Still fabulous at 50
White Bird Gallery fl ew into Cannon Beach and never left
BY NANCY McCARTHY
White Bird Gallery, the grandmother of
Cannon Beach art galleries, turns 50 this
year.
During the village’s early days as an
artists colony, many created their own
“pop up” galleries to sell their works and
closed almost as quickly. The White Bird
was the fi rst to establish itself as a gal-
lery, a fi xture in the community display-
ing a variety of artists’ paintings as well as
crafts since 1971.
As the milestone birthday grew close,
gallery owner Allyn Cantor rummaged
through the archives and discovered post-
ers from past anniversaries.
A few posters include the iconic white
birds, that commemorate the gallery. Orig-
inal owner Evelyn Georges named the
space after the 1969 song, “White Bird,”
by the band It’s a Beautiful Day.
“White bird
In a golden cage
Alone
White bird must fl y
Or she will die.”
“(Evelyn) was a potter back then, and
I think she thought this would be a good
summer project,” Cantor said.
But it became more than just a proj-
ect. Several of the artists who fi rst showed
there went on to be known nationally;
they included painter Henk Pander, illus-
trator Petra Mathers and multimedia artist
Royal Nebeker.
“Evelyn gave a lot of emerging artists a
good shot,” Cantor said. “She had a group
of friends wealthy enough to buy art. She
would bring them out here and have par-
ties at her house and get them to come
into the gallery.”
In a 2010 interview with T he Daily
Astorian, Georges said she had a “knack
for picking artists who connect with peo-
ple visiting Cannon Beach.”
She tried to mix aff ordable pieces from
emerging artists with more expensive
works from known artists.
“I like the way art captures what is hap-
pening in the world,” Georges said. “I like
all kinds of art, from abstract to fi gurative,
See Page 14
Ceramicists John and Robin Gumaelius created the 50th anniversary poster for the White Bird
Gallery in Cannon Beach.
columbiamemorial.org/telehealth
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Opened in 1971, the White Bird Gallery was among the fi rst galleries in Oregon to combine fi ne
art with arts and crafts.