By KARIN ARGANO
Recently, Greenspace hosted a celebration to honor the extraordinary life of Arthur Van Rhyn at its Creekside Reserve on Center Street. Along with Art’s family, our Greenspace family and the community gathered to share stories and remember Art’s contributions to individuals, groups, and Cambria itself.
After working days for Caltrans and evenings at university, Art followed his passion for art, earning B.A. and master’s degrees. His dream was to open a studio and pursue life as an artist. When Art and his wife Patty settled in Cambria in 1983, he built a house and studio on
Moonstone Drive.
What an impact he had! It has been said that you cannot call yourself a Cambrian until you have an original Art Van Rhyn on your wall!
In 1989, Art joined Greenspace with the founding group and served as President, Director, bench builder, sign maker, and cartoonist, and helped purchase and conserve Strawberry Canyon and the Creekside Reserve. His involvement over 35 years included environmental education in the forest, patiently helping local students observe and draw nature. His commitment to conservation life never wavered and we thank him for everything he helped us to accomplish. Art’s memorial bench at Pocahontas Park says it all: “The Rock of Greenspace!”
Along with Greenspace, Art volunteered with over a dozen other local non-profits and served on the CCSD board. He hosted the “Wednesday Irregulars” at his studio for plein air painting and a group of local musicians for a weekly jam.
An extraordinary glimpse of Art’s life and wit is conserved in a collection of his cartoons from The Cambrian newspaper by the Cambria Historical Society and a book, “Capturing Cambria” developed with Art’s cooperation by Christine Heinrichs.
He is missed. The family lovingly requests that donations in Art’s memory go to Greenspace – the Cambria Land Trust. Checks may be payable to Greenspace and mailed to PO Box 1505, Cambria, CA 93428. You may also donate here online.
