The first exhibit of the 1952-53 season opened September 7.  Shown were 30 oil paintings by Leon F. Derbyshire of Seattle.  Derbyshire was a member of the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters. He studied from 1925-29 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and spent a year with Andre Lhote in Paris.  This exhibit was co-sponsored by the Yakima Valley Art Association.

Another co-sponsored exhibit with the Yakima Valley Art Association opened September 28. It was a joint showing of paintings by Abel G. Warshawsky of Carmel, California, and Louise Houston Williams of Mount Vernon.  The collection of Warshawsky came from an exhibition at Maryhill Museum of Fine Arts.

On October 9, the annual Women Painters of Washington exhibition opened, co-sponsored by the Yakima Valley Art Association.  The only local member who exhibited was Blanche McLane.  The “association was organized in 1930 by Anna B. Stone, Helen Bebb, Lily Norling Hardwick, Elizabeth Warhanick, Dorothy Doph Jensen, and Myra Albert Wiggins.”  This exhibit continued through November 6.

The Northwest Water Color Society opened November 9, 1952. Then On November 16, members of the Yakima Valley Stamp Club displayed stamps of “United States and foreign countries” in the galleries showcases.

The Larson Gallery opened an exhibit of the Oregon Society of Artists on November 20, 1952 that would be on display until December 18.  This exhibit was co-sponsored by the Yakima Valley Art Association and was the fifth annual exhibit by the society in Yakima. 

On January 25, 1953, an exhibit of the work of Ralph Woodall, former resident of Yakima, opened.  Born in Missouri, Woodall moved with his parents to Yakima in 1930 where he graduated from Yakima High School.  In 1941, he graduated from the University of Oregon where he majored in Fine Arts.

The next exhibit, opening March 15, was of paintings and tapestries created by a husband and wife, Jack and Faye Irwin.  Both hailing from Everett, Jack was a native of Pittsburgh, and attended the Royal Academy in London.  Faye attended Western Washington College of Education and specializes in tapestries.

Seattle artists, Olive Payne Bristol, opened an exhibit on April 19 at the Larson Gallery.  The exhibit also contained the work of Ethel Ernesti Wilder, Dorthy Milne Rising, and Freida Vannini.  All four are members of the Women Painters of Washington.  Mrs. Bristol studied with artists in Seattle and Portland and was a student at the School of Arts in Rome.  On April 22, Native American artifacts from C.A. Jones were added to the cases.

For several years, one of the activities of the Yakima Valley Art Association was to hold art classes in the basement of the Larson Building, led by Don Gochnour.  The result of this was an exhibit of the artists which opened on May 10.  12 artists, painting in oil and watercolor, were installed by Guy Brace, director.  In conjunction with this exhibit, ceramics created by Mrs. Paul B. Allen were added on May 24 and stayed on exhibit until June 5.