Art Saves Lives: How Astoria Visual Arts Is Transforming a Community

Astoria Visual Arts

Jan sits down with Annie Eskelin, Executive Director of Astoria Visual Arts (AVA), to explore how a passion for art can shape an entire community. 

Annie shares her journey from growing up in rural Alaska — where she never met a professional artist until college — to leading one of the most vibrant arts organizations on the Oregon Coast. 

They talk about AVA's artist residency program, the rapid growth of free kids' art classes, outdoor summer art camps at Fort Stevens, the newly expanded gallery on Commercial Street, and the beloved Astoria Open Studios Tour coming up July 25–26. 

Annie also opens up about what it means to lose yourself in the creative process, why art is more than just paintings, and how community funding is the backbone of it all. 

If you've ever believed art is a luxury, this conversation might just change your mind.

[00:01] Jan: Are you looking for an inspiring listen, something to motivate you? You've come to the right place. Welcome to Women of the Northwest, where we have conversations with ordinary women leading extraordinary lives.

[00:12] Motivating, inspiring, compelling.

[00:16] Jan: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Women of the Northwest. I am so glad you're here today, because I have an exciting interview for you.

[00:24] I have Annie Eskalin, who is the executive director of Astoria Visual Arts, also known as Ava Welco. Welcome, Annie.

[00:32] Annie: Hi, Jan. It's wonderful to be here. Thanks for having me on.

[00:36] Jan: Some of you know that I started chapter of 100 Women who Care,

[00:42] where we recognize local nonprofits and Annie. And came to represent SRE Visual Arts. And, oh, what an exciting program that is. And I just thought, wow,

[00:55] more people need to know about this and find out about it and come and see it. So,

[01:01] Annie, I want to start out by asking you,

[01:03] what drew you to art? Is that something you did as a little girl, or is it something.

[01:09] What's your story?

[01:11] Annie: Well, I have an art degree and also a business degree. And I.

[01:17] When I was growing up, I was naturally drawn to art. It was an advanced art whenever there was an opportunity for it. I grew up in rural Alaska,

[01:29] and there wasn't a lot of art opportunity there.

[01:33] There were not a lot of professional artists. I actually didn't meet my first professional artist until I was in college.

[01:43] Yeah. And then I think, like a lot of art majors, you just end up taking art classes because they are so fun and fulfilling, and then you find yourself with a art degree.

[01:57] Jan: And now what? Yeah. Yeah.

[01:59] Annie: So, yeah, this is the path that has led me. Actually, one of my art professors,

[02:05] he turned me onto a job that was in legrand as the executive director of the Union County Art and Culture center, which is now Art Center East.

[02:15] And so that was my first involvement with a nonprofit.

[02:20] And it was really exciting. And really, it was one of those things where the bus stopped there for me.

[02:29] And then my husband and I moved to Astoria a decade ago,

[02:34] and this job came up, and I applied for it and got it. And no, it's. It takes a lot of your heart, your soul, and time.

[02:45] But I definitely found that I have,

[02:48] you know, role that's very fulfilling for me.

[02:51] Jan: Because you're passionate about it.

[02:53] Annie: I am passionate about it, yes. Absolutely.

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Transcript

[00:01] Jan: Are you looking for an inspiring listen, something to motivate you? You've come to the right place. Welcome to Women of the Northwest, where we have conversations with ordinary women leading extraordinary lives.

[00:12] Motivating, inspiring, compelling.

[00:16] Jan: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Women of the Northwest. I am so glad you're here today, because I have an exciting interview for you.

[00:24] I have Annie Eskalin, who is the executive director of Astoria Visual Arts, also known as Ava Welco. Welcome, Annie.

[00:32] Annie: Hi, Jan. It's wonderful to be here. Thanks for having me on.

