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Paul Havas: A Life of Painting honors the forty-year career of an artist known for his large-scale landscapes and cityscapes. Born, raised, and educated on the East Coast, Paul Havas (1940-2012) came to the Northwest for graduate school at the University of Washington and ultimately became one of the major painters of the region. A studio in the Collins Building in Seattle in the 1970s introduced Havas to a community of artists and inspiration that stayed with him throughout his prolific career. For a decade, he had a studio and home on Fir Island in Skagit Valley, and his paintings reflected the wide expanses of farmland, river, and sky distinct to that area. After he moved back to Seattle in 1983, Havas created a series of paintings set in the city: night scenes of buildings and empty streets; daytime panoramas that incorporated the angles and geometry of the city plan; and tall, narrow paintings capturing glimpses of urban vistas. Nature was always an inspiration, and Havas made many trips into the mountains to fish, hike, and climb. Additionally, Havas and fellow artist Clayton James made numerous extended trips, searching out painting sites along the back roads of eastern Washington, Oregon, and the Pacific Coast. Beneath it all, Havas had a deep knowledge of European and American art, and his travels outside of the Northwest and early teaching positions informed his painting as much as his immediate surroundings. His final series of paintings, set in the coastal area near Willapa Bay, distill the essence of land and water and architecture, a culmination of decades-long devotion to painting, to capturing light, and to conveying a sense of place.
 
In conjunction with MoNA's exhibition, the book titled Paul Havas has been published by Lucia|Marquand and is being distributed by University of Washington Press. With an introduction by longtime former Seattle gallery owner Francine Seders and a comprehensive essay by art critic Matthew Kangas, the book informs our exhibition, with groupings of paintings by theme: farmland, city, geology, wetlands, islands, and coast. Early works, sketches, and notebooks augment the paintings on view, and provide a closer, deeper look at a painter whose work transcended the landscapes he portrayed.

In the second floor galleries this winter, Indigenous Influences is an exhibition curated by Regan Shrumm, through the Dana and Toni Ann Rust Curatorial Fellowship at MoNA. The exhibition looks at works from MoNA’s permanent collection that are influenced by Pacific Northwest Indigenous communities.
 
Known as the ‘Mystics,’ Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson sought to create art that consciously responded to the world around them, including referencing the local regional landscape and cultures. These artists began to collect Native American art, visit local Indigenous ceremonies, and befriend anthropologists, all of which made a major impact on the artists’ styles, colors, and spiritual outlooks. However, the influence of style came at a cost to the local Indigenous nations. The exhibition examines the problematics and complexities of the artworks adopting Indigenous styles.

This winter in the Benaroya Glass Gallery, we feature selections of glass from the permanent collection with an emphasis on continuum – of the medium of glass, of the continuity of forms, and of tradition through to innovation. The exhibit, titled Continuum: Glass from the Permanent Collection, will feature a variety of techniques for working with the medium of glass, including lampworking and stained glass. Artists exhibited include Dale Chihuly, Doris Chase, James Minson, Rick Decker, and Lisa Zerkowitz. Visitors will be able to observe themes that have persisted in glass as well as the transformation of the medium through innovation and new techniques. 

Voices del Valle has been a unique exhibit for the museum. We continue with a special exhibit in the  North Wing Gallery as these stories become part of our permanent exhibit.

NOW EXTENDED THROUGH OCTOBER 8th!!! 
Featured exhibit on loan from the Washington State Secretary of State's office. The exhibit is a collection of stories that take you around the globe to crucial battles on foreign soil, to German concentration camps and the American home front.
​Also connect on a local level with The Skagit Home Front!

Event Details are coming soon!    

Part of Christianson's 11th Annual Winter Festival!

This "Humanities Washington" speakers bureau presentation sponsored by the La Conner Library Foundation. Experience the images, radio and film that emerged from this dramatic time in US history. Audio historian John Jensen shares rarely known stories and anecdotes from Hollywood's war effort.

Coinciding with the Museum's World War II exhibit and the La Conner Daffodil Festival.
​Clear your dance card and join us for dinner, live music and dancing! Featuring entertainment by Dina Blade and Singin' in  the Rain.
​Costumes Encouraged (and there will be prizes...)

View the spring line, shop late and enjoy cupcakes and tea!    

As part of the 3rd Annual La Conner Daffodil Festival
More details coming soon...

Please note date change from March 18th!

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is one of the destination events for the Pacific Northwest, held from April 1-30, celebrating millions of tulips bursting into bloom. As with all things governed by Mother Nature, the tulips bloom according to their own schedule sometime during the festival. The tulips allow us to share our corner of the world and showcase Skagit Valley agriculture.

We depend on a strong volunteer base to keep our office up and running and to put on our festival activities. Creekside Continuing Care Community sponsors our volunteer program with nearly 50 volunteers.

Our festival is designed as a driving tour as there is no one "site" to enter. The fields of tulips are scattered throughout the Skagit Valley as are the many events and activities that comprise the festival. The tulip fields are the crops of RoozenGaarde/Washington Bulb Co., Inc. and Tulip Town. Do to crop rotation, the fields are in different locations each year. Both RoozenGaarde and Tulip Town also have displays of tulips in gardens for visitors to view and photograph.

We hope you enjoy taking in one of the many events and activities that happen only during April.

As the festival continues on its journey – now for 34 years – we welcome people from across the United States and from around the world. In 2016 we were proud to greet visitors from all 50 states and from 93 foreign countries.

We hope you enjoy our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SkagitValleyTulipFestival) and add your own favorite photos there. We continue to refine our brochure to give our fans the printed information they need to fully enjoy their trip to Skagit Valley. If you want a printed version rather than an electronic copy, click on the brochure tab and enter the appropriate information.

Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy your stay.