Visual Arts In the 1930s and 1940s, painters such as Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, Mark Tobey and Morris Graves found inspiration in the beauty of Skagit County and each other. Graves had a cabin on Fidalgo Island, Anderson lived much of his life in nearby La Conner and Callahan completed a large mural for the Anacortes Post Office. The four were dubbed the Northwest’s “Mystic” painters after a 1953 Life magazine article catapulted them to national fame. Motivated by these creative roots, a group of art patrons founded the nonprofit Museum of Northwest Arts in 1981 in La Conner to preserve, exhibit and interpret the work of significant Northwest artists. MoNA’s 2,500-piece collection includes pieces by noted artists including the four Mystics, Hilda Morris, George Tsutakawa, Richard Gilkey, Doris Chase, Paul Horiuchi, Ambrose Patterson, Viola Patterson, Frank Okada, Clayton James, Philip McCracken, Dale Chihuly, Mary Randlett and Max Benjamin, as well as work by many emerging artists. MoNA’s 12,000-square-foot museum at 121 S. First St. is open daily until 5 p.m. Admission is $2-$5. The region’s beauty continues to inspire artists and art events. Fine galleries are spread throughout the county, from Conway to the Cascades, with large clusters in La Conner and Anacortes. During tulip season, art exhibits spring up around the valley, most notably Art at the Pickle Barn and ALN Art Bash, which run throughout April during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The area also has a strong component of accomplished fabric artists. Anacortes’ Fidalgo Island Quilters hosts a Quilt Walk during the tulip festival at many of the city’s stores and businesses, and a biennial Quilt Show, this year April 2 - 3 at Anacortes Middle School. La Conner has a Quilt and Textile Museum in the restored Victorian Gaches Mansion, 703 S. Second St. The museum hosts its annual Quilt Fest Oct. 1-3 with displays, classes and activities at multiple sites.
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Anne Martin McCool
The Anacortes Arts Festival, Aug. 6-8, also delves into art in many forms — visual, musical, culinary and performance art. The largest local event dedicated to art, it brings about 90,000 people to Anacortes each year to see what 250 booth artisans have to offer, to dance to an eclectic range of music on several stages, to observe artists at work and to check out the Art at the Port fine art exhibit in a marine warehouse. This year’s port show “Next” will be juried by Esther Luttihuizen, who has directed Northwest public art collections and founded and managed galleries.
Art Walks All of Skagit County may be inspirational to artists, but it’s the western side of the county that puts art out where everyone can see on easy walking tours. • The La Conner Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition re-opens March 1 with about 12 new pieces. With its nooks and crannies and waterfront docks, La Conner is a fun site for an annual sculpture show. Works are selected by a La Conner Arts Commission jury. All are for sale, and a commission on sales helps fund public art in La Conner. Cards with information about the artwork and a self-guided sculpture walk map are at each piece.
| SKAGIT county Newcomers Guide | 2010-2011
• Arts on the Avenue, an outdoor sculpture exhibit in Anacortes, features 11 sculptures, many by noted artists in prominent locations along southern Commercial Ave. All are for sale, with prices from $1,500 for James Lapp’s galvanized steel “Eve Goblet” at Compass Wines to $55,000 for Joseph Kinnebrew’s painted steel “Red Cubes” at 13th and Commercial. A portion of sales benefits public art in Anacortes. Maps are at each sculpture and at the Anacortes Visitors Center. • Arts in Anacortes by the Anacortes Arts Commission, is a free guide to more than 300 pieces of publicly displayed art in Anacortes, including a WPA mural of halibut fishermen, carved Samish story poles, a wall of copper-colored dots that resolve into an image of pioneer Annie Curtis, a glowing dorsal fin-shaped sculpture, and a library and hospital that double as art museums. There are works by noted sculptors Philip McCracken, Gerard Tsutakawa, Leo Osborne, Deborah Copenhaver, Tsul-ton (Bill Bailey) and Tracy Powell; paintings by Kenneth Callahan, Max Benjamin and Alfred Currier; and life-sized murals by Bill Mitchell. Get a brochure at the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center, the Anacortes Parks and Recreation office at City Hall or at anacortesartscommission.com. • First Friday Gallery Walks, 6-9 goskagit.com