Philomath Open Studios Tour 2026: Find the Right Day to Go
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
The 21st annual Philomath Open Studios Tour runs two weekends this month, Oct. 17–18 and Oct. 24–25, from noon to 5 p.m. each day. This year it has 27 artists at nine locations. Last October the tour had 36 artists at 13 locations. With four fewer stops, a single afternoon can now cover most of the route. The four days offer different things, though, because the scheduled demonstrations on Main Street change every day. Picking your day is now the main planning decision.
The tour is free and self-guided. You can start at any studio and follow the yellow tour signs. According to Philomath News, the idea dates to 2003, when artist Carolee Clark brought it home after taking part in a Yamhill County art tour. The Corvallis Advocate adds that Clark, Signe Davis and Donna Beverly took the idea to Suzanne Cutsforth and Suzanne Byram at Wild Rose Gallery, who backed it. No tour was held in 2020 or 2021, which is why the count reached 20 only last year.
In 2025, a 13-location tour forced a choice between depth and coverage. Nine stops change that. A full loop is realistic in a day, and most of the planning comes down to the clock.
On the 2026 booklet map, the stops fall into three rough groups. The map notes that it is not to scale and points visitors to a Google Map for real distances.
In town, on or near Main Street
North end of the map, near Walnut Blvd and NW Harrison
South of town, toward Bellfountain Road
Grange Hall Road alone has six artists, which makes #6 the biggest stop on the tour. Peterson, Decker and Neuman roads sit farther out, near the map's labels for Llewellyn Road and Beaver Creek.
The two in-town galleries have demonstrations on a fixed daily schedule. Each of the four tour days has its own lineup, posted on the tour's shows and demos page.
| Day | Green Heron Gallery, #3, 1–2 p.m. | Maxtivity, #4, 1–3 p.m. | Green Heron Gallery, #3, 4–5 p.m. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Jean Lawrence, silk painting | Charlotte Montgomery, Kinusaiga | Vicki Wilson, figure in clay |
| Sun., Oct. 18 | Mag Ival, Nerikomi colored clay | Sarah Lench, gel plate monoprints | Vicki Wilson, figure in clay |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Jennifer Deily, oil painting | Mixed media collage with Teen Art Collective members and mentors | Vicki Wilson, figure in clay |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Sandy Wilson, decoupage | Artist Trading Card Swap | Vicki Wilson, figure in clay |
Only Vicki Wilson's figure-in-clay session, from 4 to 5 p.m., repeats on all four days. Everything else in the 1 p.m. slots happens once. If you want to see Mag Ival's Nerikomi colored-clay demo, Sunday, Oct. 18 is your only chance. The Artist Trading Card Swap at Maxtivity happens only on the final Sunday. Maxtivity also says visitors can watch the exhibiting artists work and then try the craft themselves. That makes the 1-to-3 p.m. slot there hands-on, not just a demonstration to watch.
Since both in-town schedules start at 1 p.m., you can't catch the early Green Heron demo and the start of Maxtivity's session on the same day. The two galleries are both on Main Street, at 1233 and 1604. A one-hour demo at Green Heron still leaves the second hour at Maxtivity.
The south-county studios work the other way. Their demonstrations aren't scheduled. They are listed as ongoing during tour hours:
Three of those five run at the Grange Hall Road stop. The day you choose matters least out there and most on Main Street. That points to a simple plan for any of the four days. Spend noon to about 3 p.m. at the county-road studios, where the demos are going whenever you arrive. Then head back to Green Heron for Vicki Wilson at 4 p.m. If one of the 1 p.m. demos in the table is the reason you're going, reverse the order. Start on Main Street, drive out to Grange Hall, Peterson or Decker Road after the session, and you'll still have the full ongoing demos at #6 and #8 before 5 p.m.
The north stops on Daisy Drive and Donovan Place have no listed demonstrations. They have seven artists between them, including the tour's only photographer, Phil Coleman, and its only upcycled wearable art, from Sara Crampton. Without a timed event, you can fit them in at either end of the day.
Three in-town shows let you see the work before the studios open. Green Heron Gallery's group show, "POST at 21," features Vicki Wilson with guest artists Jennifer Deily, Maguelonne Ival, Jean Lawrence and Sandra Wilson, and it stays up through Nov. 3. The Philomath Community Library at 1050 Applegate St. has a show running Oct. 1–31, and Philomath City Hall at 980 Applegate St. has one running through Nov. 20. The library and City Hall are both on Applegate Street, so one trip can cover both. All three shows run before the tour opens, so you can pick out the artists you want to meet ahead of time.
You can download the 2026 brochure and map from philomathopenstudios.com. Use the link marked for the 2026 copy, because the generic download link on the brochure page opens last year's booklet. Printed copies are available in Philomath at the Benton County Museum and the Philomath Library. In Corvallis, you'll find them at Art in the Valley Gallery, the Corvallis Arts Center, Corvallis Public Library, the LaSells Stewart Center's Giustina Gallery, and Pegasus Gallery and Framing. In Albany, look at Gallery Calapooia. Philomath Arts says you can also pick up a map and schedule at Green Heron Gallery.
| Want to see | Go on |
|---|---|
| Silk painting and Kinusaiga | Sat., Oct. 17 |
| Nerikomi and gel plate monoprints | Sun., Oct. 18 |
| Oil painting and the Teen Art Collective collage session | Sat., Oct. 24 |
| Decoupage and the Artist Trading Card Swap | Sun., Oct. 25 |
| Woodworking, printmaking and gel plate printing on Grange Hall Road | Any of the four days |
Six of this year's nine stops are out on county roads. If touring them has you thinking about what a shop, a studio or a few acres would look like for your own household, Debbie Brand has spent more than 30 years helping Philomath and Benton County owners buy and sell exactly those properties. Contact Debbie for a personal market consultation.
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