[00:36] Jan: Some of you know that I started chapter of 100 Women who Care,

[00:42] where we recognize local nonprofits and Annie. And came to represent SRE Visual Arts. And, oh, what an exciting program that is. And I just thought, wow,

[00:55] more people need to know about this and find out about it and come and see it. So,

[01:01] Annie, I want to start out by asking you,

[01:03] what drew you to art? Is that something you did as a little girl, or is it something.

[01:09] What's your story?

[01:11] Annie: Well, I have an art degree and also a business degree. And I.

[01:17] When I was growing up, I was naturally drawn to art. It was an advanced art whenever there was an opportunity for it. I grew up in rural Alaska,

[01:29] and there wasn't a lot of art opportunity there.

[01:33] There were not a lot of professional artists. I actually didn't meet my first professional artist until I was in college.

[01:43] Yeah. And then I think, like a lot of art majors, you just end up taking art classes because they are so fun and fulfilling, and then you find yourself with a art degree.

[01:57] Jan: And now what? Yeah. Yeah.

[01:59] Annie: So, yeah, this is the path that has led me. Actually, one of my art professors,

[02:05] he turned me onto a job that was in legrand as the executive director of the Union County Art and Culture center, which is now Art Center East.

[02:15] And so that was my first involvement with a nonprofit.

[02:20] And it was really exciting. And really, it was one of those things where the bus stopped there for me.

[02:29] And then my husband and I moved to Astoria a decade ago,

[02:34] and this job came up, and I applied for it and got it. And no, it's. It takes a lot of your heart, your soul, and time.

[02:45] But I definitely found that I have,

[02:48] you know, role that's very fulfilling for me.

[02:51] Jan: Because you're passionate about it.

[02:53] Annie: I am passionate about it, yes. Absolutely.

[02:56] Jan: And that just. It just shows in just everything that you brought about that's going on. Wow. What is your. What's your favorite medium?

[03:05] Annie: Well, that's a funny question. You know, it changes. I'm. I definitely love to explore all mediums.

[03:13] My When I was in school, I was primarily focused on painting of late. Metal welding has actually been like the thing that I keep thinking about the most. But as I just mentioned before the interview, I just had a successful ceramics firing which kind of threw me for a loop because I've had mostly unsuccessful ones.

[03:35] So who knows?

[03:37] Jan: Who knows? Well, and the college has Mertz with the welding program right there. So, you know. Yeah, yeah, there's that and all the tools.

[03:46] Annie: Yeah. Yep. My husband and I have a really extensive tool collection for sure.

[03:54] Jan: Yeah, that's. That's amazing. And my. One of my. Well, two of my sons are welders and then my one son's wife had skipped from being a math teacher to being a welder.

[04:05] Annie: Oh, wow.

[04:06] Jan: Yeah, now she's into it too. And it's kind of.

[04:08] Annie: Okay. Well, that's definitely. I'm just in it for the making things, not actually structural, right?

[04:14] Jan: Oh, no, no, no. But there's so many fun things. Oh, so many fun things.

[04:18] Annie: Yeah.

[04:19] Jan: Kind of like popcorn, right? Oh, I could do this. I could do this. Oh, let me try this. So that'd be fun.

[04:24] Annie: Yep, yep. Doesn't always work out, but that's.

[04:27] Jan: That's part of it, but it's experience. What do you like most about doing art? Do you like the process or do you like the end product?

[04:35] Annie: Gosh,

[04:36] I am a little bit goal driven, so I would say,

[04:42] well, it depends on what medium I'm working in.

[04:45] The process is always fun and, you know, you lose yourself and then you really know that you are doing something that you're supposed to be doing when you lose track of time.

[04:58] So I was going to say the end result, but actually I'm going to switch it and say the process is definitely the most fulfilling part of it and hopefully the end result also.

[05:07] But it doesn't always pan out that way.

[05:10] Jan: Yeah,

[05:11] I like the process because a lot of times I'm not really sure about what happens to it at the end. Yeah, I can give it away or not or whatever, but it's like, okay, I did that.

[05:21] Now let's.

