In 2007 we continue to marvel at the dedication of individuals, businesses and artists who give of their time and resources to produce one of the Northwest’s premier exhibitions of juried art, known as the Edmonds Arts Festival.

From its beginnings, when members of the Coterie Club of Edmonds coordinated an invitational art exhibit for Edmonds, this has been a community effort. At that time, mailing and other expenses were paid from the volunteers’ own pockets. Not until the mid 1970s did the Arts Festival Association break even as a profit-making organization. Now we rely on sponsors, our Patrons and hundreds of outstanding volunteers to put on this event—a year-round endeavor.

The first Festival in 1958 was a selection of about 15 artists that provided an example of what was to come, exhibiting their work at the Surf and Sand Marina. In the 1960s the venue changed several times before settling at the Civic Center (now the Public Safety Complex), using the fire station, library, and council chambers as well as the covered pavilion, walkways, parking lot and grassy areas for exhibit space. Junior Art (now Student Art) was in the parking lot, while “artists-in-action” was set up along Fifth Avenue. Later, Old Milltown, at Fifth and Dayton, became another of the sites for this event, with crafts exhibited in the Masonic Hall and artists in the street. In the late 1970s, the campus of Holy Rosary School housed the Festival for three years.

In 1980, the Edmonds Arts Festival took up residence at the Frances Anderson Center, using rooms throughout the historic school building for juried art exhibits in paintings, prints and drawings, photography, sculpture and artisans work. Junior Art, with a strong new focus, flourished in this location.

From the food booths on Eighth Avenue, the field filled with over two hundred and forty Artwork Booths, to the performers in the amphitheatre, on into the building filled with Juried Art Exhibit Galleries and the EAF Museum, downstairs to the Student Art Exhibits (which fill the rooms and line the hallways) out to Plaza Arts and the calming Bistro area, down to the covered parking area now rich with activities for children and families—this is a festival for the community to enjoy three days of the year - every Father’s Day Weekend. With no public funding involved, this festival continues to be a successful “lift yourself up by the bootstraps” community effort.

Actually making a profit caused some concerns for the Festival organization and in 1979 the Edmonds Arts Festival Museum (now Foundation) was created as a non-profit entity responsible for developing avenues to assist in local arts education. This has allowed for maintenance of the museum gallery at the Frances Anderson Center, for grants providing educational opportunities and support to other arts organizations, for scholarships to deserving students in the visual arts, for public art contributions, and generally for promotion of the arts in our community.
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The EAF Foundation has been able to give back to the community in the form of scholarships for college and university level art students, funding for the Art Marks arts curriculum for Edmonds School District 15, special art classes at Edmonds Community College, and a $26,000 matching grant for the artist-in-residence program endowment for Edmonds Community College. The Foundation has supported the Edmonds Main Street Program, helped fund Christmas decorations for the city, and contributed to Gracie’s Gazebo and the bandstand in City Park. In 1990, contributions emphasized the Centennial Park, Centennial calendar, and hosting of a reception for Hekinan dignitaries during the Centennial Celebration. A $25,000 grant to Edmonds Community College was designated for refurbishing the college art gallery space within the renovated library. The EAF Foundation continues a strong connection to the college’s Art Department through grant assistance to exhibitions and programming. At the Frances Anderson Center, the Festival and Foundation have helped furnish materials for the amphitheater, and purchased signs and a floor covering for the gymnasium. When renovating the museum space at the Center, the changes included new flooring throughout the reception level of the Main Street entrance, and provided for renovation from the reception desk through the handicap ramp area, adding additional space for exhibition of artwork. There have been smaller contributions, grants, and funding to the community on a regular basis from the Association and the Foundation.

