The OSU “Art About Agriculture” show, including this oil painting by Doug Cooke, opens July 3 at Pendleton Center for the Arts. (Oregon State University/Contributed Art)

PENDLETON — Four Eastern Oregon artists will have pieces in a touring exhibition coming to Pendleton Center for the Arts starting in early July.

The exhibit, “Art About Agriculture,” was established in 1983 at Oregon State University as an arts competition and tour exhibit. The show will be displayed at the Pendleton Center for the Arts July 3 through Aug. 16. The center is hosting an opening reception on Friday, July 3, from 5:30-7 p.m.

The four artists from Eastern Oregon are Tiffanie Andrews, of Adams; Judith Burger, of Pendleton; Marie Pratuch, of Pendleton; and Andrea Stone, of Baker City.

Roberta Lavadour, the center’s executive director, said she’s excited to host the exhibit, the first time it’s been to the center in more than 20 years.

“It’s going to be a really great show,” she said. “There is a real diversity of mediums, a lot of different viewpoints and takes on agriculture.”

This year, 57 artists will have pieces touring Oregon. They were chosen by a blind jury, meaning the artist’s name was removed from the review materials. The exhibit features both professional and emerging artists from the Pacific Northwest. Of the selected artists, nine are students from OSU and the touring educational institutions, with each receiving a scholarship or honorarium to help offset the cost of participating in the competition.

Select pieces from the 57 are purchased and added to the university’s permanent art collection. According to Nika Blasser, a Blue Mountain Community College art professor and juror with the competition, the purchases totaled around $11,000.

Blasser said the jury considered hundreds of “fantastic” submissions for the exhibit. In the end, she said, they wanted to show “a wide range of the different kinds of agriculture,” such as fishing, forestry and wheat. Additionally, she said, the art feels easy to interact with.

“I think this is a really accessible show. The artistry is beautiful, and the meanings and stories behind the works are mostly there for the picking,” Blasser said. “I think the show brings together a beautiful cross-section of industry and artistry and seeing how those things combine is meaningful.”

Lavadour and Blasser both said they hope more artists from the area are inspired and encouraged to submit pieces in future years.

“We don’t exist in a void,” Blasser said. “Artwork informs agriculture and agriculture informs artwork. A show like this highlights the overlap of different fields, so I think there will be something for everyone.”