Isn’t that the first thing we hear whenever we tell someone we’re from here?

Last January, the La Conner Arts Commission convened a public meeting to describe the process of having our artistic, cultural, and historic Town designated as a Creative District through a State program administered by ArtsWA.

We all know La Conner is already a creative district … now we are in the process of completing the complex steps ArtsWA requires for the “official” designation, so we can proudly point to it as one more reason to visit, experience the art, culture, and history, and support our creative economy.

We were pleased at how many people turned up for that meeting, about the enthusiastic response, and the number of people who said they wanted to serve on the Advisory Committee to make this happen.

Under the capable leadership of Arts Commissioner Sarah Dalton, the Advisory Committee has met monthly since then. The 15 or so members are dedicated, smart and wise, and cover a wide swath of the community, both sides of the Channel, the Museums, business community, and, of course, the creators – artists, writers, patrons of the arts, organizations.

The committee is shaping the application, defining the characteristics, describing the many activities that form our Creative District, and establishing achievable goals. We meet monthly, on the first Thursday of the month from 10 a.m. to noon at the La Conner Swinomish Library. The Arts Commission is updated monthly at its meeting. Early on in the process, we clearly noted that we want to involve – dare we say it – younger people in this work. We joke about it at our meetings but, we live in a town where the age demographic skews older. It’s to the credit of those of us in those upper decades to know we want to bring in people who will survive us as artists, community volunteers, citizens. The Arts Commission has six commissioners, one of them a non- voting La Conner High School senior. Olie Phillips joined the Advisory Committee meeting for the first time in April, offering good suggestions about finding other youthful volunteers.

The plan is to submit our application to ArtsWA in the Fall of 2026. To date, there are 24 Creative Districts across the state. A small handful are certified each year and we have been working with the agency through each step of the process to present the strongest application we can. We know we’re high priority.

Certification in 2026 will be especially sweet as this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Arts Commission.

For sure, art and culture is in our Town’s DNA. Being certified will be one more addition to our already rich palette, inviting people to experience and support what we already love.

Holly Witte is the chairwoman of the La Conner Arts Commission.