Valley artists have a new location to showcase their work at this year’s Festival at Mount Si. The North Bend Visitor’s center will be the spot for people to check out local art.

Jill Massengill, chairperson of the Festival at Mount Si, said the art show was moved from its previous location at Si View Park to the visitor’s center due to security concerns for the art being displayed.

“Part of the problem is that they have they have to drop off their art and pick it up to make it safe,” Massengill said. This year, “they can keep it safe in a locked building. We don’t have that at the park and we are hoping that moving it to the visitor’s center would make it accessible for more artists to participate.”

Camille Bodey, one of the artists participating this year, said the show is still open to more artists who want to display their work; it already has a variety of artistic media being presented.

“So far we have acrylics and handmade pottery… a person who makes jewelry, paints on wood and a water colorist,” Bodey said. “This particular show will be our first time out on the patio. All of us have done many shows in different areas. Most of us belong to ArtEast, we have displayed with them when they had their art shows.”

Bodey finds art has helped stimulate her brain, has acted as a way to express herself and given her a chance to learn something new.

“We paint because we must, it’s just something in our makeup that we’ve had a long interest in art, its a way of expression, it beats depression and it gives me a chance to learn something new,” she said.”It gives me great satisfaction to grow in a skill and see different things in nature.”

Audrey Zeder, an art teacher at the Mount Si Senior Center, will also display and sell prints of her paintings at the show. Zeder paints North Bend and the Valley as a whole and looks for the unique elements of the environment to capture in her paintings. She is eager to display her work and speak with others about their work as well.

“I’m retired and I don’t need to have art as a career. I love painting, talking to people about what they are doing in their art, what they liked about what I did,” Zeder said. “I really feel that every person can paint and get satisfaction out of it. That’s all that counts, that nice feeling you get out of creating something. I like the fellowship of being with the other artists too, that’s fun.”