Maggie I'm not sure where you are in Oregon but maybe you will remember that in Portland I believe the Chamber of Commerce started an event called "First Thursday"
First Thursday was hosted by different art galleries each month. They also had art gallery tours.
Northwest Mom maybe you could get something like that started where you live.
Another thing you might do is to sponsor a featured artist and each month and get their artwork displayed in some of the "hot spots" (restaurants etc) in town.