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Find Your Inspiration

The Artist in Residence program hosts an artist at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area (YHONA) on the Central Oregon coast. The Artist in Residence program provides both artistic and educational opportunities to promote a deeper understanding of the natural, historical and cultural resources located at YHONA. It also serves to foster dialogue around a public land conservation ethic, the impacts of that on the local community, and to promote the Oregon coast as a destination for artists and those who love art.

Friends of Yaquina Lighthouses (FOYL) works to foster love and support for public lands. The Friends’ group raises funds through a variety of means to support their mission of “conservation through preservation, education and appreciation.” Along with their partners, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts (OCCA), FOYL will award the selected artist the opportunity to work in and around Newport, Oregon while serving as an ambassador for YHONA and the artistic community. Work completed during the residency should be/ of inspired by resources found within YHONA.  Depending on schedule and discipline, the artist may be provided an exhibit space at the Newport Visual Art Center or the Newport Performing Art Center.

Learn more information about the YHONA Artist in Residence program here.

Our 2025 Artist-in-Residence is Carol Shenk.  Congratulations Carol!

Carol Shenk is an artist living in Newport. Her mixed media works and textile assemblages have recently been exhibited at the Newport Visual Arts Center, the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center, and OSU’s Giustina Gallery in Corvallis, and she was one of ten local artists invited to paint murals along the stairway behind the VAC.  She also works as an illustrator and has led multiple workshops and taught courses in drawing and other media with both children and adults.  

Carol currently serves as president of the Coastal Arts Guild, and she is a member of the Newport Public Arts Advisory Committee. She regularly volunteers with the Newport Visual Arts Center and spent significant time volunteering with the Guin Library, OSU’s Marine Science Library on the Hatfield campus, as well as with the Lincoln County Historical Society.  For LCHS, Carol created an installation of a hand-crafted “kelp” forest for the mezzanine of the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center, and for the past three years she has produced animated videos featuring historical photos, projected at night out the museum window to be seen from the street below.

Before moving to Newport in 2019, Carol worked in Seattle for 25 years as an archivist and records and information manager for city and county governments.  As King County Archivist, where she managed a 20,000 cubic foot collection dating from 1853 to contemporary times, among many other responsibilities, Carol developed physical and digital exhibits highlighting historical documents, photos, maps, video, and film.  Carol earned her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Oregon and her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Washington.

Rena Ekmanis, 2024 YHONA Artist in Residence

Darryl Baird, 2023 YHONA Artist in Residence

Darryl Baird, 2023 YHONA AiR

Darryl Baird photo

Darryl Baird photo

Emy Syrop, 2022 YHONA Artist in Residence 

A note from Emy:

Emy Syrop, 2022 YHONA AiR

“I was born in California and studied biology and studio art at the University of California, San Diego. I obtained a Master’s Degree in Biology and worked in marine biology research labs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography for 9 years. After travelling up the coast several times and falling in love with Newport, my partner Jeff and I decided to make this beautiful place our home. Since then, I’ve worked at Oregon State University, became a yoga instructor and we are raising our two children, Eila (3) and Lea (1) here. We love participating in the myriad of community art opportunities available through Oregon Coast Council of the Arts and Yaquina Arts Association. Whether we are surfing, tidepooling, or doing plein air painting, you can find our family playing on the beach year round!”  

Emy’s art is informed and inspired by her background as a marine biologist and her love of the Pacific coast. She enjoys creating art while immersed in nature. She most frequently uses gouache but also works in acrylic, watercolor, colored pencils, and graphite–depending on the piece.