Wally Huber Schweighauser has been an artist for most of her life. She has worked with all mediums, from clay to watercolors, wax resist acrylics, and stained glass pieces basically, if you can name it, she has used it.

An exhibition of her work will begin on June 19. Her daughter Delly Schweighauser's art and the unique, individual pieces of potter Tom Fontaine, will be in the West Room at the River Arts Gallery.

An opening reception is planned for Friday, June 20. This show runs through July 2

Wally Schweighauser was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1912. She moved to Canada and started homesteading in 1935, while raising a family of four children along with her husband. In 1960, she moved with her family to Duxbury, Mass. While there she attended the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and was a member of the Copley Society of Art. She did numerous solo art exhibitions throughout Maine and Massachusetts. At nearly 102 years of age, she still dabbles in pencil drawings of people.

Twenty years ago, a group of six artists from the small towns inland from Rockland began to look for a place to exhibit their works. They found a charming, restored 19th century building in Washington Village. In 1994, now officially business partners, they opened their first show there. In a humorous twist, they called it The Downtown Gallery. Thus began a long process of professional development as individual (and quite different) artists, and as entrepreneurs of a gallery.

In the current exhibition running through June 18: Mary Boothby’s monoprints, mixed media by Priscilla Cross, Joan Freiman’s inland landscapes, Suzanne Phillips’ small clay sculptures, paintings of rocks as still life by Carole Sloane, ink drawings and collages by Ieva Tatarsky, pastels by Barbara Vanderbilt and collages and linocuts by Cynthia White. 

River Arts Gallery is located at 241 US Route 1 in Damariscotta. For more information call 207-563-1507.