“Dreams of Water”

Sept. 1–Dec. 11, 2026

Events:

• Friday, Sept. 25, at 5:30 p.m.
  Artist Talk by Elise Richman in Olin Auditorium, followed by a reception in Sheehan Gallery
• Friday, Oct. 2, at 5:30 p.m.
  Artist Talk by Ohan Breiding in Olin Auditorium, followed by a reception in Sheehan Gallery
• Friday, Oct. 23, at 5:30 p.m. 
  Storytelling Event with Rebecca Hom, followed by a celebration in Sheehan Gallery

About the Exhibition:

Rippling through the Sheehan Gallery in Fall 2026 is a trio of water-based shows collectively called “Dreams of Water,” featuring “FLASHBACK,” which includes multiple film and photography installations by Ohan Breiding, “HIGH LONESOME: Sanctuaries for Imperiled Snake River Salmon” by Elise Richman (a former Matt Reynolds Confluence Project collaborator), and a community-based group show called “We Are Water.”

In addition to our Sheehan displays, we will also be presenting the beautiful photography of Tara J. Graves in both the Stevens Gallery and the Olin Breezeway Gallery to highlight her fantastic work for Greater Hells Canyon Council restoration project, as she is this year’s Artist in Residence and grant recipient. Her show is called, “Refugia of the Blue Mountains.

Artists:

Ohan Breiding is a Swiss artist and filmmaker based in New York. Through photography, photographic and filmic archives, video and collaboration they employ a trans-feminist lens to the discussion of ecological care by amplifying landscapes as witness.

Elise Richman is an artist, environmentalist, and teacher at University of Puget Sound, who has collaborated with us to realize her largest show to date with 31 original paintings and drawings submerged in a large-scale map and representing the various salmon sanctuaries along confluence spaces. 

“We Are Water” is a community exhibition which stemmed from a collaboration with local storyteller Rebecca Hom and an event in which she told six water-based stories from myth to historical this past Spring 2026. From those stories, artists, writers and musicians have created work that we will display within the Sheehan space.