The Rumriver Art Gallery was initiated to support and show local artists’ work. One issue many artists experience is where to show their work as gallery space can be limited, especially to those who are just starting. Our mission with the gallery is to support and show the artwork of local artists. The shows are changed every month, providing many opportunities throughout the year for artists to display their work. The Art Gallery brings the community together and creates a greater appreciation for art. Selected artwork may be available for sale.
Being that we are located in a very old building, there are no elevators or escalators. The only way into the 21 Step Gallery is to climb up 18 stairs. We are currently exploring options and funding to make this gallery more accessible for everyone.
If you’ve ever counted the stairs on your way up to visit the 21 Step Gallery, you may have tilted your head in confusion as your count abruptly stopped at 18 steps.
Legend has it that Rumriver Art Center Director Larry Weinberg was CERTAIN there were 21 steps. RRAC Co-founder Susan Yee suggested it was 18.
Susan was correct.
But being the fun, quirky Art Center RRAC is, Larry’s certainty was honored with the title: 21 Step Gallery.
Larry suggests that it remained the 21 Step Gallery to honor Susan’s birthday, which falls on the ’21st,’ and that 21 is a popular and memorable number.
Upcoming Shows
- Deborah Ann Kirkeeide – Captured By Color: September 13, 2025 – October 11, 2025
- Bonnie Klatt – The Sacred Patterns in Nature: October 18, 2025 – November 8, 2025
- Holiday Show and Shop: November 15, 2025 – December 20, 2025
Gallery Hours
Fall Hours (9/29 – 12/20)
Mondays and Tuesdays: 10am – 7pm
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays: 10am – 3pm
Saturdays 10/4, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29, 12/6, 12/13, 12/20: 10am – 3pm
Current Gallery Show: Captured By Color
The 21 Step Gallery of Rumriver Art Center is excited to announce the opening of a new art exhibition: Captured By Color by Deborah Ann Kirkeeide. On Saturday, September 13th from 2 pm – 4 pm the 21 Step Gallery will be hosting an opening reception for Kirkeeide’s show. On September 20th from 11 am until noon she will be providing an artist demo on color mixing with acrylic paint. Individuals are also invited to meet the artist on Tuesday, September 23rd from 10 am – 12 pm. All events are open to the public and free to attend.
Captured By Color is a display of Deborah’s vibrant smaller acrylic paintings that are visions and stories that seem to be simple and ordinary yet explore the beauty of moments caught in time which can be playful or stir memories. Her brush captures the subject’s beauty through expressive brush work, lush color and captured light. Included are recent abstracts, though a different vision, are a new challenging direction engaging the imagination. The goal to discover beauty remains the same. Imagination, texture, color and form are the building blocks of her abstracts allowing for freedom to wander and discover a different reality.
For Visual Artist Deborah Ann Kirkeeide, creating has never been an option but an integral part of who she is. At a young age Deb was crafting, constructing and sewing imaginative things. High school was an introduction to drawing and illustration which led to a continuation in art education and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Arizona University. Love of color and intrigued with the discovery of texture and brush work, painting became a natural channel for her passion. Oil, her first love, was replaced by acrylics due to issues with materials and offered exciting new discoveries. Acrylics continue to provide Deb with an endless journey of possibilities exploring both representational imagery and abstractions.
The exhibition will open on September 13th and run until October 11th, 2025.
Next Gallery Show: The Sacred Patterns in Nature
The 21 Step Gallery of Rumriver Art Center is excited to announce the opening of a new art exhibition. The Sacred Patterns in Nature, by artist Bonnie Sue Klatt, will open October 18th and run until November 8th, 2025. She is a spiritual artist, weaver, storyteller, and geometer who is captivated by the sacred geometric patterns of Nature and their spiritual value, meaning, and healing qualities. On October 18th, from 2 pm – 4 pm, the 21 Step Gallery will be hosting an opening reception for Klatt’s show. On October 23rd from 2 – 3 pm she will be providing an artist talk in tandem with a demonstration on her process of creating geometric designs. Individuals are also invited to meet the artist on October 29th between 11 am and 1 pm. All events are free to attend and open to the public.