[05:23] Annie: Yeah, the last, the last piece I made was a metal flounder skeleton,

[05:28] which. It's so tedious and so just constant,

[05:34] constant welding of all the little bones and things.

[05:38] So I mean, that's very process oriented.

[05:41] Jan: Right, right. Okay. So how did you. So you got hired to do ada. What was it? What did it look like when you started?

[05:49] Annie: That is such a good question.

[05:52] So I actually, when I first moved to town, I had a little baby who Was three months old.

[06:00] My husband got a job with Fish and Wildlife and we moved here.

[06:04] And to get to know people in the community,

[06:08] I applied to be the artist in residence for Astoria Visual Arts.

[06:13] And we had just been in town like six months and I got.

[06:17] I was awarded the residency.

[06:19] And so I had a studio space next to Robert Paulman for those of you who know the Astoria elite artists.

[06:28] And across for me was Darren Orange.

[06:31] Jan: Oh, my.

[06:32] Annie: And so it was such a amazing experience to have a studio space and work on whatever I wanted to and take it a little bit more serious.

[06:43] And back then, this was in 2015,

[06:46] our ABA's residency was only three months and I have a new little, little one. So he came to the studio with me a lot. And honestly, it wasn't a very successful residency for me.

[06:59] So I made. I started 65 pieces. I just was never really in love with anything that I made during the residency. I mean,

[07:06] but it was still a part of the process and being around professional artists that took it seriously.

[07:16] And then when I was really important to my development and then later I was able to use that knowledge, you know, and in the position.

[07:26] And now the residency is six months.

[07:29] So you really get to spend some time in the studio and really make your practice.

[07:36] Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's enough time to really get deep.

[07:39] Annie: Yeah. Three months was so short. So funny how fast it goes by.

[07:42] Jan: And you kind of think three months, that seems like a good amount of time. But really, yeah.

[07:47] Annie: And now I'm very deadline oriented.

[07:50] So now the artists in residence are also not necessarily required, but nobody's turned it down. They also have to create work for an exhibition.

[08:00] Jan: Okay.

[08:01] Annie: So it changes.

[08:03] Jan: It changes your impetus.

[08:05] Annie: Yeah, you're perfect. Yep.

[08:08] Jan: Yeah,

[08:09] yeah. And. And you are going to think through a different way as to.

[08:13] Am I just dabbling in something or is this something like. Yeah, I really want. Because it does take you that next step further.

[08:21] It does. You know, once you're looking at doing a show and having people see it and getting it out there and maybe not being.

[08:30] Maybe you might have had some imposter syndrome to begin with too,

[08:34] that's going to take you to that next spot and then after that they can do what they want. Right?

[08:40] Annie: Yep. And over the years, we've had 41 artists in residence.

[08:45] Jan: Oh, my.

[08:46] Annie: Seeing how it has impacted their art career, it's. It's all. All different directions, whether it's a job, commission,

[08:56] public art.

[08:58] For me, it was a position,

[09:00] you know,

[09:01] so it's been.

[09:03] It's been a really fun part of the job.

[09:06] Jan: And rewarding and very rewarding. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It's kind of like your babies, you know?

[09:11] Annie: Yeah,

[09:12] yeah, definitely. Yeah, it's.

[09:15] It's great. And then there's also so many other aspects of Astro Visual Arts that and additional programming that are so fulfilling.

[09:24] There's another residency that got started after that one, the Coastal Organ Artist Residency,

[09:31] which connects to environmentalism and art and conservation.

[09:36] It's reclaiming items from the local transfer station and making them into art. And then there's an exhibition with that as well. And artists get paid to make art, which is super rare.

[09:50] Yes.

[09:51] Yeah. There's gotta be only a handful of those.

[09:54] Jan: It's been a number of years ago, but my daughter that's teaching in Ben had made. I don't even know whether she did it during the. Her high school art class or whether she just decided to do it on a whim, which she might have done too, but she recycled Skittles and made a dress out of it.

