WOW! What a year it has been at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. We are so grateful for the ways in which our community, members, volunteers, donors, grantors and sponsors have sustained us. Together we’ve brought the profound impact of art into the lives of others this year.
Art adds beauty, challenges us, connects us to the range of human emotion, and provides so many avenues of expression. Everywhere we look, art and visual communications are part of our daily lives and integral to our understanding of the world.
We are SO grateful for those of you who, through your actions, demonstrate that you too value the transformative power and crucial connections made through art. Whether that is through your direct donations, your sponsorship, your participation at PAFAC events, or your willingness to volunteer your time with our programs, we appreciate YOU and we know that you get it! Art changes lives and everyone should have the opportunity to experience the joy of creative expression.
As we close out the year with immense gratitude for the incredible community surrounding us, we are also looking ahead to how we continue to keep the doors open so that every aspiring artist, from our youngest to oldest, can have access. We know this is only possible through sustained giving and that only together, we create greater access to free and affordable programs.
With an eye towards the next year of fulfilling our mission we are asking for your support. in 2025 we are thrilled to bring in several high caliber exhibits with internationally renowned artists including Courtney Mattison, Diane Roy, Joseph Rossano, and Jennifer Angus. It is a true leap of faith that our community will come alongside us to help us sustain these offerings as we continue to open our gallery doors free of charge.
Affordable and free programming is SO important for creating access to art, which is why the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center puts your donation to work by offering:
- Free year round entrance to the Esther Webster Gallery and Webster’s Woods Sculpture Park
- Integrated arts education through partnership with the Port Angeles School District for free classroom visits and free field trips
- Free events, festivals, and performances throughout the year for community members of all ages
In 2024, we connected nearly 8,000 people to the arts and supported more than 400 artists from around the region in exhibiting and selling their work through our gallery, gift store, Wintertide Makers Market, and Art Park. We additionally, welcomed approximately 30,000 visits from around the world to Webster’s Woods Sculpture Park.
Our programming in the last year has included quarterly community conversations and poetry readings, 4 gallery exhibitions, 2 outdoor exhibitions, 11 youth, family and adult workshops, two weeks of summer art camp serving 90 families, school-based education programming on our campus and within school classrooms for over 1000 local students, a three week holiday makers market and winter lighted sculpture experience, and finally, three outdoor art festivals drawing nearly 1600 people to our campus.
We are proud to offer these opportunities for people to explore their creativity, discover new skills, and feel more connected, but it is not possible without the incredible generosity of our supporters. We invite you to consider an end of the year donation. Your donation today will keep our gallery entrance free for all, art education in our schools, and enable us to continue offering free events where our community can celebrate and experience art together.
We look forward to connecting with your in 2025! Thank you for making it a wonderful year.
