A view of the Minam country is part of the exhibit, "Wild Landscape: Minam," which runs Aug. 1 to Sept. 13, 2025, at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture in Joseph. (Wallowa County Chieftain, File)

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 on Minam.

The opening of “Wild Landscape: Minam” is Aug. 1, 7–9  p.m. at the center, 403 Main St. in Joseph. The entire exhibit runs through Sept. 13.

Enterprise-based artist Nicole Freshley curated the exhibit, which celebrates the raw, untamed beauty of the Minam — the wild canyons, sweeping meadows, dense forests and dramatic skies that define this remarkable landscape.

Freshley is a self-taught painter who uses watercolorls or oils to convey the expansiveness, calm and beauty present in the landscapes of the West. She paints places she has a personal connection to: 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 that work in tandem with her reference photographs to inform finished studio pieces.

Her work balances intricate geographical detail with open space and rich blocks of color. 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.

The exhibit showcases how artists interpret and honor the spirit of Minam through painting, photography and more.

Live music by Janis Carper will be a part of the experience that includes meeting the artists who have works on display.

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