Perhaps the most visible items given by Edmonds Arts Festival and Foundation to the City of Edmonds are the Public Art pieces, including
The Georgia Gerber bronze sculpture, “Locals”, located at Olympic Beach in 1989 and relocated further north along the Waterfront Walkway when that was completed in 2003;
The Robert Cooke bronze sculpture, “Beach Launch”, located at South Brackett’s Landing in 1998,
The Benson Shaw installation, “Cedar Dreams”, located at Fifth and Main Street, dedicated in 2000; and
The Richard Beyer cast aluminum sculpture, “Seeing Whales”, located at the entrance to Olympic Beach, dedicated at the opening of the Waterfront Walkway in November 2003.
The Foundation was a primary funding partner for the installation of Steve Jensen’s “Crane” in front of the City Hall, Hekinan, Japan, dedicated in that city in March 2001.
Additional public art pieces include Janet Still’s “Too Soon Grown”, located at the Edmonds CC’s Center for Families in 2003;
Partial funding of Gerard Tsutakawa’s “Standing Wave”, part of the Sound Transit project for City of Edmonds, which was temporarily sited near SR104 and Main Street in 2004,
As well as funding of the design workshop with Steve Jensen for development of “Friendship Tree”, a carved cedar pole locating on the Waterfront Walkway as an acknowledgement of the Sister City relationship between Edmonds and Hekinan, Japan, dedicated in 2004.

In 1970, the Festival established the policy of purchasing representative work selected each year from the Festival’s Juried Galleries entries for the Edmonds Arts Festival Museum. The strength of this collection is enhanced as the various artists grow in stature. A second collection includes pieces selected by the Foundation Board of Directors on a case-by-case basis, reflecting the styles of artists from the Northwest. Two fine examples of Chihuly glasswork are included in this group, an example of the work of James Martin, and an original watercolor by Jerry Stitt. In 2007, a watercolor by Marjorie Bruce was added in Celebration of Fifty Years of Edmonds Arts Festival.

The EAF Museum maintains a collection of Edmonds Arts Festival limited edition posters, a primary fund raising venture of the EAF Foundation since 1983, which features the work of one outstanding regional artist each year. Limited edition student art posters, featuring an artist from within Edmonds School District 15, began in 1991.

While the small museum space at the Frances Anderson Center continues to be a strong location for bringing art to the public, there is a continued dream of having another space for exhibiting the permanent collections and the growing number of fine artists who represent our region so well.

The museum that we have chosen to develop in Edmonds is city wide—one in which space is found when needed to develop programs, partnerships are strengthened to create quality exhibitions, and arts education is enriched throughout the community.

Having the City of Edmonds as one of our strongest partners has allowed for development of ArtWorks, a gathering place for artists in which they can work, meet, and learn. ArtWorks had its grand opening celebration in February 2004 at the Old Public Works building, Second and Dayton. It continues to grow and nurture art in the community as well as provide a home for the many meetings and functions of the committees and boards of the Edmonds Arts Festival Association and Foundation. The Previously Loved Art Sale, a successful fund-raising event held in late summer or early fall since 2004, adds yet another face to the arts community of Edmonds. The artists who have started ArtistsConnect hope to provide information and support for local artists. They now have a gathering place at ArtWorks. Programming of arts education classes has continued to grow and ArtWorks is becoming a destination for artists in a variety of media. The addition of a top quality printing press has provided another creative outlet for the local arts community.

In January 2007, the Edmonds Center for the Arts had its gala opening. For well over thirty years, the arts community of Edmonds has encouraged the renovation and development of this facility for the benefit of the entire community. The Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation and Association pledged $250,000 to this effort resulting in the lobby being named the “Edmonds Arts Festival Lobby”. The Festival organization has remained totally supportive of this major pledge and in the fall of 2006, funding from the EAF Foundation was completed. In addition, the two Chihuly art pieces from the EAF Museum Collection have been placed on long-term loan, in custom-made display cases to provide visual artwork within the space. By the gala opening, two chandeliers funded by the EAF Association and Foundation and designed by Sonja Blomdahl also graced the north and south stairwells to the balcony level, as a tribute to fifty years of the Edmonds Arts Festival.

With the continuation of the annual three day festival and the work its success allows throughout the year for our community, arts are alive and well in the Edmonds community. Without the support of the many volunteers, sales of products, and support from the Patrons of the Arts, all of these art projects for the community would not be possible. We truly do celebrate the arts in our community. Join us in any way you can by contributing time, money, or your own expertise to continue this great Edmonds Celebration of the Arts.