December 16, 2024

Gold Beach holds stories. I’m Robert Matheson, a community-engaged artist, and this place will be the heart of mine.

Today I turned the key to 29814 Ellensburg Avenue—a building along the storied Pacific Coast Highway. I traveled here from Newberry, South Carolina, bringing years of community-driven artmaking and a heart ready for what’s next. Stepping into the cluttered space, I feel its presence like a canvas waiting to brush my hand.

The coastline here is a hopeful kind of healing ground. The seastacks stand tall in the waves, battered yet resilient, shaped slowly by time and changing tides. They remind me that creativity, like healing, comes from patience, presence and perseverance.

This space will hold more than my work; it will hold community. Art belongs to people, to conversations, to places like this where the land itself feels alive. I imagine sunlight flooding through the windows as we gather, create, and share stories shaped by the hands and hearts of Gold Beach. A new rhythm is beginning here—one of connection, discovery, and beauty.

I bring this message with me: Gold Beach Is An Art Town.