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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2017)
4A • November 3, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Views from the Rock Finding art in a coff ee cup A R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Encaustic artwork in the gallery at the Hoff man Center. A PLACE FOR THE ARTS A fter a 25-year career in bank marketing, most recently in executive management, Vera Wildauer moved to Manzanita full time in 2006. In 2008 she co-founded the Manzanita Writers’ Series, bringing regional authors to the coast for readings and workshops and encouraging local writers to share their work during open mic. In 2009, Wildauer joined the Hoff- man Center board of directors, work- ing to expand the Hoffman Center’s marketing efforts and managed the Hoffman Center’s blog site. She also generated press releases and fl yers for literary and other events. She served as president beginning in 2014. Her board experience includes eight years with a mental health non- profi t in Everett, Washington, where she served as board president for four years. In 2012, she cofounded the North Coast Squid, a journal of local writing and art, to further develop the writing community in North Tillamook County. She lives with her husband and cat in what had been her family’s beach house since 1975. CANNON SHOTS R.J. MARX Q: Who were the Hoffmans? Were they the inspiration for the center? Wildauer: Oh, yes. Lloyd Hoffman was a painter. And Myrtle Hoffman was a musician. They were extremely welcoming to artists of all sorts. Q: Did they live here full-time? Wildauer: Yes, for many years. Their house was across the street from where we are now. They had a trust specifi cally to create a cultural center. Their house really wasn’t a very good venue, so in 2007 the founding board bought this building, which was kind of like an antiques mall. Over the years it evolved and we refurbished it, making it more suitable for the kinds of programming we do. Q: Did you have a model for the arts center when you started? Wildauer: I think it was defi nitely original from the start. The fi rst board went around and looked at a few arts centers and also had community meet- ings. As time has gone on, we’ve really developed the programming out of the interests of the community. Q: What were the fi rst activities? Wildauer: The clay program was started in 2004 when they got a kiln, and it’s evolved a lot since. The clay studio is in existence because there is a strong group of people who are focused and excited about that. In fact, we are the only publicly accessible clay studio between Astoria down to Lincoln City. Q: Tell me about the center’s orga- nization. Wildauer: We have a nine-member board composed of local community members. Q: Do you have any paid staff? Wildauer: No. We have contract employees — a bookkeeper and a cleaning service. Basically all the pro- gram staff and the board are unpaid. Q: What is your title? Wildauer: I am board president. My origin is through the Manzanita Writers’ Series. Kathie Hightower and I started that in 2008. I write poetry and short fi ction. Interim Publisher Heidi Wright Editor R.J. Marx Circulation Manager Jeremy Feldman Production Manager John D. Bruijn R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Vera Wildauer, president of the Hoff man Center board of directors. Q: What type of programs do you bring in for writers? Wildauer: The main thing is the writers’ series. We bring in authors. Usually those folks do a workshop of some sort, with some sort of craft element or publishing. Q: Are there a lot of writers in town? Wildauer: Yes, all levels. And Gary Seelig is really working the music scene. Q: There seem to be a lot of artistic people in Manzanita. Wildauer: It’s a historical legacy. There always was. Manzanita was an enclave for writers and artists of all sorts, a place to get away. In fact, several of our featured authors ended up moving here. Q: So they come in, give a lecture and then they go back and decide they want to settle here full-time? Wildauer: Yes, at least as sec- ond-home owners and frequent visitors. We are more a retirement-age kind of place. Q: Are younger artists coming here as well? Wildauer: The clay studio has attracted a younger set, which is cool. We just had young adult author April Henry spend a full day at the (Tillamook) middle school and high school talking about writing and what inspired her. Another part of our writing program is the publication of the North Coast Squid. We have a young writers category where we try and encourage young people to submit as well. Q: Sounds like there is no shortage of creative input. Wildauer: We probably have 100 volunteers for all of the different programs. Q: What are your challenges? Wildauer: Well, funding. We are defi nitely moving toward more stable funding sources, growing our donor base. Q: More stable than what? Wildauer: About half of our reve- nue is earned income — admissions, tuition sales and proceeds from gallery sales. But we still have to rely on donations. Q: Do you rent the building out for events? Wildauer: We have a lot of meet- ings here, presentations. The local emergency response team meets here. Q: Any new programs? Wildauer: Our “Art of Dying” pro- gram is going gangbusters. It can be anything from green burials to setting your priorities later in life, to setting up a network of people to help you. Certainly everybody is very engaged and interested in making their lives rich with experience. Those kinds of things really help people stay young, vital and active. Q: How important is the Hoffman Center to the artistic core of Manza- nita? Wildauer: Well, it’s hugely important — of course I would say that! What we offer is not just people being involved with the arts, but that creative expression that comes from doing things with people. It’s really important to the well-being of the community. Q: Is there a downside to this? Wildauer: No! This is a happy spot. Q: Do you get people from outside of the area? Wildauer: Typically we get people from Astoria down to Pacifi c City. For our writers’ workshop we got two peo- ple from Alabama. They looked online and found two workshops. There was one here and one in Pennsylvania, and they decided to come here. Mystery author comes to Hoff man Center certifi cate program at the Ingrid Thoft will read from University of Washington. her latest book, “Duplicity,” at Thoft’s fi rst book, “Loyalty,” the Hoff man Center for the was followed by “Brutality,” Arts in Manzanita on Satur- which was awarded the Sha- day, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. mus Award for best P.I. novel “Duplicity” is the fourth by the Private Eye Writers of in Thoft’s series with Bos- America. ton-based private investiga- Author Thoft lives in Seattle with tor Fina Ludlow. Ingrid Th oft her husband. Thoft was born in Boston Thoft will teach a workshop, “Mas- and is a graduate of Wellesley Col- lege. Although always wanting to be tering Murder,” from 10 a.m. to 12:30 an author, her fi rst real-life job was at p.m. at the Hoff man Center for the a radio station in coastal Massachu- Arts and tuition is $40. Register at setts, ripping wires and running the http://hoff manblog.org. Following Thoft’s reading and board for a Sunday talk show. She’s worked in human resources at Har- Q&A, the center presents an open mic vard, and did a stint with an interac- where up to nine local or visiting writ- ers will read fi ve minutes of their orig- tive software company. Thoft wrote two novels about inal work. The suggested theme for an amateur sleuth that did not sell. the evening is “Mystery and Murder.