CATHLAMET – On Saturday, Nov. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Julia Butler Hansen Heritage Center will open for an art show with reproductions of Maude Butler’s art available for the first time to the public. Orders will be taken with delivery guaranteed by Christmas.

Mother of Congresswoman Julia Butler Hansen, Maude Butler was an accomplished and prolific watercolor artist.

Born in 1880, she painted hundreds of paintings of the early years on the Lower Columbia River, many from memory, both from sketches she had made as a child and from photographs. The Julia Butler Hansen Heritage Center, owned by the Wahkiakum Community Foundation in SW Washington, is proud to present the first showing of her art in her hometown of Cathlamet. Over 200 paintings will be displayed for the public at the Hansen Heritage Center on Main Street, next door to the Courthouse.

Maude’s style, developed over 60 years, is as impressive today as it was in her lifetime. Not usually sold, they were given to friends, stored in her home, and some were framed for her daughter’s office in Washington, D.C. as a collection to show visitors.

For the first time ever, a large collection of her paintings will be available to the public for viewing. Restored reproductions of her paintings will be sold, or can be ordered, at the Art Show as well. Digicraft, in Portland, has developed a method of restoring and reproducing high quality prints of the paintings on acid-free paper using acid-free inks. There will be a limited number of reproduction prints made.

For more information on the Maude K. Butler Art Show, contact Karen Bertroch, Foundation Director, at (360) 795-8805.