we pause to watch as they gracefully fly over calm seas, often with reflections, beating their wings in poetic unison, and leaving us with an immutable understanding of what a beautiful symbol they are."
Peter Stevens
Carol Summers
"For many years I have enjoyed walks through Gerdemann Botanical Preserve where Mitchell Creek flows from the national forest westward to the ocean. There are magnolias, camellias, iris, a flame tree, among towering trees and abundant ferns, but my favorite flowers are the rhododendrons, from the small delicate ones, to the big rhodies that tower above me. The greenhouses even have climbing rhododendrons with lovely blooms.
Yachats is blessed with many trails and with the volunteers who care for them. The preserve is privately owned and is open by appointment. I hope you have a chance to enjoy it."
Jude Toler
Maeona Urban
I was given over 100 small bottles of acrylic paints, each one a different color, but having white caps on them. Looking down into the boxes brought back memories of the small containers in the paint by number kits I did as a child. I decided to make this year’s banner look like one of those. Something I didn’t take in to consideration was the size difference. My childhood paintings were 8” x 10” and my banner is approximately two feet wide and forty two inches long. After thirteen full days of painting with detail brushes I finally finished my “Yachats Wetland Trail” banner. I also have a new respect for the people that design the paint by numbers.
Sam Valentine and Justen Palmer
Tracie Watson
Doug Yunker
jac Christnot
Title: Waóye (a trail made by animals)
"Uŋčí Makȟá (Grandmother Earth) overlooks as Kȟaŋǧí-tȟáŋka (Raven), Matȟó (Bear), and Hoǧáŋša (Salmon) follow their ancestral trails to Yachats (that’s the green bit of land, the town viewed from the south side of the bay)."
"Uŋčí Makȟá (Grandmother Earth) overlooks as Kȟaŋǧí-tȟáŋka (Raven), Matȟó (Bear), and Hoǧáŋša (Salmon) follow their ancestral trails to Yachats (that’s the green bit of land, the town viewed from the south side of the bay)."
jac Christnot
"Uŋčí Makȟá (Grandmother Earth) is the Lakȟóta terrestrial spirit. I often joke that she's like the western Mother Earth but older, wiser, and more nurturing. Here she’s watching over Deer (Tȟáȟča) and Bear (Matȟó) as they relax along their ancestral trails throughout Yachats. I chose these as representatives of all animal nations who call this area home, because I see their waóye most frequently and to also honor my great grandfather, Matȟó Híŋtȟo (Roan Bear).
Uŋčí Makȟá’s representative color is green, but I dressed her in red to call back Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, the victims of a current epidemic of predatory violence in the United States and Canada. Red is the only color spirits can see, so wearing it invites them to be among us and have their voices heard through family and community, as I’m speaking about them now.
I'm Oglála Lakȟóta, a Nation whose ancestral lands include South and North Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana — landlocked. I’ve lived in Yachats, on stolen Älsé land, for 12 years and use my artwork to blend my Great Plains cultural mythology with my current home by the sea."
Uŋčí Makȟá’s representative color is green, but I dressed her in red to call back Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, the victims of a current epidemic of predatory violence in the United States and Canada. Red is the only color spirits can see, so wearing it invites them to be among us and have their voices heard through family and community, as I’m speaking about them now.
I'm Oglála Lakȟóta, a Nation whose ancestral lands include South and North Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana — landlocked. I’ve lived in Yachats, on stolen Älsé land, for 12 years and use my artwork to blend my Great Plains cultural mythology with my current home by the sea."
