Salem's galleries open October with more than a dozen exhibitions, headlined by a Pacific Northwest craft survey at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

Exhibitions span craft, Indigenous art, plein air painting and historical photography.

Hallie Ford Museum of Art

The Willamette University museum at 700 State St. has three shows running at once.

"Handmade Revolution: Craft in the Pacific Northwest" surveys more than 60 works in ceramics, textiles, glass, wood and metal. The lineup includes Dale Chihuly, Peter Voulkos, Marie Watt and Patti Warashina, among others. The show is described as the first exhibition to feature the museum's significant holdings of both historic and contemporary craft. It runs through March 13, 2027.

"What Do We Hold? A Community Conversation" marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Willamette professors Wendy Peterson-Boring and David Gutterman led the project, which brought students, faculty and Salem community members together over three dinner gatherings to share stories inspired by phrases from the document. Artists in the show include Jacob Lawrence, Roger Shimomura, Wendy Red Star and Bud Lane. It runs through Nov. 21 in the James Nafziger Gallery.

A free public lecture by Peterson-Boring and Gutterman is set for Thursday, Oct. 15, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall.

Also on view through Nov. 21: "Drawn from the Collection," a selection of drawings from the museum's Northwest art holdings.

Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for seniors 55 and older. Children, K-12 students and college students with valid ID enter free. Tuesdays are free for everyone. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Indigenous Northwest Biennial

Curator Steph LittleBird, an enrolled member of Oregon's Grand Ronde Confederated Tribes, assembled 16 artists working in weaving, beadwork, painting, photography, assemblage and performance for the Indigenous Northwest Biennial at the Salem Art Association's A.N. Bush Gallery, 600 Mission St. SE.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 25. An artist talk with Leland Butler and Leonard Harmon is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 1 to 2 p.m.

LittleBird, best known for her exhibition "This IS Kalapuyan Land," called the biennial "an opportunity to share some of the amazing art coming out of the local Native community."

In the downstairs gallery at the same address, central Oregon oil painter Taylor Manoles shows large-scale landscapes in "And There Was Evening, and There Was Morning" through Oct. 25. Admission to both shows is free. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., according to Salem Reporter.

Art in the Governor's Office

The Art in the Governor's Office program, which began in 1975 and relaunched in 2026 after a pandemic-era pause and Capitol restoration, opens its next installation Oct. 9. Southern Oregon Coast Range painter Nancy Watterson Scharf will display acrylic paintings exploring the relationship between humans, animals and ecosystems through Dec. 31.

The Governor's Gallery is open most Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 503-986-1388 for details.

More around town

  • Shoki Tanabe, "The World According to Nouns." New and older works, including cardboard compositions, at the Roger W. Rogers Gallery in Willamette University's Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center. Through Dec. 4.
  • Daemion Lee, "Along the Willamette: Plein Air Paintings." Watercolors painted on location tracing streams from Waln Creek through the Willamette River to the Columbia. Salem on the Edge, 156 Liberty St. NE. Oct. 2 through Nov. 15. Free.
  • "Before the Water Rose: Celilo Falls, 1956." Richard Stefani's color photographs of Celilo Falls, made months before the falls were submerged, shown publicly as a unified body of work for the first time. Stefani Art Gallery, 305 Court St. NE. Through October.
  • "Textilezzz: The Fabric of Sleep." Handcrafted coverlets, Oregon Trail quilts and woolen blankets from the permanent collection. Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE. Through Dec. 31.
  • "Paint & Write the Town." A juried show combining visual art and writing by Artists in Action and Mid-Valley Poets. Gallery 444, 444 Ferry St. SE. Oct. 2 through Oct. 31.

The Salem Art Walk runs 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Friday of each month in downtown Salem.