Junior Art Walk helps kids express themselves

La Conner businesses shared a common thread of creativity last weekend with the first annual Junior Art Walk Friday. Area tweens and teens' – our next generation of artists – artwork was displayed in merchants' windows throughout Morris and First streets.

The La Conner Swinomish Library hosted weekly art-making sessions on Wednesday mornings leading up to the event. Art supplies were purchased from Mystic Art Supply based on adult mentor artists' subjects. Instruction varied from self-portraits, photography, watercolor, illustration and printmaking to songwriting and poetry. Junior artists were encouraged to make every style of art imaginable and to create art at home.

Because the idea was formed in late June after school was out, it proved challenging to network with youth ages 10-18. Through deliberate efforts of personal networking and social media posts, the library connected with a handful of committed junior artists.

Thirty-two finished pieces of artwork were assigned to businesses. The art went up Aug. 22. Each original was backed by an orange piece of kraft paper to unify the event and match the brightly colored poster created by junior artist Finley Hancock, featuring an original illustration by junior artist Jonathan Gonzales.

The day started with a 3 p.m. kickoff at the library. A small crowd of junior artists, their families, library board members and staff gathered in the meeting room as heavy summer rain lacquered the streets. Refreshments from O'Neill's, La Conner's new confectionery store, were neatly arranged. Library Director Jean Markert welcomed everyone and specifically thanked Tom and Alexa Robbins for generously funding the event through contributions from the 2023 Tom Robbins Day community fundraiser.

Markert emphasized that the Junior Art Walk filled a much-needed gap for youth to make art during summer. Two performance artists demonstrating their talent finished the kickoff. Rachel Haley read an insightful poem from her self-published book and singer/songwriter Analiese Trussell sang an original song about bananas in a pure and lilted tone.

At 3:30 p.m., artists and attendees were given a map to locate their art at participating businesses while the performance artists took to the stage at Gilkey Square until 5 p.m. The art stayed up for the entire weekend as a self-guided tour for extended family and weekend tourists to enjoy. Some pieces are still in merchant windows.

The event unfolded into more than youth creating art. It became a community-supported event where local adult artists ensured the next art-making generation and businesses celebrated La Conner's future artistic heritage.

The Jr. Art Walk was sponsored by the La Conner Swinomish Library, MoNA Link and the Swinomish Indian Tribal ­Community.

Stephanie Banaszak is a La Conner Swinomish Library board member.