LA GRANDE — Watercolorist Robin Coen and poet Marina Richie are featured in the traveling exhibit “Refugia of the Blue Mountains,” which held an open house on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at The Press Room, 1124 Washington Ave.

The 22-piece exhibit, which Coen spent three years painting, made its debut exhibit May 2024 at The World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho, where it stayed until mid-summer.

Now it has arrived at The Press Room in La Grande, where it will remain through December. It is also scheduled to be exhibited at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center in Baker City in May 2025 and at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture in Joseph next summer.

The coordinator and hostess for this wine and cheese event is Megan Keating. Admittance is free, and the public is invited. A variety of beverages will be available for sale at the barista bar in The Press Room.

“Refugia of the Blue Mountains” features Coen’s detailed watercolor images of landscapes and wildlife and Richie’s creative prose and insight into biology. Richie describes the journey of the salmon, the life of a river otter, and the majesty of bighorn sheep as they pasture securely on slopes transversed by few.

“This is refugia,” Richie wrote. “Home, shelter, headwaters, places still big, wild and connected for birds, animals and native plants to cling to life and so move to cooler realms as our climate heats up.”

Alongside Richie’s thoughtful prose hangs a corresponding painting by Coen.They pair images of watercolors and imagery with words.

“I am honored to be working with award-winning author Marina Richie, who amplifies our message of compassion and solidarity with the natural world,” Coen said. “Together, we hope to inspire others to join us in preserving refugia — the wild heart of the Blue Mountains.”

Coen’s landscape scenes depict in realism a view of vast wildlands where plants and wildlife find shelter or refugia during an era of climate change.

“Robin’s painting remind me of why I write prose and poetry,” Richie said. “I strive to connect people to the natural world, to be curious, to find the peace of wild things, and to speak up for all who converse in the languages of kingfisher, beaver, pika, marten, wolverine, salmon and hummingbird.”

Original art, prints and gift cards from the exhibit will be available for sale. All proceeds will be donated to the Greater Hells Canyon Council to support their work to conserve places in the Blue Mountain region.

The “Refugia of the Blue Mountains” exhibit is the founding event of an artist-in-residence program called “Wild Blues Artist in Residence” sponsored by Greater Hells Canyon Council of Northeast Oregon, Coen said. The purpose of the program is to explore the intersection between creative thought and environmental conservation in the Blue Mountains region of Eastern Oregon.