The La Conner Arts Commission welcomed four new members over the last half of the year: Sarah Dalton, Nicolette Harrington, Holly Redell-Witte and Nancy Crowell, who joined Joanna Sikes to promote arts and culture through various initiatives and programs.

Together, the group manages the town’s permanent collection of public art and sculptures, collaborates with local arts groups and is spearheading the effort to make La Conner a state-certified Creative District.

Sarah Dalton

Dalton moved to the area from Issaquah 10 years ago. She holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Washington and had a 30-year career in aviation. Since retiring, she has dedicated herself full-time to the arts — painting, creating mixed-media works, doing ceramics and photography. She chaired the Northwest Art Beat Studio tour and led the Skagit Valley Studio tour. She was also a docent at the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA).

“There is a very strong connection between art and La Conner going back in time,” Dalton said. “People [like myself] are attracted to the area because of its creativeness.”

“Art is what I’m driven to do.”

Nicolette Harrington

Harrington spent 30 years as an elementary art teacher. As an oil painter, printmaker and weaver, she created Wingshadows Studios in La Conner in 2010.

One of her goals as an arts commissioner is to update the public art tour map and to better designate the town’s sculptures.

“My motivation is to be a voice and speak as best I can for a huge community of artists that I know and work with,” she said.

Holly Redell-Witte

Redell-Witte and her late husband spent 15 years making wine at a vineyard in Oregon. She first visited La Conner years ago and was instantly captivated by its charm, vibrant art galleries and natural beauty. Today, she proudly calls the town home.

Although she doesn’t consider herself an artist in the traditional sense, she has a deep appreciation for the arts, and as a writer, she sees her craft as her form of artistic expression.

“I want to help the place that I live thrive. And through arts, you can really do that,” Redell-Witte said. “People tell stories through their art, whatever the art is, if it’s painting or sculpture or words, and if I can somehow be part of the process that makes that happen, make people aware of it, contribute to the essence of a place, I’m very happy.”

Nancy Crowell

Crowell has lived in La Conner for 25 years. She is a local photographer, the photo editor of La Conner Community News, and was an invitational artist at Arts Alive in 2022. 

“I’m really hopeful about us getting the Creative District designation,” Crowell said. “I’m committed to seeing [the Arts Commission] through on that… There are fewer and fewer people who know the history of the art around here, and I really want to make sure that we keep that alive.”

Joanna Sikes

Sikes graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a minor in architecture. She has dedicated most of her life to art, serving as executive director, director and curator for museums across the country, including MoNA as well as Chihuly Gardens and Glass.

As the current group’s most tenured member, she believes the Arts Commission has an important role to play to honor the past but also to look to the future.

“What we have in La Conner is this incredible history with the Mystic artists and how they defined contemporary art in America,” she said. “…[Art] serves so many parts of the community…it enriches the lives of people, but at the same time, it also has an economic impact, which is important.”

Currently, there is a vacant seat on the Arts Commission. Meetings are open to the public and are held the second Thursday of every month at 10:30 a.m. in the Maple Hall Fireside Room, located at 104 Commercial Street unless otherwise noted on the agenda. For more information, visit townoflaconner.org/162/Arts-Commission.

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LieShia Ong-Sintzel is a freelance writer and former TV news producer. Her work has appeared in The Seattle Times, The Herald, and MSN.com.