Hoffman Center for the Arts is a non-profit gallery and community arts center on the beautiful North Oregon Coast.
We offer workshops, exhibitions, events, and creative experiences so all ages can explore, create, and connect! You can request a scholarship to any of our classes if you need one. We are open Thursday to Sunday from 12:00-5:00pm. We are closed on the last Sunday of every month.
Come make something with us.
Upcoming visual art classes and events
Confluence: Art, Love, and a Shared Studio on the Columbia River with Elise Wagner and Gabe Fernandez on June 7th
June 7 | 1:00 – 3:00pm
Join artists Elise Wagner and Gabe Fernandez for a talk and slide presentation about art, partnership, and place. Working side by side at the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean in Astoria, Wagner’s abstract encaustic paintings and collagraph prints explore layered natural systems, while Fernandez’s hyperrealist paintings capture the precision of light and observation. Together, they’ll share the story of how they met, became engaged in Paris, and built a shared studio practice, offering insight into the balance of independent vision, creative dialogue, and life on the Oregon Coast.
About Elise
Elise Wagner is an abstract encaustic painter, printmaker, and educator based in Astoria, Oregon. Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, she has lived and worked in Oregon since 1986. Wagner holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University with a minor in Art History, where she first discovered encaustic painting and began developing her distinctive approach to the medium.
Known for her luminous, layered works in wax, her practice explores the intersection of natural systems, scientific inquiry, and the unseen forces that shape our world. A recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award, she has exhibited nationally and internationally and is the innovator behind recently AP approved Wagner Collagraph Wax, a material that has expanded contemporary printmaking practices. She teaches workshops and lectures both nationally and internationally and, schedule permitting, from her studio on the Oregon Coast.
About Gabe
Gabe Fernandez is a hyperrealist painter based on the Oregon Coast, where he maintains a studio along the Columbia River. Born in Idaho and raised in Sweet Home Oregon, he studied art at Pacific Northwest College of Art with a focus on painting and drawing, developing a strong foundation in observation, technique, and classical approaches to realism.
His work is rooted in close observation and technical precision, capturing subtle shifts of light, texture, and atmosphere with striking clarity. Through a meticulous process, his paintings invite viewers to slow down and engage deeply with the act of seeing. Working in contrast to abstraction, Fernandez’s practice is grounded in realism yet shares a similar spirit of inquiry, exploring perception, presence, and the relationship between image and experience.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Cultivating Wonder: Botanical Illustration in Ink & Watercolor
June 27th
10:00am-2:00pm
Scholarships Available
Stop and smell the roses…then paint them! In this botanical illustration workshop, the Hoffman Center’s Wonder Garden will be the subject of our sketchbook studies using ink and watercolor. We’ll explore simple shapes, loose lines, and splashy color while practicing a gentle kind of mindfulness in nature, no perfection required.We’ll start by making simple pencil sketches from what we see in the plants in the garden, focusing on shapes and gestures. Then, you’ll learn how to trace your drawing with ink using a variety of easy, expressive lines. From there, we’ll add watercolor to bring your illustration to life, exploring color, layering, and simple ways to create depth.
Expect a relaxed, curious atmosphere, plenty of room to experiment, and a lovely handmade keepsake to take home. All levels welcome.
Some snacks will be provided but please feel free to bring your own snacks or lunch as desired!
About Molly
Molly Chidsey is an artist, illustrator, and art educator based in Portland, Oregon. She creates with watercolor, illustration, and hand-lettering – sometimes all three. Molly’s passion is helping you tell your story through illustration. She is also a creative planning coach, helping others to realize their creative goals. She is also the creator of the Tarot of These Times deck (anticipated for release in 2026).
Originally from Cleveland, Molly has called Portland, Oregon home for over 20 years. She studied painting and illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Before she was an artist, Molly worked as a social change agent and project manager for 25 years. When she doesn’t have ink on her hands, Molly likes to play with her dog Milo, gardening, and watching movies with her family.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Saturday, July 18, 2026
11:00am–5:00pm
On Saturday, July 18, artists across Manzanita, Nehalem, and Wheeler open their studios for the day. It's a self-guided tour, so you set your own pace and route, stopping wherever the work pulls you in. You'll meet artists where they actually make their work, see pieces in progress, and have the chance to take something home. This is our third annual tour, and every ticket directly supports the Hoffman Center's nonprofit arts programs.