[10:12] And then she had three. Three dresses. One was out of Skittles wrappers and one was out of a pair of ribbons,

[10:21] which if you're 4H, you would have put tons of.

[10:25] And the last one, which was amazing, was key stain coffee filters.

[10:31] And this one was a full length, almost like Southern Belle kind of type of dress. And then they had a show here that was a fashion show, you know, with different things.

[10:41] So it was really fun.

[10:43] Annie: I possibly went to. Went to that show. Was it part of the Jane Barnes Review?

[10:48] Jan: It was over on the side. I can't remember. What was it? I can't remember.

[10:52] Annie: Might have been a downtown association fundraiser.

[10:55] Jan: Yeah. Something. Whatever. But it was. Yeah.

[10:57] Annie: Did she win first?

[10:59] Jan: She won last, yeah. Yeah.

[11:01] Annie: That's awesome.

[11:02] Jan: So it was fun.

[11:03] But yeah, so many things too, with recycling. Oh, gosh. I mean, that, of course, Just the vision of doing that even with kids. And you do have kids programs and things, right?

[11:13] Annie: We do. We do,

[11:15] yeah. And our kids programming is expanding thanks to 100 Women who Care. So that's really, really exciting.

[11:22] I just gave a report to the board last night about the expansion, and it's significant.

[11:29] It has become our largest program kind of overnight.

[11:35] And it's also,

[11:37] I see as one of the largest needs in our rural community is fueling art programs for kids,

[11:45] which there are not very many.

[11:47] Jan: Right. And I think too,

[11:50] when you look at just school and teachers,

[11:55] they do crafts, but they don't do art, you know, and everything is cookie cutter. And because they don't, they're not trained.

[12:02] Yeah. To know how to look and see things and even just basic design type of things or to explore the materials. It's like, okay, we're going to do the project and then all of a sudden now you're not using it again.

[12:16] Well, you can't know the materials. If you don't do them multiple times, you don't know what the materials will do.

[12:24] Annie: Yeah. My son,

[12:27] he's in fifth grade now and this is the first time in his elementary school experience that he has a teacher that is really enthusiastic about art.

[12:37] And so that's. And it's one of the first questions I ask in the parent teacher conference. It is every single year it is wildly different.

[12:45] His second grade teacher actually said, well, that's what this big screen is over here.

[12:50] That's what teaches the art. I. I love math.

[12:56] Okay.

[12:59] Yes.

[13:00] Yeah. Every.

[13:01] Every classroom is different for kids.

[13:05] Jan: Yeah. Yeah. And the experiences are. So tell us more about your Art for Kids program. What are you doing specifically?

[13:13] Annie: So it is multifaceted.

[13:16] We have. Our longest standing program is called the Ms. B. Johnson Fund and that is at the Astoria Choice Academy. And it works with high school students.

[13:30] And it's generally students that don't fit into the regular high school model for whatever reason. And so we provide those kids with weekly art classes.

[13:42] And we hear regularly that that day for those kids is the best day of their week because it starts with art. And no doubt one of the instructors there said, wouldn't it be wonderful if we did this every day?

[13:56] And I was just like,

[13:58] yes, it would. Yeah,

[13:59] that would be great. We'll work toward that because it would be so fun to have that type of a pilot model.

[14:06] But yeah, for now it's just one day a week.

[14:08] And so that's over a decade old, that program.

[14:12] And we also have art room after school.

[14:16] So that is for grades K through 8.

[14:21] Two different classes A week.

[14:23] And that fills up instantly. It's so funny. This last.

[14:28] We have our last unit of the, of the school year, unit four.

[14:32] And we had a wait list and a second we got that registration up. I sent it to the couple of people that were on the wait list.

[14:40] No other marketing whatsoever. And within 12 hours it was full.

[14:45] Jan: Full. Wow.

[14:46] Annie: So.

