Museum of Northwest Art

A nice art collection, focusing on the local. Primarily painting and sculpture, although the space is very nice. The docent was a bit overly solicitous (I’m finding that’s becoming a theme for me, wanting someone who’s helpful but not interfering with the experience). It was nice to stop in, but I don’t feel a need to be a regular or seek it out next time I’m in town. But do go. It’s worth it.

I come here every time I’m in the area. They always have nice shows and often artist talks. Last time I was there I was greeted by a friendly docent who told me all about the work on display. I bought a couple of nice things from the gift shop and signed up for a membership to get updates on what they are doing and 10% off my purchase! Also, entry is free!

The Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA) was a complete gem. They had three (3) exhibitions going on… John Cole — A Historical Perspective, Lucy Mae Martin — Hands On, and Shapes of Abstraction. It was free, however, I supported the arts through a donation. Everyone should support the arts (in general… just because… yeah).

The entrance fee to the museum is modest, but the gift shop is always free to enter. We have visited the museum several times over the decade and the exhibits aren’t rotated all that often giving the impression the collection is small. At least you can count on not being trampled to death by mindless shopping drones.

My family has been here a few time. We enjoy the actual shop and appreciate the fact that the artisans are all local. This past weekend, we actually meandered into the museum for the first time. There a kindly gentleman stopped us to talk AD NAUSEUM about the artist whose works were exhibited. I know this man was probably a museum volunteer, and he was an older gentleman, but he sure was a poor reader of body language, as hubby and I and our young daughter just wanted to walk around quickly and not get an in-​depth biography of the artist and his life philosophy. Art is subjective, and this particular artist wasn’t to our aesthetic tastes, but even if he were, we just wanted to look and leave. It was a hot day, we were only in La Conner for a few hours, and our young kid was in no mood to linger, as was obvious. We tried to break away a few times, to no avail. This gentleman followed us around, hovering nearby, as we looked at the artwork. It took less than 10 minutes to check out the displayed works, with the man in tow, and we left. Leaving the gallery area, we saw a sign posted by the entry saying that admission was $ 5 per person. I’m SO glad that no one insisted we pay, as we wouldn’t have entered had we seen that sign. It was a strange — but thankfully brief — experience.

Great (albeit a very quirkey) little museum. Makes for an interesting diversion from all the shops. The exhibits are centered around the works of artists who lived in the local La Conner area (in abandoned fishing huts along the Skagit River) between 1965 and 1985.
It is sometimes funny, sometimes childish, one piece was even a bit disturbing to my wife; but it is always interesting and certainly worth the $ 5– admission.

I love this store. Oddly I have never walked through the actual museum, but come to the store everytime I am in town. They have great jewelry and toys. Of course they are pricey, it’s a museum store, but have lots of stuff from local artists that woudl probably be just as pricey anywhere else.
Right now they have an amazing collection of glass christmas ornaments. They always have good glass stuff.