Start at the Hoffman Center on the morning of July 18 to pick up your wristband and tour booklet (pickup is 10:00am–12:00pm). The booklet has studio addresses, directions, and a short introduction to each artist, so you can map out your day. From there, the day is yours. Visit as many studios as you like, in any order. The Hoffman Gallery will be open too, so it's an easy place to start.
ARTISTS
Pam Greene, Christopher Belluschi, Nancy Bond, M.J. Anderson, Sherrie Wolf, Justin Bailie, Lloyd Lindley, Judy Lindley, Cathi Howell, Deborah DeWit, Mary Roberts, Shirl Ireland, Laura Ross-Paul, and Mathew Goodrich.
SPECIAL EXHIBITION: JOHN R. STAHL (1937–2017)
This year's tour includes a special exhibition and sale of work by the late John R. Stahl. John's family has donated a wide range of his work to the Hoffman Center, spanning oil painting, watercolor, printmaking, collage, carving, and sculpture. The sale runs July 18–19 in the workshop room behind the gallery, and all proceeds benefit the Hoffman Center.
Tickets are $30. One hundred percent of ticket sales support the Hoffman Center for the Arts, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We never want cost to be the reason someone misses the tour, so if the price is a barrier, reach out to us at info@hoffmanarts.org and we'll make arrangements.
Day-of tickets are usually available, but the tour can sell out, so we recommend buying ahead.
Art shown here is by Adell Shetterly.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Upcoming writing classes and events
Manzanita Writers Series presents: Unfixed: a Reading and Conversation with Kimberly Warner on May 29th
Friday, May 29, 2026
6:00–7:30 pm
Free to attend!
Sponsored by the Oregon Community Foundation. Please register in advance; walk-ins welcome as space allows. Optional donations are appreciated.
Join us for an evening with author Kimberly Warner, reading from her debut memoir, Unfixed. After the reading, Kimberly sits down for a moderated conversation with Julie Resnick, followed by audience Q&A and a book signing. Copies will be available for sale through our local partner, Cloud & Leaf Bookstore.
About the book
Unfixed: A Memoir of Family, Mystery, and the Currents That Carry You Home opens with a midlife DNA test that reveals the man who raised Kimberly Warner isn't her biological father. That discovery pulls her into two parallel mysteries: the silence around her father's death, and the absence of the stranger whose blood she carries. As she traces her family's buried secrets, a second rupture surfaces in her own body, a mysterious illness that leaves her dizzy and unmoored. Told through lyrical prose and imagined letters, Unfixed moves across decades and landscapes, from a New Age 1980s childhood to the uncertain ground of midlife. Unfixed was a Publishers Weekly Editor's Pick.
About the author
Kimberly Warner is a filmmaker, author, and patient advocate whose work explores what it means to live fully in a body that doesn't always feel well. She studied pre-med and biology at Colorado College and trained in naturopathic and classical Chinese medicine before trading a clinical path for a creative one. In 2015, a rare neurological condition, Mal de Débarquement Syndrome, upended her sense of balance and direction. That experience became the seed of Unfixed, a multimedia platform she founded to amplify stories of people living with chronic illness and disability. Her award-winning docu-series, short films, podcasts, and essays all share one idea: that healing and brokenness can coexist. Her work has screened at Harvard Medical School and earned honors from the Invisible Disabilities Association, HealtheVoices, Rainbow Advocacy, and Life on the Level. She lives on a small farm in rural Oregon with her husband, David.
