Sunday, November 08, 2026
52.0°F

Creative artists show their talents at Grant County Fair

JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 2 months AGO
by JOEL MARTIN
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 16, 2024 1:20 AM

MOSES LAKE — At the Grant County Fair, almost anything can be art. 

“We have things from Legos where they have, they build them from a kit, or they build from their own design, so free build. "We've got different photography for youth, juniors, adults, seniors,” said Arts and Crafts Superintendent Lanita Pomeroy. “We have things where you use ordinary items, and you then create them into an art project.” 

That’s called upcycle, Pomeroy said, and it can encompass the oddest of sources. 

“An example would be you take a CD, and you make a drawing on it, and that's your upcycle,” she said. “Another one did a deck of cards and created it into something else. We have kids that get stuff from the dollar store and they make projects. Others, they make pottery, jewelry, greeting cards.” 

The more conventional arts were on display as well. Photography, painting and drawing in various media all had their place on the walls and pegboard displays.  

“(I especially like) the goats,” said Royalanne Hector, who was touring the exhibits with her family, pointing to a photo high on the wall. “I think it’s the whiteness of his teeth.” 

Hector is a photographer herself, she said, although she didn’t have anything entered this year. 

An awful lot of other folks did, though. 

“I think we had something like 1,700 preregistered entries,” Pomeroy said. “Not all of them came in, but then we had more that came in on Saturday that weren't preregistered.” 

Pomeroy has entered some photography herself in the past, she said. Her daughters went in for drawing and painting, and her grandchildren did Legos. 

“I love to see the adults do things,” she said, “But what inspires me most is the kids who want to try to do things, and if they do it from year to year you’ll see how they were in early elementary and as they grow up, how they improve, the creativity, the things they come up with.” 

    The paintings at the Grant County Fair were varied: acrylics, oils, and watercolors. The most important requirement was that the artist had to like it enough to share it with the whole county.
 
 
    From left: Royalanne Hector, 12-year-old Jillian Hector, Braydon Hector and 9-year-old Lila Hector check out photographs in the Arts & Crafts Building at the Grant Count Fair Wednesday.
 
 
    The upcycle category at the Grant County Fair’s Arts & Crafts Building was for art pieces made from ordinary things.
 
 



ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN

Home prices up in most Basin markets
November 6, 2026 3 a.m.

Home prices up in most Basin markets

MOSES LAKE — Home prices increased in most, but not all, markets of the Columbia Basin this year, according to data from the real estate website Redfin. The median home price in Moses Lake in September was $364,821, according to Redfin’s data, up 5.4% from September 2025. Ephrata’s median price wasn’t far off, at $368,824, but that represented a 12.5% increase over the same time period. Quincy’s median price topped the list of local cities at $405,235, a 10.1% year-over-year increase. Othello, in contrast, dropped by 17.1% year-over-year, to $298,226.

BASIN EVENTS Nov. 6-14
November 6, 2026 3 a.m.

BASIN EVENTS Nov. 6-14

COLUMBIA BASIN — Now that everyone has adjusted from the Daylight Saving Time changeover, it’s time to get out of the house and off to something fun. Here are a few destinations to check out. Nov. 6 Members Exhibition Gallery opening for show of artworks by museum members. Opening reception 4-7 p.m. at Moses Lake Museum & Art Center, 401 S. Balsam St. Info: www.moseslakemuseum.com.

Going rogue
November 6, 2026 3:20 a.m.

Going rogue

Moses Lake salon celebrates creativity and independence

MOSES LAKE — The new salon on East Broadway is called Rogue Collective for a reason. “We had this dream to do it all together,” said owner Dana Mendoza. “That’s where the ‘collective’ came from. It’s a pretty amazing group of women. Everyone has their own separate gifts and talents.” The “rogue” part of the name comes from the fact that the professionals all came from other salons with the same idea: to do things their own way.