At a pivotal time in the Larson Gallery’s history, Delma Tayer, a retired YVC instructor and local artist, helped the gallery not only survive, but become a beacon for the visual arts in the Yakima Valley.
This fall, Tayer’s legacy as gallery director from 1977 – 1987 along with the contributions of other artists and individuals who have played a prominent role in the gallery’s history were celebrated in its 75th anniversary exhibition, “Cultivating a Love of Art.” And while nearly four decades have passed since Tayer’s tenure as gallery director, her contributions to the anniversary exhibition were essential.
Works by dozens of local artists cover the walls and nearly every surface of Tayer’s Selah home. Each documents a vast network of personal relationships between those artists, like the bright red acrylic painting “Anniversary Evening” by Dixie Parker-Fairbanks that hangs behind Tayer’s favorite recliner. When the Ellensburg-based artist and her late husband, Central Washington University art instructor Richard Fairbanks, befriended then CWU art students Delma Tayer and Carol Hassen, it’s unlikely they imagined the impact both women would later have as leaders in the local arts.
“Anniversary Evening” was one of six works Cheryl Hahn, Larson Gallery director from 2006-2012, that Liggett borrowed from Tayer’s personal collection just days prior to the opening of the exhibition.
In addition to her full-time teaching load at YVC, Tayer volunteered as the part-time director for the Gallery from 1976 until her retirement as the Dean of Arts and Sciences in 1989. Artworks chosen for the chronologically arranged exhibition help to interpret a particularly contentious time in the gallery’s 75-year history when Tayer’s leadership brought much needed stability to the gallery program.
ABOVE: From left, “The Dream of the Schulamite” by R.H. Ives Gammell and “Ghost City”
by Percy Manser, on loan from Maryhill Museum of Art; and a c. 1850 “Octopus Bag”
on loan from Yakima Valley Museum. All three were displayed in exhibitions during
Larson Gallery’s first season in 1949. TOP: On right, “Cultivando Nuestra Raza” by Daniel DeSiga, from the Larson Gallery Guild’s
Permanent Collection. BELOW: Detail of “Anniversary Evening,” by Dixie Parker-Fairbanks, on loan from Delma
Tayer.
During the 1970s, funding for arts and humanities programs at large were in the crosshairs of budget hawks and others. Like other affected educational institutions across the nation, Yakima Valley College faced declining enrollment and related budgetary crises. Memos exchanged at the time between Tayer, YVC faculty and administrators, and members of the Larson Gallery Guild document just how close the gallery program came to folding entirely. More than once, the possibility of converting the gallery into a campus print shop was proposed.
But Tayer doubled down and advocated for the gallery, fostering highly collaborative roles with other educational and humanities-focused institutions statewide. On campus, her direct communication style gradually improved relationships between the Guild, college officials and community stakeholders as broader financial outlooks improved. When Carol Hassen, the gallery’s next director, stepped into the role in 1990, she faced a different suite of challenges, albeit with one major difference. The position was now paid.
Today, the Larson Gallery continues to thrive under the guidance of an active Guild and Interim Director Freya Liggett.
After Hahn and Liggett packed the last artwork for transport to the gallery, Liggett recalls lingering in the sun on the front porch of Tayer’s home with her niece, Becky Johnson.
“A bit overcome by the gravity of the moment, I awkwardly thanked her for overseeing
the loan with Delma’s blessing,” Liggett said. “It’s a standard practice, but this
loan was special considering Delma turned 100-years-young in April. It’s entirely
possible ‘Anniversary Evening’ has occupied its prominent place above the recliner
almost as long as I’ve been alive. I knew it would be missed.”
Named for the gallery’s own vision statement, the anniversary exhibition documented the program’s development since opening on the college’s Yakima Campus in 1949. The exhibit began with a selection of showstopping pieces on loan from Maryhill Museum of Art and Yakima Valley Museum that were displayed during the gallery’s inaugural 1949-1950 season. In addition to being visually stunning, the nearly nine-foot-tall oil painting by R.H. Ives Gammell and the intricately beaded c. 1850 Yakama-made “Octopus Bag” both illustrate consequential behind-the-scenes relationships that helped launch the Larson Gallery program. The exhibition’s 61 artworks, most from the gallery’s permanent collections, represented notable players and turning points in the gallery’s history leading visitors to a final open-ended question… what’s next?
Changes in leadership was one of the most prominent themes throughout the exhibition. While directors don’t constitute the total creative or driving force behind an organization, the renewing effects following Larson Gallery’s past leadership transitions — especially following long periods — have been outsized. The vast majority have also been practicing artists. Select artworks in the exhibition represented nearly 50 years of leadership and outcomes based on Tayer’s engagement with the humanities, Hassen’s development of the permanent collections (1990-2006), Hahn’s documentation of the artistic community (2006-2012), and David Lynx’s alignment with museum best practices (2013-2023). An interactive “clothesline” based on a 1962 outdoor art show asked visitors to share what “art” means to them, and what role it can or should play in their community.
“Although not an artist myself, as a curator I can empathize with the act of putting your work out into the world,” said Liggett. “A few weeks after the anniversary exhibition opened, Tayer visited the Larson Gallery to see the exhibition with friends Becky Johnson and Mary Lou Rozdilsky. As our group moved slowly from artwork-to-artwork Tayer’s voice demonstrated clear delight with each familiar name.”
Liggett said the group paused while Rozdilsky read aloud an interpretive panel chronicling Tayer’s era.
“Between the artist and the curator, I’m not sure which of us was more on edge,” Liggett said. “It was one of those rare ‘ah-ha’ moments that reminds me, ‘oh, right. This is why I do this kind of work’.”
When the show came down in late October Liggett was back at Tayer’s house to put Parker-Fairbanks’ painting back where it belongs. The other loans were also returned to their respective owners, and the artworks from the permanent collection were reinstalled in various locations across YVC’s campuses.
TOP RIGHT: Larson Gallery’s archival scrapbooks detail 75 years of Yakima’s developing
visual arts community. Mary Lou Rozdilsky, retired dean of arts and sciences from
Yakima Valley College (2006) and Yakima & Selah Neighbors’ Network Board Member; Becky
Johnson, Yakima & Selah Neighbors’ Network Board President; and Delma Tayer, retired
Larson Gallery Director (1976-1989) and Yakima & Selah Neighbors’ Network co-founder.
ABOVE: The exhibit’s entry and title wall. On left, “Art” neon sign created by Richard Elliott
for the Larson Gallery c.1990. “The Dream of the Schulamite,” by R.H. Ives Gammell
on loan from Maryhill Museum of Art.
Larson Gallery’s 75th anniversary exhibition was on view September 14 – October 26, 2024.
Story by Stefanie Menard, AA-DTA ’05, communications consultant. Photos and story support by Freya Liggett.