About the moderator
Julie Resnick moved from New York City to Manzanita full time, or as she puts it, from the Big Apple to the little apple. She and Kimberly met as next-door neighbors in Northwest Portland 15 years ago and share a love of photography and a commitment to giving voice to communities often left out of the frame. Julie created ZoomUganda, a PhotoVoice project that has traveled the world and was shown at the Hoffman Center in 2016, and co-created Reframing Re-entry with formerly incarcerated women in Portland. She lives in Manzanita with her British partner and Australian labradoodle, and on sunny days you'll usually find her on the beach with her camera.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Come write in! Open Write is a free and friendly space for writers of any level of experience to gather in a informal setting and put pen to paper (or fingers to keys). We meet on the second Sunday of the month, 2 to 4pm, in the Writing Room at HCA, with hosts Emily Ransdell and Marcia Silver.
Each session, our hosts offer a few generative prompts to warm up and inspire your writing practice. Participants are offered the opportunity to share writing that comes through during Open Write. There's no critique and no instruction, just time well spent in good company.
Whether you've been writing for decades or you're picking it up for the first time, you are welcome here.
Bring your favorite notebook, pen, or laptop, and hosts Emily and Marcia will provide the prompts!
(Open Write will go on “summer break” after June 14th; stay tuned for Open Write to resume in the Fall.)
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Manzanita Writers Series presents: a reading and conversation with Justin Hocking
Saturday, July 25, 2026
5:30-7:00pm
Free to attend!
Sponsored by the Oregon Community Foundation. Please register in advance; walk-ins welcome as space allows. Optional donations are appreciated.
With themes of transformation, healing, and tipping points, the Manzanita Writers Series welcomes award-winning author Justin Hocking to read from his latest work, A Field Guide to the Subterranean, and open to a conversation with Q&A from the audience.
Books will be available for sale and author signing at the event through Cloud & Leaf Bookstore.
How might we transform our traumas into deeper care for each other and the landscapes that sustain us? How do we transcend the mythos of the rugged American male so rooted in extraction and exploitation? And how far can we move beyond the self in a memoir? Hocking explores these and other vital questions by combining personal narrative with expansions into geology, ecology, gender theory, mining history, labor rights, and even skateboarding.
Abundant with historical research and teeming with birdlife—and ranging in location from remote caves and mountains to secluded surf breaks in Costa Rica—A Field Guide to the Subterranean heralds a boldly original and kaleidoscopic approach to the genre of nature writing.
Praise for A Field Guide:
"A Field Guide to the Subterranean digs deeply down into the earth with powerful questions about who we are and what we've made with our time on the planet. Justin Hocking has created a profound geological journey of the soul, unearthing wisdom about masculinity, the colonization of land and people, and the possibility that we might recover our own hearts if we are willing to be in intimate relationship to the non-human world. A geo love song."
—Lidia Yuknavitch, bestselling author of The Chronology of Water: A Memoir and Reading The Waves: A Memoir
"This book is a marvel of excavation into the stories we tell about land and self. I devoured it in a day, and emerged seeing the world with both more glitter and more shadow, Hocking’s luminous, lyrical voice echoing in my ear. Reading A Field Guide to the Subterranean somehow feels both like going on a round-the-world adventure and curling up on the couch to converse with an old friend."
—Erica Berry, author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear
“Justin Hocking is a wizard who crafts his stories with equal measures of passion, poetry, and erudition. His writing voice makes you want to follow him to the end of the Earth, or into its deepest caverns, so that he can show you all the beautiful and amazing things to be found there.”
—Hector Tobar, author of Deep Down Dark: The Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free
About the Author:
Justin Hocking is the author of The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld: A Memoir, which won the Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction and was a finalist for the PEN USA Award. He also received the Willamette Writers' Humanitarian Award for his work in publishing, writing, and teaching, and was named as one of "Ten Writers Who Made Portland" by Willamette Week. Along with an MFA in Creative Writing, he holds a BA in Psychology and a Foundations Training Certificate from the Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy. He currently teaches in the MFA and BFA Program in Creative Writing at Portland State University, and his most recent memoir, A Field Guide to the Subterranean, was a finalist for the 2026 Oregon Book Award.
For more information about Justin, please visit his website.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Upcoming clay classes and events
Come learn to carve kurinuki cups with Michelle Valigura!
