Local Artists

Current Installation

Mary Bakker

Beginning her painting career in high school, Mary is a mainly a self-taught artist. In 1999, she won the people’s choice award at the Dogwood Festival Invitational Art Exhibit with “Retirement” which was also chosen as honorable mention in the Realism Today contest in American Artist Magazine. Today she tries to paint when she can find time. Her mediums are oil, pastel, and watercolor paints.

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Leah Harvey

To create your own, choose a topic that interests you. It can be anything from fashion and beauty to travel and the news. Once you have your overall theme, you can start brainstorming the content.

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Gloria Dawson Teats

Starting you, looking at pictures and loving art, Gloria began with drawing and coloring in color books. She credits her skill to having very good art teachers along the way  in watercolor, oil painting and acrylics. She also acknowledges the roll the Valley Art Center played in making  art classes possible for her. Today she is still enjoying taking art classes as well as teaching classes and workshops. As a painter, life can’t get better!

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Ongoing Installations

Ralph Crawford and his wife

Ralph Crawford

Ralph Crawford became a local figure after moving to Lewiston from Southern California in 1960. His most famous sculpture, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. Olympia, has several copies around the world, including, Ohio, Hong Kong, and even at Mr. Schwarzenegger's house in Austria. Mr. Crawford loaned several of his Western works to the Library, even providing the buffalo pelt under his epic Buffalo Run.

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Sharon Taylor Hall

Sharon's work can be seen throughout the local community, both in her volunteer work and her works of art, the latter of which can be seen at the Historical Center, Lewiston High School and Pioneer Park.  She created our wonderful Reading Mother, as well as a few dozen miniatures of it that are available for purchase.

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John Patterson

John Patterson, retired Lewiston High teacher for over 30 years, is a self-described formalist, ‘interested in non-objective designs.’ He works in many mediums, with 2 oil paintings visible in the Community Room and 4 wood bookcases throughout the Lewiston Library. The books inside are carved by Mr. Patterson to honor 1st Edition Friend donations.

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Dan Piel (1929-2002)

Dan Piel has hauntingly beautiful portraits across America, including Mozart in Cal Poly Theatre, Lyndon Johnson at the Johnson Library, and the stunning Chief Joseph series on display here at Lewiston Library. We are thankful to the Nez Perce County Historical Society for loaning these works to us.

3 portraits of Chief Joseph as an adult

Ray Esparsen

Colorado native Ray Esparsen has taught art for almost 3 decades, and his work is a regular fixture around Lewiston today. With the title Professor Emeritus from Lewis-Clark State College, Ray has become an artist full-time, and his work can be seen around town during Art Walk. Whether dealing with surrealism, landscapes or abstraction, Rays artwork is instantly recognizable.

A Surrealist mural by Ray Esparsen (Photograph by Randy Goss)

Artists of 2023

Lynne HaagensenArtist Haagensen standing under and holding up different artworks.

Central Idaho Artists Association3 Oil paintings by

Artists of 2022

ARCADE 1UP Clarkston

Space Invaders Deluxe, Gravitar, Out Run

Sean Cassidy

A nest-like assortment of leaves and branches

Tirazheh Eslami 

Mixed media artwork

Previous Installations

Kelsey Grafton



Vicki Gertje



Patty Reid



Rachel Jameton  



Colleen Mahoney


Nancy Riggers



Seaport Quilters Guild



Bill & Jean Kleinhert