Northwest Art Museum Is On The Move In LA Conner

The arts are on the chopping block in Congress, but in Western Washington yet another art museum is moving to a bigger, better building and setting its sights on increasingly ambitious programming.

In September, the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, now housed in the sweet but impossibly small Gaches Mansion on the edge of downtown La Conner, will move a few blocks away to a commercial building being remodeled to function as a museum. Built in 1988 as a nondescript office/retail complex - an editorial in the Skagit Valley Herald called it "the ugly duckling of First Street" - the 12,000-square-foot building is getting a facelift and retrofitting from longtime Skagit Valley architect Henry Klein. Klein, whose designs include the Performing Arts Center at Western Washington University and the Skagit County Administration Building, is sprucing up the place with a sky-lit circular staircase and galleries on both floors.

Building capital fund

Energetic fund-raising and generous individuals, foundations and corporations resulted in a $1.2 million capital fund that was used to buy the building and partially remodel it. Museum board president Judi Mullikin says about $200,000 still is needed to complete the remodeling.

Some major donors included The Kreielsheimer Foundation and Safeco, which gave challenge grants, and the Benaroya Foundation, which has donated a gallery space to be used to display glass art. Mullikin noted that the project is a labor of love for many of the professionals involved in the remodeling of the new building: Klein is donating his services, as are the contractor, the attorney, and the interior architect/planner.

Mullikin said strong interest in the regional museum seems to spring from its mission of acquiring and showcasing Northwest regional art. In the 14 years the museum has been in existence, it has always championed Northwest art. In particular it has focused on the work of the many influential artists who have lived in the Skagit Valley over the years and who have been inspired by its natural beauty.

Showcasing the Northwest

Most of the godfathers of Northwest art, including Mark Tobey, Morris Graves and Guy Anderson, spent time in or near La Conner. Anderson, now 89, still lives there and a retrospective of his work will be the theme of a show at the museum next April. The first show in the new museum, tentatively scheduled to open in September, will be a wide-ranging show of painting and sculpture by 50 Northwest artists.

"I think there's a very strong feeling for Northwest art in the whole Northwest community," said Mullikin. "So many people have collected it over the years. SAM (the Seattle Art Museum) does a fine job, but their focus is more global. So this will be a place to preserve and show regional art."

Tacoma Art Museum and Bellevue Art Museum also want to be known as museums that focus on regional art, so it will be up to each of the three museums to create a particular niche within that broad category. With its prime location in picturesque Skagit Valley and La Conner's considerable tourist appeal, the Museum of Northwest Art would do well to continue its tradition of showing museum quality art that is nevertheless accessible and pleasing to many viewers. Shows in recent years have included sculpture by Philip McCracken, known for his images of animals; narrative and figurative work by painters Gaylen Hansen and Fay Jones; and paintings by the famous Northwest four - Kenneth Callahan, Tobey, Graves and Anderson.

Working with Pilchuck

As a sign of its commitment to the art of its immediate environs, the museum is working with nearby Pilchuck Glass School to show work by instructors and students.

The museum (which used to be called the Valley Museum of Northwest Art) doesn't have a large permanent collection. Much of what it owns is work on paper by regional artists. Museum curator Barbara James says that the new museum space is prompting gifts. "Prior to moving we hadn't solicited gifts because we didn't have the capability to control humidity and really take care of the work," said James. "Now people are giving because the building is more secure."