Sunday, June 21
5:30 to 7:30 PM
All levels, no experience necessary
Scholarships are available
Price includes all materials.
Come carve your own cup the slow, satisfying way. Kurinuki (掘り抜き, literally “hollowing out”) is a traditional Japanese pottery technique where you carve a functional or sculptural vessel out of a single solid block of clay, rather than building it up. You’ll start with a solid lump and, piece by piece, hollow and shape it into a cup. This class is a great fit for total beginners and experienced makers alike.
Leading the workshop is Michelle Valigura, sculptor, ceramic artist, and owner of Basalt in Cannon Beach. Michelle’s background includes designing for stop-motion animation, with credits that include Elf and The Simpsons, and her love of mid-century design carries through her work across multiple mediums.
After class, Michelle will add a clear glaze to your creation and kiln fire it. Finished cups will be ready to pick up at the Hoffman Center in four to six weeks. If you’d prefer to have yours shipped, we can arrange that for an additional charge.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Saturday, August 29
1 to 5 PM
Come spend an afternoon getting hands-on with glaze!
In this four-hour workshop, potter Mary Roberts will walk you through a variety of the resist methods she uses in her own studio practice for creating surface interest. You will learn easy techniques for creating patterns and designs using sample tiles and resist materials we provide.
Whether you're newer to ceramics or looking to expand your surface vocabulary, you'll leave with new approaches you can bring to your own work.
Scholarships are available
Price includes all materials.
Mary Roberts is a ceramic artist living near Neahkahnie beach on the north Oregon coast. Her work is primarily thrown on the potter’s wheel.
She uses near-to-porcelain stoneware and rustic tawny clay to create elegant and contemporary forms with a fresh feeling. After shaping to a refined surface, she carves, etches, and applies wax-resist patterns, slips or glazes. Roberts is most inspired by contemporary British and Scandinavian ceramics and modern Japanese textile design and ceramics. All her work is intended to be functional. Roberts retired as a consumer brand business executive at age 60. As a lifetime collector of hand-made ceramics, she then had the time to dedicate herself to creating this art form. She studied ceramics at the Oregon College of Art and Craft and the Multnomah Art Center, Portland, Oregon where she was an open studio participant.
She is a member of the Oregon Potters Association and is represented by the Riversea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon.
Mary is also a former Hoffman Center board member and leader, and we're glad to welcome her back to the clay studio, this time as an instructor.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
Upcoming garden classes and events
Stone, Sand, Stillness: Japanese Design and the Coastal Gardener with Jacob on July 11th
Saturday, July 11, 2026
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Stillness, impermanence, mystery and simplicity are not what most of us seek in our coastal gardens. Color, abundance and exuberance are more our style. Yet one step inside a space like Portland's Japanese garden and we immediately sense a very different invitation: to slow down and see more.
And so the question: how to approach a highly refined, 1,500-year-old garden philosophy and find ways to integrate its inherent calm, restraint and deliberateness into our love of abundance?
One place to start is a master class with the former senior gardener at the Portland Japanese Garden, Jacob Knapp.
A garden designer and horticulturist based in Portland, Jacob maintains and constructs gardens throughout the region, blending his love of plants, his respect for materials and his belief in the inherent order of nature. Among his responsibilities at the Japanese Garden was raking patterns into the dry gravel beds that surround the boulders. Watching online videos of Jacob working is a glimpse into his extraordinary skill, attention to detail and respect for ritual.
“The idea of raking comes from exactly what we see on the coast. That flat plane of the ocean with prominent boulders in the water. It's distilling nature in the garden.” — Jacob Knapp
This three-hour immersion into the principles of Japanese gardening begins in the Hoffman Center classroom and ends in the Wonder Garden, where Jacob will discuss the art of placing stone, demonstrate raking and share coastal design ideas that work in harmony with where, and how, we live.