“ Admission for the evening reading When she decided an amateur sleuth character led to limitations, she de- is $7. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Manzanita Writers’ Series is a cided to focus on a professional pri- vate investigator instead. In order program of the Hoff man Center for to create a believable character, she the Arts, across from Manzanita Li- enrolled in the private investigation brary at 594 Laneda Ave. Classifi ed Sales Jamie Ramsdell Advertising Sales Holly Larkins Staff writer Brenna Visser lifetime ago, September 1977, in New York City, I moved the fi ve boxes of everything I owned from a cockroach-ridden furnished summer sublet on Jones Street around the corner to my fi rst leased apartment on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village. It was a studio, about 400 square feet; there was no basin in the bathroom so I brushed my teeth in the kitchen sink. Cornelia is a picturesque one block long street one block west of Sixth Avenue between Bleecker and West 4th. The West Village was a hip ‘hood. You never knew whom you might encounter. Gerome Ragni, one of the creators of the Broadway musical “Hair” EVE MARX/FOR CANNON BEACH GAZETTE lived there; I learned not An artfully designed cup to gawk at the model of coff ee at Sea Level. Lauren Hutton in front of me at the bank. I’d landed a nice, polite job VIEW FROM with a scientifi c THE PORCH book publisher EVE MARX that covered my $180-a-month rent, but the job didn’t interest me half as much as my second gig, waitressing at the Cornelia Street Café. I worked Sunday mornings (the actor Anthony Perkins was a regular), and Wednesday nights when they hosted a songwriter’s workshop. The workshop was headed up by Steve Forbert who was from Mississippi and just my age. He was already being called “the new Dylan.” It was at the Cornelia Street Café I learned about Italian coffee drinks. Before the café owners, Robin Hirsch, Charles McKenna, and a perpetually angry Italian beauty called Raffaella took me under their wing, the only coffee I was familiar with was Folgers Instant and the pale swill they served at the Greek coffee shops proliferating the city. Raffaella was the Sunday barista and she schooled me to the nuances of espresso, cappuccino, Americano, macchia- to, and café latte, which she said was a breakfast drink. In 1977, in America, there was no “latte art.” Latte art — specifi cally those lovely heart designs created by a deft rendering of milk foam — are presumed to have started in Italy, but their actual provenance is unclear. Latte art is a mixture of crema and microfoam. The techniques to create them are called free pouring and etching. It’s a tricky business to get the crema and the microfoam to a particular temperature and consistency to create distinct patterns. In the U.S., latte art is believed to have started in Seattle during the late ’80s when a man named David Schomer championed a rosette pattern off a photograph he’d seen. Raffaella’s artistic expertise at the De’Longhi machine was creating the perfect high hat of foam to cap her cappuccino. Along with her artist’s model fi gure, Ital- ian accent, and signature scowl, her talent for creating the perfect foam no doubt contributed in no small part to the success of the café. These days I love wandering around Cannon Beach sampling coffee. In between gallery hops, I might grab an Americano at Insomnia, or nurse a cappuccino on the porch at Sleepy Monk. I love seeing Rachel and Rebec- ca behind the counter. They are a terrifi c sister act. In my humble opinion, there isn’t a better place for people watching anywhere on the North Coast than Sleepy Monk. Last week I introduced a Gearhart friend to the won- ders of Sea Level Bakery and Café. I urged her to buy a couple of demi baguettes to take home for the dinner party she was planning. We sat outside in the sun, marveling at the glorious weather. I ordered a 12-ounce latte to stay in a china cup. I confess I dislike coffee in paper cups. When mine came up, the design on it was so lovely, I felt moved to take a photograph. For a moment I wished I could travel back in time to show it to Raffaella. I know she would have appreciated it. LETTERS Thompson responds I’m writing to reconfi rm my commitment to serving as the elected representative of District 5 on the board of the Clatsop County Commissioners. No one said it would be easy to serve. No one prom- ised that a closed system would be open to change, that entrenched powers would not push back, or that personal attacks would never supplant honest debate. Certainly, I never expected such a political panacea. To see it play out in real life, however, can either be disheartening or moti- vating. I choose motivation. My motivation is to serve the great people of Clatsop County, especially those in my home District 5. I have little interest or patience with those few people who would fi nd validation in power, or who like to see themselves as big fi sh in small ponds. I do not understand those who would pass on the op- portunity to use the board’s authority to make policy that improves lives. The people I serve are those who struggle in our county, who have real needs, aspirations and ideas, and who desperately need a politician to hear them and a voice to speak for them. These are the people who moti- vate me. You may have seen the chairman’s opinion that I should resign (“Lee calls for Thompson’s resignation,” The Daily Astorian, Oct. 26). You may have read his letter accusing me of hateful things that an unnecessary, expensive investigation by a Portland attorney could not confi rm. I will address those issues publicly, and in detail, at the next board meeting. See Letters, Page 5A Contributing writers Rebecca Herren Katherine Lacaze Eve Marx Nancy McCarthy CANNON BEACH GAZETTE The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other week by EO Media Group. 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138 503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738- 9285 www.cannonbeachgazette. com • email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county. Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Copyright 2017 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING
