4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Astoria Visual Arts’ artist-in-residence Join a new South Bend
program continues into the new year book group for adults
ASTORIA — Astoria Visual
Arts will have local artists
Andie Sterling and Terry
Robinett working in its
downtown studios from Jan-
uary through April as part of
the AVA artist-in-residence
program.
“What a treat to have a
place with no interruptions
and terrific view! It’s a
dream,” wrote Robinett on
Facebook during her first
week as an AVA artist-in-res-
idence back in October. It’s
a dream from which she
won’t have to awaken until
May 1. Robinett’s applica-
tion for an extension of her
residency through April 30
was approved by the AVA
selection committee based
on the quality of her work
and her proven and planned
utilization of the studio
space.
Robinett works in a
variety of styles and moves
from one to the other with
regularity. Her mixed-media
figure paintings are primar-
ily oil. Her papier-mâché
sculpture incorporates
mixed-media — pattern
paper, latex, steel wool,
metal and fabric — to create
characters.
Robinett attended
Portland State Universi-
ty, studying fine arts and
painting under modern artist
Mel Katz. By 1996 she was
a founding member of the
Hawthorne Arts Guild and
Gallery in Portland and
a partner with Portland’s
Broderick Gallery. Robinett
also has worked creatively
in film and theater, which
included stints of directing,
performing and stagecraft.
She moved to Astoria with
her husband, Todd, in 2014.
The Robinetts own and
operate the Merry Time Bar
& Grill in Astoria.
AVA a-i-r’s newest art-
ist-in-resident is Andie Ster-
ling, a recent transplant to
the area. Sterling says she’s
National Science
Foundation values
reading programs
in rural libraries so
highly, it’s paying
for a local one
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Andie Sterling is the newest
AVA artist-in-residence.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
“Untitled” by Terry Robinett.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Terry Robinett, who had an
AVA a-i-r residency from Oc-
tober to December, has been
granted an extension to April
30 to continue her work.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
“Whirl,” oil on layered Plexiglas, by AVA artist-in-residence
Andie Sterling.
excited about the creative
culture and arts community
she’s encountered since
moving here.
“The existing network
structure of AVA and intro-
duction into the community
as a working artist will be
instrumental in creating the
level of relationships, con-
versations, professionalism
and community collabora-
tion in my work that I am
looking to develop as a new
artist in Astoria,” she wrote
in her AVA a-i-r application.
Sterling’s work is visu-
ally inspired by the shifting
landscapes, meandering
rivers, tidal action and
erosion patterns that mark
the rhythms of time’s pas-
sage on Earth. She creates
stop-motion animations
by photo-documenting the
process of her line drawings,
and the finished animation
video is then projected onto
the drawing.
During the Second Sat-
urday Art Walk on Jan. 14,
Sterling will showcase “Re-
spire,” a video projection
produced in collaboration
with local sound artist Olaf
Ydstie. The projection will
take place at 1170 Commer-
cial St. For more informa-
tion, see Page 18.
AVA a-i-r is designed
to encourage the creative,
intellectual and professional
growth of emerging local
artists. The program is sup-
ported by the members of
Astoria Visual Arts and the
Astoria Coffeehouse & Bis-
tro, the Astoria Co-op Gro-
cery, City Lumber Co., Dots
‘N Doodles Art Supplies and
Fort George Brewery.
Astoria Visual Arts was
founded in 1989 as a non-
profit membership organiza-
tion to enhance, strengthen
and promote the arts in the
greater Astoria area. For
more information about
AVA or to learn more about
the AVA a-i-r program visit
www.astoriavisualarts.org
SOUTH BEND, Wash. — Ques-
tion: What has the National
Science Foundation done for
you lately?
Answer: If you live in
South Bend, it has sponsored
Pushing the Limits, a read-
ing and conversation series
for adults.
Starting this month,
South Bend Timberland
Library patrons will have
four opportunities to connect
with each other as they
explore four different books
with common threads:
dreams, limitations and
heroic outcomes.
Here are the program
details:
• 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednes-
day, Jan. 18 — “When the
Killing’s Done” by T.C.
Boyle
• 5 p.m. Feb. 15 —
“Thunderstruck” by Erik
Larson
• 5 p.m. March 15 —
“The Land of Painted
Caves” by Jean Auel
• 5 p.m. April 12 —
“Arctic Drift” by Clive
Sussler
South Bend High School
science and robotics teacher
Lili Newman will co-facil-
itate the discussions with
library manager Jenny
Penoyar.
Pushing the Limits is an
National Science Founda-
tion-funded reading, movie
viewing and discussion
program for adults living
in rural areas, served by
small, rural libraries. It was
created by a team of library
professionals, scientists and
filmmakers from several
organizations, and the Asso-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
“When the Killing’s Done” by
T.C. Boyle is the first book to
be discussed in the Pushing
the Limits program at South
Bend Timberland Library.
ciation for Rural and Small
Libraries.
A simple notion shapes
the program: We humans
have survived and thrived by
dreaming big, then push-
ing the limits until dreams
become reality. Today,
we understand that our
dream-achieving tools come
from science, technology,
engineering, arts and math-
ematics.
This is where South
Bend’s library manager,
Penoyar, comes in. Last
summer, Penoyar had a big
idea and no money. She
wrote a grant proposal. The
result was a $3,500 award
to fund adult programs
in science, technology,
engineering and math.
The grant also provides
funds to train librarians as
science education facilita-
tors. Pushing the Limits is
the program funded by this
award.
All TRL programs are
free and open to the public.
The South Bend Timberland
Library is located at First
Street and Pacific Avenue.
For more information, call
360-875-5532 or visit www.
TRL.org