Formerly senior gardener at the Portland Japanese Garden, Jacob Knapp is the owner of Pacific Pruning LLC. In his work he blends technical horticultural expertise with a design approach rooted in observation, nature and spatial restraint.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. By registering, you agree to be included in images of the event you have registered for. If you would prefer not to appear in images, please tell a staff member when you arrive.
October 11th
12:00 - 4:00 pm
Spend an afternoon photographing the coastal forest floor and learning about the wonderful world of mushrooms! In this class, you’ll learn to make images that are beautiful and useful, practicing in our Wonder Garden before a gentle, guided field hike with a naturalist.
We will start indoors at the Hoffman Center with a short welcome, then move into the Wonder Garden for hands-on practice with phones. We’ll learn about working in cool coastal light and composing a small subject against a busy background. We will discuss how to add your finds to a free global scientific log called iNaturalist.
Next, we will caravan in cars to Nehalem Bay State Park for a guided walk. This park is one mile away from the Hoffman Center for the Arts. On our walk, you'll learn to spot mushrooms, see what they’re growing from, what their habitat reveals, and how moisture and decay can help shape your pictures. Then, you'll practice photographing the same mushroom two ways. The art image captures mood, form, and color. The field-note image documents what you saw clearly enough that someone else could identify it for scientific purposes, including the cap, underside, base, substrate, and scale. By the end of this class, you'll know more about how to move between the two, and perhaps even combine them in a single frame.
After class, you can edit and upload your favorites to iNaturalist and enter two categories: Best Mushroom Portrait and the Tiny World Award. Winners may be featured in the Hoffman newsletter and on our social media (with your permission).
What to bring
A fully charged smartphone or other camera
The free iNaturalist app installed from https://www.inaturalist.org
Weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear for coastal conditions
Water and snacks
A small cloth for drying hands and phones
Notes
This is not a foraging class. Brittany will help identify the various fungi we see; we will not be eating or harvesting any mushrooms.
This is a rain-or-shine workshop, barring extreme weather, so please come dressed for potentially very wet coastal conditions.
This class is designed for ages 13 and up, but kids aged 10 to 12 are welcome to come along as long as they stay close to their guardian.
The field session covers about 1.5 miles at a slow observation pace, on relatively flat but often wet, sandy, or rooty ground.
Bending and kneeling are encouraged but never required.
We will caravan with cars from the Center to Nehalem Bay State Park. A State Parks day-use parking permit is required.
This class is for anyone curious about mycology and nature photography. You do not need a fancy camera, prior mushroom knowledge, or any specific art background. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, you are still welcome to come on the walk and learn with the group.
If you would like to bring a waterproof kneeling pad, portable sit stool, folding cane, or sit pad, that may be helpful, since we will be getting low on wet ground.
A small phone tripod or bendable mini-tripod can be helpful if you have one to help steady your shots in dim forest light. A clip-on macro lens can also help if you want to get extra close to tiny mushrooms. Inexpensive options from brands like Xenvo or Apexel usually run $10 to $40. These work best with your phone's "Pro" or manual camera mode, so check that it fits your phone before purchasing.
You'll do any photo editing and upload to iNaturalist at home, which keeps our time together focused on learning about mushrooms.
Hoffman Center classes and events are often photographed or filmed, and we love sharing those moments on our social media, website, and newsletter so people can get a feel for what it's like to create and connect here. When you register, you're agreeing that we may use photos or video that include you. If you'd rather not appear, just let a staff member know when you arrive.
This class is free to attend thanks to support from our donors! If you would like to donate so we can continue to host classes like these, we welcome that. Your support helps Hoffman provide accessible arts programming, creative opportunities, and meaningful community experiences on the North Oregon Coast. https://www.hoffmanarts.org/donate
About your instructor
Brittany Marcotte is a North Oregon Coast naturalist, mushroom guide, educator, and photographer. Since 2018, she's led mushroom walks and field learning for groups large and small, with collaborators including the Oregon Mycological Society, Oregon State University, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Hoyt Arboretum, and Portland Metro. Her teaching is grounded, playful, and welcoming to beginners.
See her work on iNaturalist and on Instagram at @stellar_viscera.