natures spine connects heaven and earth.
Sammamish Valley Arts
Cultural Centre
Filling today with the sights and sounds
of a long ago era of forests and farm fields,
and tasty new art and fresh ideas.
Beautiful places to visit any time of year.
The drama of art and hands and hearts at work.
Woodinville Fine Arts Gallery and Studios
Carousel Horse Museum
Woodinville Heritage Museum
Cottage Lake Artists Guild
Woodinville Artists Association
Woodinville Reperatory Theater
Woodinville Community Band
.
featured artist : alison farmer
.
Seasons of Art
by alison farmer
.
Spring comes slow at first, pushing a little further each day – like
painting really. Each morning’s warmth and energy strengthening, erupting at
last into frenzied growth until, seemingly all of a sudden, everything is a
buzz of color.
After a reflective, hard working winter my days are now full of framing &
hanging for the Gallery’s Spring Show - a fun event that the whole Cultural
Centre celebrates. Showcasing the latest creations from the Center’s studio
members, opening weekend gives the community at large a backstage viewing of
the artists’ studios upstairs, a viewing vetted by the artists themselves to
show the best of their work as individuals and as a shared creative
endeavor. Next door, the Theatre entertains with music and drama. The
neighboring wineries look back with satisfaction over a successful year –
and forward to the new season with their traditional wary eye. The Valley
is awake!!
With the warming days, the open studios warm up too from the winter chill.
The artists themselves become more mobile, like bees in the hive. Now
mornings are spent among the Gardens – today, struggling to capture the
ethereal valley mist, tomorrow perhaps aiming for that rich veil of color
that spreads over the valley floor. This year the Artists Garden is a
tribute to Van Gogh – and how appropriate that seems, with the low Valley
swirling and twisting through the riverside poplars and through our
planting.
In the heat of the summer afternoon, where else to find our artists but
seeking the shade, in the Gallery café - a hub for local artisans seeking
creative company, and a welcome resting place for our visitors. Some
dedicated, compulsive sketches still work on interior scenes in the Center,
a constant interest for visitors who peer over their shoulders; others seek
more languid inspiration from an afternoon of fellowship.
A slight chill in the valley breeze is the first sign of seasonal change.
Autumn to the farmer is always a busy time – and where more so than in the
valley with its fertile soil and fine crops. Even the evening light ripens
to gold in the sky bringing a glow to trees, fields and gardens. It has been
a summer of contemplation, and I too am ready for a creative harvest of
painting and shaping with renewed vigor and direction.
The open-air concerts in the valley inevitably draw to a close, and the
Center takes on its evening role with people moving indoors for theater,
music, classes and group meetings. Halloween is a big affair – the Center
draped with webs and jeweled with artistic lanterns lighting up the trail to
an evening farmers market – with hot cider, and the occasional ghost on a
bike flying past into the gathering winter.
For the holidays, simply everyone at the Centre decorates. Historic Carousel
Horses in the foyer seem made for Christmas and their magic sparkles with
tinsel and fairy lights. The theatre’s regular family pantomime enchants –
and the scenery from local artists make the enchantment ever more familiar
and homely. As another year draws to a close the Woodinville Heritage Museum
celebrates not only another year of its own success, but another year of
change and growth from our community roots. Never forgetting our role in the
community, the Gallery’s annual Christmas Show raises funds for art
education. In these winter nights the “Center” becomes just that – a place
of centering where the company of others brings light and warmth - as the
world outside sleeps, the seeds of a community full of art work their
mysterious magic in the heart of the Valley.
.
Sammamish Valley Art Center
.
--------- philosophy --------
-------- event calendar --------
-------- activities --------
-------- members--------
See profiles and works of many member artists.
-------- staff calendar --------
.
Dedicated to Promoting Artistic Expression
in the Sammamish Valley
.
Sammamish Valley Art Center supports and encourages the artistic aspirations of its members. Many members teach, exhibit professionally and write about their art in national and international publications. Member artists work primarily in two-dimensional media including watercolor, oil, acrylic, pastel, colored pencil, sculpture, and photography.
Sammamish Valley Art Center holds regular meetings that include enrichment programs. Member artists share their skills, news of professional achievements, completed works, works in progress, and network with each other to advance their artistic development.
Most members reside in the Woodinville area. The association works with businesses and the City of Woodinville to enhance artistic experience for all residents and visitors to the area.
Sammamish Valley Art Center is currently open to new members. Interested artists can recieve more information by contacting the Membership Chairperson.
.
To be established and incorporated as a for profit organization in 2007.
.
inquiries via email: contact us