Rae Campbell has opened a kiln thousands of times since 1999, and the thrill hasn't faded.

"It still feels like Christmas morning every time I open the kiln and see the finished fused pieces," Campbell wrote in her artist statement posted July 23 on the Village Gallery of Arts website.

Campbell's exhibit, "Through the Years," is the gallery's newest featured three-dimensional collection at the Cedar Mill nonprofit, 1060 NW Saltzman Road.

The show traces her fused-glass experimentation from silk-screened powder designs to frit painting (using crushed glass granules as pigment) to intricate stringer arrangements cut, fired, and reassembled into layered compositions.

Campbell also teaches fused-glass classes at the gallery. She said her students often call their first finished piece a "Masterpiece."

Two other artists round out the gallery's latest featured lineup. Amy Mower, a multimedia artist and VGA instructor, presents "Colorful World, Tissue Paper Collage." Mower first picked up the tissue-collage technique while leading a children's art lesson at a senior living facility where she worked, then developed it into a fine-art practice.

She said she learned early that once white is gone, there's no retrieving it, a constraint that forces deliberate color choices with every layer.

Painter Vicki Szukalla contributes "Contemplativa," a 24-by-24-inch impressionistic neon acrylic piece inspired by a photo of a friend enjoying a sunlit bay in Italy.

The painting marks a departure from Szukalla's usual work in oils.

Visitors can view the exhibits during gallery hours; contact the gallery at (503) 644-8001 or villagegalleryarts.org for show dates.

Volunteer artists needed for Open Studios

The gallery is also recruiting 12 volunteer artists to demonstrate their craft during Washington County Open Studios on Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, 2026.

Shifts run 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 5 p.m. each day, with three artists per slot. Teaching experience is not required, according to the gallery's announcement, and volunteer hours count toward annual VGA membership requirements.

Volunteers can bring a project in progress or demonstrate a technique for visitors to try.

To sign up, contact Chris Kondrat at (503) 880-7832 or Amy Mower at (503) 821-9655.

  • Washington County Open Studios: Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., 1060 NW Saltzman Road, Cedar Mill
  • ArtChat and Refreshments: Second Sunday of each month, 3–5 p.m., free and open to the public
  • Gallery hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Village Gallery of Arts is a nonprofit staffed entirely by member volunteers and receives no taxpayer funding.