Take a day trip to picturesque Snoqualmie and you’re likely to feel inspired. You may even want to pick up a paintbrush.
After taking in the rugged beauty of Snoqualmie Falls or wandering the streets of the historic downtown where steam trains still chug along the tracks, you’ll wish you had the artistic talent to capture it all in a photograph, painting or sculpture.
That’s where the Mount Si Artist Guild comes in, with their volunteer-run Art Gallery of SnoValley. It’s the hub of a vibrant art community, and a place for emerging and established artists to connect with each other and share their skills with others. Want to see how these artists are inspired by the Snoqualmie Valley? Browse the gallery, in-person and online.
Virtual Gallery Tour
When the gallery closed its doors this spring to observe social distancing, volunteers created a virtual gallery tour and online store to display and sell art.
“The online store, unlike the brick and mortar gallery, has unlimited wall space so this will allow us to display much more art from many more artists,” says Gayll Morrison, painter and member of the Mount Si Artist Guild. “The store is now live online for customers to make purchases but we are still in the process of building up the inventory so check back often!”
The Art Gallery of SnoValley started when twelve local artists came together to cultivate an enduring visual arts community and now, nearly five years later, the non-profit Guild has a gallery and store, hosts workshops and represents approximately 30 local artists.
“A bold and dynamic community needs a vibrant vision of itself. What better way to achieve that than to create a central hub where local artists can create, sell, exhibit and share their work, and the community can enjoy art unique to their area?” Morrison says.
The determined, flexible artist guild continues to adapt, pooling resources to nurture art through the pandemic and beyond. But they’ve always managed to succeed against the odds.
“We morphed from a small artist guild with no home to a full-fledged business with a high-profile storefront on the main street of town! It’s been almost five years and we still can’t quite believe we pulled this off,” Morrison says.
Visit the gallery at 8130 Railroad Ave SE in Snoqualmie, Friday to Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. — with increased health and safety protocols in place. Shop the online store at artgalleryofsnovalley.com/online-store.html
The Art Gallery of SnoValley is open Friday to Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and you can also take a virtual gallery tour at artgalleryofsnovalley.com.
