Northwind Art is extending its call for art submissions for its “Showcase 2025” exhibition of local and regional artists, at the Jeanette Best Gallery in downtown Port Townsend, with the deadline shifting from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1.

They want to encourage more artists to enter and have thrown out a broad net. Artists from Jefferson, Clallam, Kitsap, Mason and Island counties are invited to enter Showcase 2025.

Diane Urbani, spokesperson for the nonprofit Northwind Art, explained that the Showcase artists program is intended to provide a reasonably spacious venue for painters, ceramicists, photographers, printmakers, sculptors, mosaicists, fiber artists and other makers working in mixed media.

“Our local artists have made it a dazzling success,” Urbani said. “When people walk into our gallery, from here and afar, to see the variety of artwork that’s made locally and regionally, they are enchanted. I’ve seen it again and again. My little office is adjacent to the Showcase space, and all day long, I hear people ooh-ing and aah-ing.”

Urbani added that “many, many people” are moved to purchase artwork in that gallery, which benefits both Northwind, as a nonprofit, and the artists themselves.

The current exhibition, Showcase 2024, features artists from Port Townsend, Port Ludlow, Chimacum, Sequim and Port Angeles, with work ranging from stone mosaics to plein air paintings, but Urbani noted the program’s genesis dates back “a couple of decades ago.”

“Right now, in that Showcase 2024 exhibit, we have incredibly intricate and harmonious mosaics by Shelley Jaye, a geologist who lives in Port Townsend,” Urbani said. “We also have gyotaku prints by Cody Hagen of Port Angeles. He dips freshly caught fish in nontoxic sumi ink, prints them with rice paper and adds his own watercolors for depth. The result is stunning.”

Urbani also touted large-scale black-and-white prints by Kelli MacConnell of Chimacum, which she said “blow people away.”

Showcase 2025 applicants must submit 10 images of their current works for consideration, and artists will be chosen by a panel of Northwind Art curators, who will judge the quality, professionalism and sales potential of those works.

The works submitted for review should be available and for sale.

In the meantime, Northwind Art’s annual “Small Expressions” show is open to applications through Oct. 11.

This exhibition embraces all media of art, from photography and paintings to jewelry.

“We’re really looking forward to both Small Expressions and Showcase 2025,” said Urbani, who noted that NorthwindArt.org also has application information for Small Expressions. “These exhibitions show off the wide range of artistry in our region.”

The artwork selected for both Showcase 2025 and Small Expressions will be displayed and available for purchase at the Jeanette Best Gallery, at 701 Water St.

Small Expressions will run from Nov. 22 through Jan. 6, while Showcase 2025 will open in January and continue through December of 2025, with new artwork rotated in every four months.

Small Expressions, whose works must be no larger than 16 inches in any direction, is a show designed to attract artworks suitable for giving and/or shipping during the holiday season.

“It’s an annual tradition that began some 23 years ago at the Northwind Arts Center,” Urbani said. “The Small Expressions show makes it possible to purchase a piece of original art, from a local artist, as a gift for a loved one. That’s such a joyful thing.”

For more information about entering either Showcase or Small Expressions, contact Northwind Art Exhibits Coordinator Jaiden Dokken at exhibits@northwindart.org.

For more details about Northwind Art shows and classes at Northwind Art School, visit NorthwindArt.org. Update information about Showcase 2025 is also available at the website under a red banner, which links to the application portal.