Because landscapes have been painted since pigment first hit surface, it’s become one of the most varied themes in art.

To showcase how sights and scenes can fluctuate form and feeling, the Jefferson County Museum of Art & History is starting off its 2023 season with “Landscapes: Real & Imagined” on display from March 2 through Aug. 6.

From the abstract to the realistic, the show focuses on Joan Jonland, Stephen Yates, and the late Tom Wilson, three painters who have lived and worked in Port Townsend for the majority of their lives as artists.

The work selected offers viewers a chance to explore what’s possible with place.

“That’s a traditional subject for artists, so we wanted to honor that tradition but also recognize that from each different artist’s perspective they see things in their own way,” said Cliff Moore, one of the co-curators for the show alongside Ann Welch.

Locals might notice a familiar landscape in Tom Wilson’s “Chinese Gardens.”

WHERE IS THAT?

He admits not all the sceneries on display might be recognizable.

“That’s part of our job as the Art & Historical Society, to challenge and to educate and to bring something that’s at once very familiar but also something that may cause people to go: ‘Wait a minute. How is that a landscape?’”

Several of the scenes are beloved by many; a few unknown to all but the artist.

“Some of it’s inspired by the local landscape, some of it’s inspired by the complete imagination of the artist,” Moore said.

Yates’ work lands on the most abstract end of the spectrum on display while Jonland’s pieces more closely represent the real.

“It is kind of a transition,” Moore said. “As I was selecting the work, that’s one of the things that I thought about, from the pretty realistic to the very abstract. And Tom’s kind of in the middle.”

Instead of separating each artist into their own section of the museum, they’ve chosen to mingle the work.

“Articulating the different style and approach of the artist is something we’ve considered in the hanging of it,” Moore said.

“You get the same sensibility from the color, the emotion that the pieces evoke,” he added.

One reason the colors of certain selections work so well is that they’re different interpretations of the same location.

The curators also chose to add pieces from the museum’s permanent collection to show scenes which at times overlap in point of view with the artists.

While in the process of hanging, Welch took a moment to highlight one of these with a painting of Wilson’s.

“They’re the same view looking down towards Kah Tai,” Welch said. “Same view, two different artists, and a landscape that’s now disappeared.”

“But two different ways of seeing it,” Moore added.

The size of work varies almost as much as style, which kept the curators working hard at what goes where.

Jonland’s pieces can seem at times dwarfed alongside the sprawls of Yates. Yates, however, also has perhaps the smallest paintings in the show, which are juxtaposed with Wilson’s largest art in the exhibit, his rendition of the Chinese Gardens.

Joan Jonland’s “Tide Pool Visitor” waits to be hung.

WHY THEY’RE HERE

Wilson passed away in 2015, but his memory and impact live on not only in the work on display but in the lives of many local residents.

“He set me on my career as an artist at age 11 when he painted my portrait,” Welch said.

And she’s not alone in having her childhood eternalized by Wilson.

“He’s well-collected and thought of in town,” Moore said.

The other artists in the show continue to make their presence known locally.

“We’ve known Joan and Steven as artists working in the community for some time,” Moore said.

All of these painters’ perspectives on expanses are meant to expand the viewers’ perspective.

“Hopefully it will allow them to think in a new way,” Moore said.

While the natural beauty of the Olympic Peninsula, captured in many of the paintings, is what draws diverse visitors to the area, the curators hope to offer something equally striking.

“We like to think that coming to the museum is a must-stop for visitors and we want to make sure folks from out of town — or from anywhere here in town — that something really important is here for them to see,” Moore said.

The very nature of the museum creates a different experience.

“It’s the place to see art in Port Townsend because we’re not about sales, so we can go more in depth,” Welch said. “Our shows stay up for at least four months so people have the time to see it once or come back again.”

Beyond simply enjoying the work on display, there will even be a chance to invent new vistas.

“Some of the staff from the museum are going to bring together different kinds of materials — paper and found objects — and there will be a table here and children will be able to create their own landscape; hopefully stimulated by what they see here, but also using their own imagination,” Moore said.

There will be free admission all day at the museum Saturday, March 4 and an artists’ reception will be held that night from 5 to 7 p.m. with Jonland and Yates in attendance to casually discuss their work.