[14:48] So one of the things the A Hundred Women has enabled is we are starting a second class.

[14:55] The one that filled up, I should clarify, is the K through 4,

[15:00] but the other one, almost completely full, it was full now.

[15:03] And so now we're doing two classes for that age group on Wednesdays and It's a free class.

[15:12] And yeah, we're looking to expand that as well. So there's art room after school.

[15:16] We are also starting art room at the library,

[15:20] relaunching that.

[15:22] So that happens two times a month and that's also free.

[15:26] Our initial marketing for that we have, we are having to pivot. So we were having three classes. We were separating kids out into three age groups.

[15:37] And so instead we decided recently we're just going to have two classes, one for families, so all, all ages so anyone can come. And so those projects will be a little bit easier.

[15:52] And then we're going to have a teens class also trying to reach older kids.

[15:58] So we'll see how that goes.

[16:00] Yeah, it just started last week,

[16:03] so.

[16:03] Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[16:04] Annie: Or relaunched, I should say. And that part of that funding is also from a hundred women who care.

[16:11] So we're really excited about that. And our instructors are all traveling from Seaside, so it's been really great to have that extra funding so that they're teaching two classes back to back instead of just one.

[16:23] So they're not traveling all that way just for an hour, you know, session,

[16:27] which is really great. So we really appreciate it.

[16:30] Jan: And then.

[16:31] Annie: I'm not done yet.

[16:33] Wait,

[16:34] there's more.

[16:35] We also started this, this will be our fourth year,

[16:39] be our fifth year of art camps.

[16:43] So we're doing outdoor art camps for kids in the summer,

[16:48] which has been so wonderful. It's 60 kids per camp.

[16:52] They're really intense,

[16:55] kind of short,

[16:56] multi day camps.

[16:58] Jan: Where are you holding those?

[16:59] Annie: Fort Stevens. So they are really outdoors, which is great.

[17:04] Right along with the bugs and the bees and the weather. Sometimes. Yeah, but yeah, so. And that enables us to keep our staff on year round also, which was such a significant advancement of the, of the program.

[17:21] And businesses have really stepped up to offer scholarships for the kids.

[17:27] Oh, which is so great. So we have a third of the kids that attend that those art art camps are full scholarship. And that just feels so good to be able to provide that programming.

[17:40] And for some kids, you know, they, they respond that, you know, they wish it could never end. Just like these just, just so heartwarming things. And they're like, oh, that's right up there with pe.

[17:53] Yeah.

[17:54] Jan: Favorite time of the day.

[17:55] Annie: We're all pretty exhausted at the end. But we also share the sentiment also.

[18:00] Jan: Yeah, yeah. Do you have volunteers that help with that?

[18:04] Annie: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. We have. You have to have really solid paid staff.

[18:09] So we have a great model. And then. Yeah, we always have volunteers, generally parents that step up.

[18:16] Jan: Okay, tell us about the gallery. Yeah.

[18:19] Annie: And then, yeah,

[18:20] the Ava Gallery is.

[18:23] Takes up a lot of my time and it's also super, super fulfilling. It's really versatile.

[18:32] We have a brand new.

[18:34] I don't know if it's brand new, but we move.

[18:36] Jan: We.

[18:36] Annie: We relocated to Commercial street. So we're located at 959 Commercial street now in a space that's 1600 square feet. So we moved in October from a really pretty small space that was 450 square feet to 1600 square feet.

[18:54] And it's going really great.

[18:58] So right now we have a show up that's a partnership with Rain Magazine at Glatsoe Community College.

[19:05] And generally that magazine's been going for over 25 years. I'm not quite sure how many years, but a long time.

[19:13] And they never showcase the art that's featured in the magazine. So it's a lot of student work along with, you know, right alongside professional artists.

[19:24] And so we'll see if this continues in future years. The show is called Artists and Writers Face Their Fears, which is also the theme of Rain Magazine this year.

[19:37] Jan: Okay. Yeah, yeah.

