L
A egacy
of art
Royal Nebeker Dinner
Sunday, Feb. 22
6 p.m. no-host bar
7 p.m. dinner
8 p.m. live and silent auctions
Shelburne Inn
4415 Pacifi c Way, Seaview, Wash.
Friends honor the memory of
Royal Nebeker with a scholarship
fund for arts education
T
The night after renowned
artist and beloved teacher Roy-
al Nebeker died, a few of his
friends gathered at the Shel-
burne Inn.
“I proposed a toast to Roy-
al,” said Dwight Caswell,
“which me struck as a little odd
because he was a Mormon who
didn’t drink.”
All the same, Caswell,
along with Shelburne Inn own-
ers David Campiche and Laurie
Anderson, sought to honor a
departed friend. An idea struck
Caswell and he shared it with
the group: a scholarship fund
in Nebeker’s name. (Full dis-
closure: Caswell and Cam-
piche are regular contributors to
Coast Weekend.)
“Royal was so important to
the art community here,” said
Caswell. Nebeker, whose se-
rene, colorful paintings where
shown worldwide, taught at
Clatsop Community College
for over 35 years.
“He helped put together
a world-class program,” said
Richard Rowland, a ceramics
instructor at CCC who worked
alongside Nebeker since the
1990s. “He taught the way that
he painted. He was able to sort
of have this ... intimacy with
real contact, both with the stu-
dents and with his own paint-
ings.”
“Royal was such a great
teacher, and he was so involved
with his students,” said Cas-
well. “We thought he was such
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enced so many people that it
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him to have an ongoing schol-
arship that would go to students
who were interested in the arts,
to take art courses.”
About a week after Nebeker
passed, Caswell proposed the
scholarship idea to Nebeker’s
wife, Sarah, a Clatsop County
commissioner.
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said Sarah Nebeker. “Anytime
students can be assisted with
education — especially in the
arts — I’m all for it.”
That the fund would be for
scholarships, as opposed to
grants, appealed to Sarah, who
noted Royal’s rare combination
of creative talent and his abili-
ty to convey art’s workings to
others.
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educator in the arts,” she said.
“That was very important to
him, as well as producing art. He
felt a responsibility to build his
community and its awareness in
the arts and culture, and he did.”
With mentions of the schol-
arship fund in funeral literature
and in Nebeker’s obituary, do-
nations began trickling in. At
press time, Caswell said around
20 people have given almost
$2,000.
“Oddly enough, about
three-quarters of the donations
came from outside Clatsop
County,” Caswell said. “Royal
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sop County. Most of the money
came from the Portland area —
people who’d seen his art there,
or who had studied with him.”
Still, Caswell hopes that
$2,000 is only the beginning.
And so, in the same room where
the idea was hatched, Caswell,
along with Campiche, Ander-
son, Sarah Nebeker and others,
360-642-2442
$50 for dinner and auction
$10 for auctions only
Live and silent auctions will feature donated artwork by:
Richard Rowland, Darren Orange, Noel Thomas, Miki’ala Souza,
Rhonda Grudenic, Bethany Rowland, Kirsten Horning, David
Campiche, Laurie Anderson and Dwight Caswell
Submitted photo by Laurie Anderson
Photo by Dwight Caswell
As a memorial to internationally recognized local artist Royal Nebeker, who died Sept.
6, a local group has created an ongoing scholarship fund to be awarded to students
pursuing arts education.
will host the scholarship’s inau-
gural fundraising event.
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beker Dinner is scheduled for
Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Shel-
burne Inn. For $50, attendees
will be treated to a four-course
Italian dinner and wine with all
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the fund. Diners will also be
encouraged to bid on donated
artworks in both live and silent
auctions.
Finding artists to contribute
their work, Caswell said, was a
breeze.
“Nobody I have asked has
paused for more than about a
split-second,” Caswell said.
“Everybody just thinks it’s a
great idea. We’ve had a tremen-
dous response.”
For Caswell, the fondness
for Nebeker within the local
arts community has resulted
in almost an embarrassment of
riches.
“My only problem has been
to avoid insulting people by not
asking them because there are
so many artists who would like
to contribute,” Caswell said.
“But on the other hand, this is
going to happen again.
“Our goal is to raise at least
$30,000 eventually,” he added.
“This is not a one-shot thing.
We’re going to keep doing
this year-in and year-out until
we get a substantial amount of
money. Basically we’re looking
to create an endowment.”
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like when the scholarship(s)
will become available, and how
The Shelburne Inn in Seaview, Wash-
ington, will host the fi rst annual Royal
Nebeker Dinner Sunday, Feb. 22 to raise
funds for the new Royal Nebeker Schol-
arship Fund.
much they’ll afford — have yet
to be determined, the founda-
tion is clear: the Royal Nebeker
Scholarship Fund will be open
to applicants of all ages in Clat-
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cilitate artistic education.
“Royal started teaching as a
way of giving back to the com-
munity,” said Caswell. “He em-
phasized that. So this was a way
to continue that, to give back to
the community.”
To Sarah Nebeker, creating
a scholarship harkened back to
Submitted photo
“Time and Again,” a donated painting
by local artist Rhonda Grudenic, will
be auctioned off during the fi rst annual
Royal Nebeker Dinner on Feb. 22.
Royal’s own beginnings.
“Royal, of course, was a
working artist,” she said. “He
applied for and received grants,
and they were helpful. He also
received a scholarship in his
early years that allowed him to
be recognized and encouraged
him to keep pursuing art.”
the arts
VISUAL ARTS • LITERATURE • THEATER • MUSIC & MORE
Story by ANDREW TONRY
February 19, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 9