OPENING AND AWARDS CEREMONY: SATURDAY, MARCH 7
• 12:00 P.M. Kindergarten-Grade 5 Individual Artists Awards
• 1:00 P.M. Grades 6-12 Individual Artists Awards
Now in its 17th year, the Young Artists’ Showcase has grown into a highly anticipated event for K-12 students, teachers, and parents in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. The exhibit features artwork by hundreds of students at the Bush Barn Art Center.
This is always one of our most popular exhibitions and one you won’t want to miss!
Now in its third year, Afterhours highlights the creative work of regional art teachers and educators, celebrating their dedication to nurturing young artists in our community and fostering creativity. These teachers exemplify how art remains a powerful tool for expression throughout a lifetime.
The show asks a deceptively simple question. Vision is not just what we see—it is how we understand, how we feel, and how we are invited into meaning. This exhibition explores what happens when sight is no longer the primary gatekeeper to art, and when touch and curiosity take the lead.
Their primary mediums are fiber, ink, and light: crafting handmade papers from locally foraged plants, and forming the paper into cast-molds to make lanterns. They also make drawings with crafted inks and papers from the same plant species. These art forms are slow, and emphasize process and relationship building as primary in the making practice.
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2026 AT 12:00 P.M. IN THE ANNEX STUDIO
APRIL 4–26, 2026 | FOCUS GALLERY
OPENING RECEPTION & ARTIST TALK APRIL 3, 2026 FROM 5:30–7:30 P.M.
Enter at the atrium into the Annex. Please register to let us know you are coming, but if you find you can make it last minute, we welcome you to stop by. Please bring your own projects to work on. Our mission is to strengthen our local community of artists by meeting in person to share ideas, lend support, get to know each other, and brainstorm ways to promote each other's endeavors.
The Bush Barn Art Center & Annex are open to the public Wednesday - Sunday, noon to 4:00 p.m.
The Salem Art Association is a 501c3 non-profit organization serving the mid-Willamette Valley since 1919.
We stand together and know that art in our lives is absolutely pivotal in understanding one another, in finding common ground, and in imagining creative solutions together. Art brings us together and unites us in our humanity.
Call for Artists opportunities for the Bush Barn Art Center take place throughout the year. Click the link for a current list of ways to get your art out into the world through the Salem Art Association
Thank you to the following supporters whose generous contributions support the Salem Art Association in making art experiences possible for everyone in our community.
Compton Family Foundation
Michele J. Patterson
Janet Neuburg
Braemar Charitable Trust
Harvest Foundation
Bob & Marypat Hill Family Foundation
Autzen Foundation
William S. Walton Charitable Trust
Special thanks to our generous sponsors
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