Bonnie Sue Klatt has been weaving for the past 30+ years, and studied with Master Weavers, Mary Snyder and Ruth Holroyd. For 11 years she had her own weaving business, specializing in commissions for ecclesiastical works for spiritual and religious institutions. Her tapestries have been included in multi-year traveling exhibits along the Pacific Northwest. An additional tapestry is part of the permanent collection, “Fate, Destiny, and Self-Determination: An International Tapestry Project” that has traveled throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and was most recently exhibited in Portugal. This traveling permanent collection recently celebrated its 10th anniversary of existence.
The Sacred Patterns in Nature is the visual story of her journey with the sacred geometric patterns found in Nature and their Divine connection through photography, drawings, words, embroidery, and woven tapestry. These simple geometric shapes that are found all throughout Nature are the same shapes that are found within our own bodies which are the divine patterns from the Creator. Incorporating these shapes into her creative works, along with intentional healing energies, allows these healing energies to radiate out from the work and into the viewer. As a spiritual artist, Klatt no longer creates art for her own expression, but rather in service to the Divine Creator and for the healing of humanity.
Past Shows
- Surelle Schewe – The Stories She Tells: Saturday, September 10, 2022 – Saturday, October 1, 2022
- Call for Entry – World of Anime: Saturday, October 8, 2022 – Saturday, October 29, 2022
- Paul Hanson – Portraits in Watercolor: Saturday, November 5, 2022 – Saturday, December 17, 2022
- Sanjukta Mitra – Spiritus: Saturday, January 7, 2023 – Saturday, January 28, 2023
- Danniella Mortezaee – Love Always: Saturday, February 4, 2023 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
- Val Coopet – Faces and Places: Saturday, March 4, 2023 – Saturday, March 25, 2023
- Montana Becker – Prone to Wander: Saturday, April 1, 2023 – Saturday, April 22, 2023
- Kenya Latourneau – Kenya Letourneau’s Kreations!: Saturday, June 3, 2023 – Saturday, July 29, 2023
- Juanita Tatum – Exploring Emotions Through Faces: Saturday, August 5, 2023 – Saturday, September 30, 2023
- Britt Maki – Don’t Be Hasty: Saturday, October 7, 2023 – Saturday, November 4, 2023
- Holiday Show and Shop: Saturday, November 18, 2023 – Saturday, December 30, 2023
- Margarita Stantchevski – Beauty and More: Saturday, February 10, 2024 – Saturday, March 9, 2024
- Joel Springer – Finding My Voice: Saturday, March 16, 2024 – Saturday, April 13, 2024
- Lynelle Kocher – Bits and Places: Saturday, April 20, 2024 – Saturday, May 11, 2024
- MaryLeah Marshall – Themes from Nature: A Collection: Saturday, May 18, 2024 – Saturday, June 8, 2024
- Rachel Coyne – Rock and Rollerskate: Saturday, June 15, 2024 – Wednesday, July 3, 2024
- Jerry Jorgenrud – Spiritus: Saturday, July 13, 2024 – Saturday, August 3, 2024
- Sandy Adler – Celebrate Creation: August 10, 2024 – September 7, 2024
- Carol Collins – Wonderful World of Fur and Feathers: September 14, 2024 – October 5, 2024
- Emma Ahart – Visceral: October 12, 2024 – November 9, 2024
- Holiday Show and Shop: November 16, 2024 – December 21, 2024
- Laura Hanson – Forced Witness: January 4, 2025 – February 1, 2025
- Angie Renee – Inked, Ripped, Glued: The Processing of Creating Light Within the Dark: February 15, 2025 – March 1, 2025
- Jena Rivard – It’s Made From WHAT???: March 8, 2025 – March 29, 2025
- Art Jacobs – Pastel Images – Landscapes and Still Lifes: April 5, 2025 – May 3, 2025
- Erik Jon Olson – The medium IS the message: May 10, 2025 – May 31, 2025
- Lucy Sinkkonen – Calling and Renewal: June 7, 2025 – July 5, 2025
- Eric Zuccola – Preposterous Portraits: July 12, 2025 – Aug 2, 2025
- Jill Whitney – Making Waves: August 9, 2025 – September 6, 2025