[19:39] Annie: Curated by V. Lind and she's on our board and it's been great working with her in the college and it's an outstanding show.

[19:49] Jan: It is, it is. So you have the gallery, you have the kids.

[19:55] Annie: Residencies. Residencies and then Open Studios tour also. So it's part of our artist professional development.

[20:03] This year will be the 16th annual Astoria Open Studios tour.

[20:09] Yeah. So it's always the last weekend of July. So this year it's July 25th and 26th.

[20:16] It showcases over 50 artists from this area.

[20:21] And it's amazing event, completely free, you know, family friendly,

[20:27] go around, meet new artists,

[20:30] see what their methods are, what their studio space are, what, what,

[20:34] you know,

[20:35] media,

[20:36] what they drives their creativity. Yeah,

[20:40] yeah. It's amazing. It's so fun to go on Open

[20:42] Jan: Studios and what a great place to live. Gossip county has so many creatives.

[20:49] Annie: It does.

[20:49] Jan: In all different genres, you know, and

[20:52] Annie: for Open Studios to actually go to some of these studios that they're never open,

[20:58] you know, some of them are,

[20:59] but I'd say the vast majority,

[21:02] that's just the one time a year, like to get to go to Richard Rowland's Woodfire Kiln. Yeah,

[21:08] it's amazing. It's amazing.

[21:11] That's provides that opportunity. Yeah. And there's so many great, great locations.

[21:16] Jan: Yeah, yeah. Well, we're almost out of time. What else would you like to share with us?

[21:21] Annie: Let's See,

[21:22] there's a ton of things that I should say that. Estuary Visual Arts is a member organization,

[21:29] so member dollars fuel a lot of our programming because it's all free.

[21:37] I mean, the only thing,

[21:39] there's a couple things that we charge really nominally for and we always have scholarships, so community funding is the backbone of what we do.

[21:49] And then it also helps us secure grants.

[21:53] So you can go on our website, astorvisualarts.org and go under support and sign up to be a member. We'd really appreciate it. It's an annual membership.

[22:03] It starts at $50. But whatever people want to support whatever level they want is just so welcome.

[22:13] Jan: Yeah, it all, all goes into the pot and helps just. I think just because art saves lives, right?

[22:20] Annie: It does. I, I should have that bumper sticker, but I, I give everybody a thumbs up who has that bumper sticker. Truly.

[22:30] Jan: I mean, I just. Because you get in,

[22:32] like you said, you get in a zone when you're working on something and it's just like,

[22:36] it's just the process and the looking at things and there's so much evaluative skills that happen in there. And what of kind colors am I going to use? What, what materials am I going to use?

[22:46] How does that work together, you know, oh, this didn't work. So how can I make it work? Just.

[22:51] Annie: Yeah, yeah, it's, it's so versatile and valuable.

[22:55] I think it doesn't get enough attention, it doesn't get enough funding for how impactful it can be in everyday lives and how it can solve problems. I mean, it's,

[23:08] it's just so rewarding to work in this field.

[23:12] Jan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think a lot of times maybe people just think art is,

[23:18] is just paintings, you know, whatever, without thinking about the, the deeper levels of things.

[23:24] Annie: Agreed.

[23:25] Jan: Agreed.

[23:25] Annie: For sure. Especially with kids and you know, I'm not going to talk about politics, but the,

[23:35] how it can create an outlet for stress of all,

[23:41] of all types and really fuels your creative soul.

[23:46] Yeah, it's. It's really, really empowering.

[23:50] Jan: Yeah.

[23:50] Annie: To be part of renewal.

[23:52] Jan: Yeah.

[23:53] Annie: Renewal, community building. Yep.

[23:55] Jan: Yeah, all are great. Thank you so much, Annie.

[23:59] Annie: Yeah, thanks, Jan. This is, this has been really, really positive for me, for sure.

[24:03] Jan: Good.

[24:05] Jan: That's all for today.

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