For three and a half weeks this past summer, photographer Darryl Baird was the artist-in-residence at Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area (YHONA) — an opportunity made possible in part by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Friends of Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and the Oregon Coast Council for the Arts. The photographs Baird captured during his time in residence are now the subject of a special exhibit presented by Newport Visual Arts Center, running Nov. 1 through Jan. 21, 2024, at the Olive Street Gallery (a satellite gallery location inside Newport Performing Arts Center).

Originally from Dallas, Baird’s career as a photographer and educator spans more than 50 years, and his work is included in collections at the Detroit Institute of Art, the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor. Now retired, Baird was excited to be chosen for the YHONA residency. “To live on the edge of land’s intersection with the sea is a joy and a formidable subject that keeps me alert, touches my soul, and satisfies my desire to capture the primordial exchange of nature’s forces as no other landscape has,” he explained, “I am humbled and inspired by this place.”