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Aberdeen Art Center turns 10

Published 1:30 am Friday, May 15, 2026

Douglas Orr
A Dia De Los Murtos event showcases the Aberdeen Art Center.
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Douglas Orr

A Dia De Los Murtos event showcases the Aberdeen Art Center.

Douglas Orr
A Dia De Los Murtos event showcases the Aberdeen Art Center.
Aberdeen Art Center
The Salmon Berries ukulele band performs at the Aberdeen Art Center.
Douglas Orr
The Aberdeen Art Center contributed to the Aberdeen Rain Glow Festival.
Douglas Orr
Pollinator’s Park sits outside the doors of the Aberdeen Art Center.
Aberdeen Art Center
David Rodriguez (standing) and Aberdeen Mayor Douglas Orr are the owners and operators of the Aberdeen Art Center.

The Aberdeen Art Center will celebrate its 10th anniversary on June 5.

The center began with a small 700-square-foot art space near the alley — Alder Grove Gallery — and has grown into its current 21,000-square-foot gallery and the current main anchor for the Aberdeen Art Center.

The gallery features art created by over 160 local Grays Harbor County artists, ranging in all mediums of art, including acrylic, oils, and watercolors, to glass, pottery, and mixed-media art, and unique gift items.

Not only does the Art Center house its main tenant Alder Grove Gallery, but it is also home to Mother Crow’s Gallery and Studio, a small rentable individual artist exhibit space, Friends of the Aberdeen Museum of History/History 98520, the Salmon Berries ukulele band, Our Aberdeen, the United Finnish Kaleva Brothers & Sisters Lodge #9 and the Harbor Arts Guild.

The Aberdeen Art Center also serves as a live music venue for local musicians on one of the last remaining stages on the Harbor which hosted Kurt Cobain and his band before moving on to the big time. This year the center hosted an eight-week “Young Song Writers Workshop” put on by The Bridge Music Project.

The Aberdeen Art Center is also home to its monthly First-Friday Art Walk receptions, which have been successful in drawing residents, and visitors from throughout Western

Washington, out of their homes and into the downtown. June 5 will be the center’s 120th consecutive Art Walk which usually draws a crowd. Many times, visitors heading to other beach destinations return to the art center for our Art Walk receptions. The center is listed on Google, Facebook and Trip Advisor as one of the main things for visitors to see while visiting Aberdeen .Their guests are often international visitors from all over the world.

The art center also offers a conference-meeting room and an 18-seat classroom, a multi-use space, which has hosted several events, including vendor display and artist demonstrations, book signings, public lectures and meet-and-greet events for high-profile politicians, and school events.

Also of note is that the Aberdeen Art Center contributed to several public art projects and events, including the Aberdeen Rain Glow Festival, the Pollinator’s pocket-park and mosaic garden in front of the Aberdeen Senior Center, Artist’s Avenue graffiti alley, and many murals throughout downtown Aberdeen.

For further information on shows and events at the center, please visit AberdeenArtCenter.com or visit them on Facebook, Google things to do in Aberdeen, or Trip Advisor.

Their June 5 party will include a street dance on K Street and artist vendor tents from 5 to 9 p.m.