An international juried exhibition at Clatsop Community College’s Royal Nebeker Art Gallery in Astoria is showcasing contemporary nude art for a 15th year.

For the 2025 edition of “Au Naturel: The Nude in the 21st Century,” juror Laura Ross Paul selected works by more than 40 artists from across 13 U.S. states and Canada out of over 350 submissions. Six from the North Coast — Brian Holbein, Roger McKay, Yasmina Nysten, Ben Rosenberg, Roy Sanchez and Blaine Verley — are among the selections.

The resulting body of work aims to reflect storytelling possibilities of the nude form, showcasing work that reveals vulnerability, resilience and authenticity — qualities, according to Ross Paul, that transcend boundaries.

In reviewing the submissions, she noted a wide range of styles and intentions.

“There’s just a really diverse selection of how you might use the naked figure,” Ross Paul said, “and I tried to cover a lot of that diversity so you could see all the different ways people were using it and looking at it.”

The collection will be on display through March 13, with works also available to view in a dedicated online gallery.

This year marks the exhibition’s first full return since 2020, following a multiyear pause after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A smaller invitational version of the show, honoring late Oregon artist Henk Pander, was held last year.

Ross Paul is hopeful for the comeback.

“It’s going to be a very, very strong show,” she said.

Several artists will be present and Ross Paul will give a brief gallery talk at a reception, open to the community, at 6 p.m. Thursday. Awards will be announced as well, including prizes, purchase awards, and, for one or two participants, an opportunity to present a solo or group exhibit.

A special exhibit award will also be given for the gallery’s 2025-2026 exhibition season, along with several workshop awards. A People’s Choice Award will be announced after the show, for the piece selected by the votes of gallery visitors.

Ross Paul, who splits her time between Manzanita and Portland, is a painter specializing in the human figure. She participated in last year’s invitational and will be leading a hands-on life-drawing workshop from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 22.

A former university art professor, Ross Paul has seen the popularity of the nude wax and wane.

“It’s nice to see people still doing the figure and how they’re doing it, and get a hint at how that might be changing in the future,” she said. “The nude is a tricky subject, it takes training. But it’s the best subject because there’s a certain honesty of vulnerability. It’s private too, and personal, and it communicates to the viewer in a very direct way.”

The founding director of the show, Kristin Shauck, a Clatsop Community College art instructor and director of the gallery, has highlighted the context of the show within the arts program at the college.

“Life drawing has been at the heart of our curriculum,” Shauck said. “One of the main reasons to bring in high-quality figurative art was for students to study and learn from. It’s a core thing for practicing artists to learn how to do. So I wanted to bring it in for the artists to have a venue to show their nudes.”

The other major reason, according to Shauck: The nude is difficult to show. Not all galleries are willing to display them, and they don’t always sell. This is both due to a lack of understanding of the tradition and history of the nude in art, she said, and prevailing misconceptions about it.

“The subject matter goes back as far as humans have been making images, it’s something that we all connect with,” Shauck said. “Fashions change, clothing styles come and go, but we all have a figure.”

Shauck attributes the show’s longevity and popularity to the initial support and leadership of Royal Nebeker, the late Astoria artist whose name is lent to the gallery. Labeled as “the man who put Astoria on the arts map,” the artist and teacher was the show’s first juror.

“I’ve really been blown away by how people enjoy the show,” Shauck said. “Sometimes I’m really surprised how far away people come from just to see it.”

‘Au Naturel: The Nude in the 21st Century’

On display through March 13 at the Royal Nebeker Art Gallery, 1799 Lexington Ave., Astoria.

A reception will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, with visiting artists and a talk by juror Laura Ross Paul, who will also teach an upcoming class on life drawing.

See the online art gallery at

www.aunaturelart.com.