‘Wild Landscape: Minam’ opens Aug. 1 in Joseph

Published 3:00 pm Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Josephy Center celebrates beauty of Minam Canyon

JOSEPH — Every year, the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture celebrates Wallowa County’s natural beauty through a Wild Landscape exhibit. This year, the focus is Minam.

The opening of ”Wild Landscape: Minam” is Friday, Aug. 1, from 7–9 p.m. at the center, at 403 N. Main St. in Joseph. The exhibit will be on display through Sept. 13.

Live music will be provided by Janis Carper.

This exhibit is made possible by the support of Ann Werner.

Curated by local artist Nicole Freshley, the exhibit celebrates “the raw, untamed beauty of the Minam — the wild canyons, sweeping meadows, dense forests and dramatic skies that define this remarkable landscape,” according to a press release.

The center started a Wild Landscape exhibit in 2015, said Dionne Vali, program coordinator.

“It has featured various locations including the Zumwalt Prairie, Lostine River, Imnaha, the Northeast Oregon area and this year, Minam,” she said.

Kolle Kahle Riggs created hand-drawn maps to delineate eligible areas for this exhibit — to see the maps, visit josephy.org/event/wild-landscape-minam.

Freshly accepted 49 works from 25 artists, ranging from a variety of paintings (oil, acrylic, watercolors), photography, prints and one wooden cross-section sculpture of the Minam by a youth artist, Vali said.

Nicole Freshley

Freshley is a self-taught painter based in Enterprise. Using watercolor or oils, she attempts to convey the expansiveness, calm and beauty present in the landscapes of the West. She paints the mountains, prairie and canyons of Eastern Oregon, and the Washington coast where she spent much of her youth.

She often takes a small watercolor kit while backpacking and backcountry skiing (or a portable oils setup while in cow camp) to make plein air studies.

Freshley spent two years living along the Minam River while working at the Minam River Lodge, a remote inholding in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, where she grew vegetables for the lodge restaurant.