Colorful and creative, more than 140 views of the Coquille River Lighthouse fill the halls and walls of the Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center, located at 900 11th St., Bandon.

“Every time I come down here there's something new,” admits physician John Flaxel as he pauses to study a painting. “This one's sort of Van Gogh.”

And it's true. “Storm A-Brewing” by 15-year-old Cody Woodside is a painting that verges on the sculptural, so dominant are the textures of the piece. The cobalt blue waves are truly troughs, and the whitecaps - thick globs of paint - look like they're about to take flight as foam. The artist used strong, vertical brush strokes to streak the exterior walls of the lighthouse; the moon is nearly three-dimensional, pocked with craters and glowing white against a dark sky.

While “Storm A-Brewing” is not for sale, funds from much of the work produced by the more than 70 contributing artists have been earmarked for the preservation of the Coquille River Lighthouse.

Put into service in 1896, the little lighthouse sits at the end of a scenic road through Bullards Beach State Beach Park, which is two miles north of Bandon. It was the last (and smallest) of the Oregon Coast light stations to be built. Today, a solar-powered beam has replaced the structure's original Fresnel lens and lamp, fog horn and siren. History has proven profitable for this art show. Tiny, red “sold” stickers adorn nearly all of the framed photographs provided by the Bandon Historical Society Museum.

Contemporary photography takes a turn also, as digitalized photos, fish eye photos and even a giclee print of a photo crowd the hospital's entry, lobby, cafeteria, admitting office and various branching hallways.

This art show is a complete exploration of the Coquille River Lighthouse, encompassing all views and many media. We glimpse the lighthouse through the fog, bathed in sunlight, brushed by yellow lupine blossoms at dusk and draped with sparkling Christmas lights.

There are quilts, watercolor paintings, oils, pen and ink drawings and mobiles both wild and sedate. A pair of recycled glass platters crafted by Jerri Booker of Kootenai, Idaho, adorns the walls of cafeteria and lobby. Here, the artist painted clean-lined portraits of the lighthouse in white and brown, outlined with gold, upon plates the color of soft, green sea glass.

There is even an antique spoon engraved with an image of the lighthouse, cleverly displayed within a shadow box. The spoon was a gift to Bandon High graduate Alta Hansen in 1916.

Bill Kelsay's manipulated digital photograph stands out from the exhibit. In “End of Day,” the Springfield artist leaves us with a sense of unease. The lighthouse is recognizable, but it's off.

Shadows puddle at the building's base. The window openings are opaque, dark. A western sun strikes the facade without illuminating the interior, and a mass of sky-born squiggles could be birds, or they might be an extension of the photograph's worm-eaten wooden frame.

The Coquille River Lighthouse is an undisputed emblem of Bandon. Images of this unique structure form the core of the art show at Southern Coos Hospital, which continues through May 27.

Teri Albert reviews art and artists for the Ballyhoo! page of The World. Comments on or story ideas for this column are welcome, and can be e-mailed to malbert@uci.net.