Inspired by the vibrant sights and sounds he experienced during a recent trip to Cuba, painter Claude Manning has brought the island nation to life on canvas.

“It is a very colorful culture,” said Manning, a retired physician. “Their art is brilliant.”

That scenery marries well with Manning’s medium of choice; oil paint.

“I love the vibrancy, the color, of oils,” he said. “I have tried other media. Acrylics are trickier because the color changes as they dry. I have tried pastels, and boy are they messy.”

A collections of Manning’s works, along with photos by Scott Pascoe, currently are being featured in Art in Gathering Places, a rotating show of Jefferson County artists at Fort Worden.

Inspired by the State Arts Commission’s Art in Public Places program, Art in Gathering Places began exhibiting regional, emerging artists in May 2016, according to Megan Claflin, Fort Worden public relations manager, and exhibit curator.

The program started with exhibits in Taps at the Guardhouse, a former military jail turned pub, and has since expanded to include Reveille at the Commons, a café by day and fine dining restaurant by night.

To date, more than 15 artists have participated in the program. All participants are residents of Jefferson County.

Exhibits are rotated on a seasonal basis with installations on display for about 90 days at a time.

“A buzz begins to build as we walk a new artist through a venue, a hum of anticipation for what’s to come,” Claflin said. “And each time a new show opens, guests and staff alike are heard discussing the art, sharing their reactions, asking questions and that couldn’t make us happier.”

Art in Gathering Places benefits from partnerships with the Port Townsend School of the Arts, Centrum and Northwind Arts Center, Claflin said.

Many of the current and previously-exhibited artists teach or participate in these organizations’ programs.

“Having the option to invite a guest to take a class or hear a lecture from the very artist on display is the beauty of the lifelong learning community developing at Fort Worden, and throughout the Quimper Peninsula communities,” Claflin said.

Abstract photography

Pascoe’s photographs experiment with layering, color and texture and the process of aging, restoration and renewal found on boat yard hulls, wall graffiti and natural forms shaped by water, he said.

“In these non-objective photographs, I initially focus on composition, colors and texture, either electing to strip away context or simplify in an abstract manner. They are intentionally abstract because I prefer having somebody extract what they want out of viewing them,” Pascoe said.

The majority of photographs on display explore the underlying wood as it is exposed, Pascoe said.

“These are all photographs of what was there and what I saw, so I have to pre-visualize in terms of composition, where the color and texture is.”

These photographs are a representative sampling of over two and a half years spent exploring the boat yard, Pascoe said.

“My idea is to add a layer of understanding that provides a foundation for the whole series.”