Every November, as the Skagit fields turn gold and the town exhales after the tourist season, Maple Hall stirs back to life. The lights come on, the walls bloom with color and La Conner remembers what it’s always known — art keeps this community connected.
This year, Art’s Alive!, the town’s flagship fine art event, celebrates its 40th year with a show worthy of its roots. The 2025 invitational exhibition, “Timeless,” runs Oct. 24-27 at Maple Hall and features work by Andy Eccleshall, Gary L. Brown, Kathleen Faulkner, Allie High (Aleut), Ee Lin Lee, Liz Moncrief, Leo E. Osborne, Ilse Reimnitz, Buck Striegel, Barbara Silverman Summers and Randena Walsh — artists whose work traces the pulse of the Pacific Northwest through landscape, form and story.
A festival born from a café dream
Art’s Alive! began in 1984, when Martin Hahn, owner of the Black Swan Café, gathered friends Ed Kamuda, Michael Klough and Paul Hanson to imagine a festival that would keep La Conner’s creative and commercial spirit alive through the quiet season. Their idea stuck, and four decades later the show they started still lights up the town each fall.
Over the years, the event has been hosted by local merchants, the La Conner Chamber of Commerce and the La Conner Arts Commission. Today it’s presented by the La Conner Arts Foundation, whose mission is to encourage artistic expression and provide diverse, high-quality art for residents and visitors.
Honoring the legends
To mark this milestone year, Art’s Alive! and Swinomish Casino & Lodge present the “LEGENDS” Gallery, featuring available works from past featured and invitational artists from the 1980s through today. More than 55 pieces are on view — from Northwest Mystics to contemporary masters — tracing four decades of regional creativity. Works appear courtesy of Cassera Galleries, Gallery Cygnus,and Stonington Gallery Seattle.
In collaboration with the Skagit County Historical Museum, a Clayton James vessel will also be available, with proceeds benefiting both the museum and the foundation.
by Leo E. Osborne
by Gary Brown
A living legacy
Alongside the retrospectives, the Open Show Gallery features work from 35 local and regional artists, representing Art’s Alive!’s future as well as its past. Visitors can vote for the People’s Choice Award through Sunday; winners will be announced Monday.
Festivities begin Friday, Oct. 24, with doors opening at 1 p.m. and an Opening Celebration at 5 p.m. — a chance to meet the artists, enjoy appetizers and drinks, and, with a donation of $10 or more to the foundation’s scholarship fund, take home an uncirculated 1987 Art’s Alive! poster featuring Richard Gilkey’s work. Poster donations were made by Wingshadow Studios, Angie Partolan and Barbara Silverman Summers.
Saturday’s hours run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the popular “Sounds, Sip & Stroll” from 2 to 5 p.m., sponsored by Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro & Bar. Expect live music by Ben Starner, good company and the perfect excuse to start date night early. The show continues from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday and from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday,
A silent auction of vintage Art’s Alive! posters runs Friday through Sunday, with winning bidders contacted Monday. Awards are sponsored by Christianson’s Nursery & Greenhouse, Cassera Galleries, A Weaver’s Way Studio and Swinomish Casino & Lodge.
Good deeds through the arts
What began as a local art show has grown into the town’s major fundraiser for art scholarships and education. While Art’s Alive! originally raised funds for the Valley Museum of Northwest Art, it now serves as the sole fundraiser for the La Conner Arts Foundation, a nonprofit supporting youth scholarships and community art programs. Each artwork sold contributes directly to that mission of “Good Deeds Through the Arts.”
Presented entirely by volunteers — who will be treated to lunch by Shawn O’Donnell’s at the Farmhouse Restaurant — the show receives additional support from Town of La Conner Hotel/Motel funds and a Skagit County Lodging Tax grant through VisitSkagitValley.com.
Forty years in, Art’s Alive! continues to embody the best of La Conner: community, creativity and continuity. What began as a café conversation is now a cornerstone tradition — proof that here, art really does keep this community connected.
Casey Lynn is the creative director and arts writer for La Conner Community News.
Art’s Alive! 2025: At a glance
Where: Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St., La Conner
When: Oct. 24–27
- Friday: Doors open 1 p.m.; Opening Celebration 5 p.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; “Sounds, Sip & Stroll” 2–5 p.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
- Monday: 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Highlights
- “Timeless” Invitational featuring 11 Northwest artists
- LEGENDS Gallery retrospective of more than 55 works from past featured artists
- Open Show with 35 local and regional artists
- People’s Choice Award voting all weekend
- Silent auction of vintage Art’s Alive! posters
Admission: Free. Donations of $10 or more support La Conner Arts Foundation scholarships includes a 1987 Richard Gilkey poster (while supplies last).
Details: Visit artsalivelaconner.com or VisitSkagitValley.com.
