Today we’d like to introduce you to Kirista Trask.
Hi Kirista, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Cambium started as a response to a global pandemic. Two artists, Abstract Painter Kirista Trask and Ceramicist Audrey Long met in a beautiful creative arts building located just one block off the main drag in Astorias historic downtown during Kirista’s AVA artist residency. Quickly Kirista and Audrey bonded over a shared background building non profit arts organizations and formed a creative partnership that has built Cambium, Heart + Humanities Hub and our upcoming residency Fire Elk Meadows. We built Cambium specifically to fill a need we saw in our community and it is an ever changing third space.
Cambium started during COVID as a space that hosted a friends coffee food cart and a retail art space. While Cambium started as a gallery that hosted historically marginalized artists it has grown to include a community coffee bar, retail gifts for creatives, host to many types of arts based events, and recently the launching pad for the non profit organization Heart + Humanities Hub. Starting during the pandemic has allowed Cambium to be a responsive third space pivoting and changing to suite the needs of our community. Currently it is a lively community coffee shop full of conversation, art making and community connections attached to a ceramic and art studio that hosts classes. Our retail space sells regional artworks, art supply kits, creative books and now a small selection of screen printed clothing. This selection of product has evolved specifically at the request of our customers as they find access to basic needs dwindling in Astoria.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Owning a small business in Oregon is never a smooth road. In 2025 the Library renovation nearly closed Cambium. It turns out that folks do not enjoy having coffee while listening to construction. In response to our low daily visitors we turned to art based events in order to get through launching two of our most popular regular events Art Bar and Ink & Ideas. Both focus on creating space for our community to experiment with handmade art. The reality is that the entire journey has required flexibility and the ability to pivot. When we opened during the pandemic in person shopping was very limited and required us to really access the internet in order to continue to support our artists. Over time we have used Cambium to directly respond to the needs of our customers. Most recently we partnered with the arts based non profit Heart + Humanities Hub to launch a free art supply library in order to make sure that regardless of financial situation our community to could access the supplies needed to create human generated art.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Kirista Trask is an Abstract Mixed Media artist and Teacher whose work translates subtle moments and landscapes into swirling abstraction, blending saturated opaque color with translucent washes to evoke atmosphere as emotional experience. As a seventh-generation Oregonian, she feels an ancestral connection to this landscape. The rhythm of coastal weather, shifting light, dense forests, and open water deeply inform a sense of color, movement, and space. Recently her work has shifted to focus on community based creation. She accomplishes this through community events such as Bad Kids Plein Air, a meetup that encourages non traditional artists to engage with creating outdoors, as well as teaching and mentorship. The goal has never been to be famous but rather to help as many people in her community find the joy and peach of creation.
Audrey Long is a ceramist specializing in fine crafted functional Ceramics. Her work uses glazes she makes and is wheel thrown pieces that are well-thought and utilitarian, each hand-thrown and individually glazed in shapes and colors that feel good. With a 25 year career spanning both coasts she has experience in many types of firing and is currently building a wood kiln on her property that will become a residency for women in ceramics looking to wood fire. Twice a week she teaches ceramics to a select group of students in her studio allowing her to share her 25 years of experience with others.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Is it good luck or bad to go through a global pandemic like Covid? Really though luck has everything to do with Cambiums existence today. It would not have come into being if Kirista had not gotten the AVA residency in building where Audrey had her studio nor would it have existed if Audrey had not been introduced to Glen Herman. Glen and Audrey met at a pivotal time for both of them allowing them to team up in the creation of the Astoria Studio Collective building which houses Cambium. Over time what we have realized is its not only luck but the willingness to respond when an opportunity is presented. We have tried with Cambium to respond quickly and completely when an opportunity presents itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cambiumgallery.com
- Instagram: @cambiumgallery
