On Whidbey Island, art isn’t confined to gallery walls—it spills onto weathered barns, into forested sculpture gardens, across tide-washed beaches, and through the stories shared between neighbors. The island’s creative culture is as alive and evolving as the landscapes that shape it.
Artists here don’t just make things—they make meaning. Whether they’re sculpting memory into stone or improvising with brush and pigment, there’s a shared sense of purpose: to connect, to reflect, and to inspire.
What sets this community apart isn’t just the volume of artists living and working here—it’s the way creativity is integrated into the rhythm of everyday life. Art is not a separate practice. It’s part of how the island sees itself, how it remembers its past, and how it welcomes others in.
Telling stories
That spirit of expression and remembrance is one of the first things sculptor Alexandra Morosco noticed when she began creating memorial pieces for families across the island and beyond. “When people get to memorialize other lives and loves, it’s a different experience,” she shares. “They tell me a story, and we capture an image together. My favorite part of this work is always the first interviews, where I get a glimpse of what needs to be said and remembered to keep someone alive.”
Her process—collaborative, intentional, deeply personal—isn’t uncommon on Whidbey Island. Across the island, you’ll find artists who aren’t just producing work for display, but creating in conversation with the land, their neighbors, and the stories that bind them.
One of the best ways to witness that connection is through the Whidbey Working Artists Studio Tour, returning this summer on August 16 and 17, from 10am–5pm. The annual event invites visitors into the private studios of more than 30 local artists for a rare, self-guided look behind the scenes. You’ll find painters, ceramicists, sculptors, glass artists, and more—each offering a glimpse into the tools, spaces, and inner lives that shape their work.
Giving experiences
For Alicia Elliott, an artist, musician, and teacher who now directs the tour, it’s more than just a weekend of art—it’s a way of honoring what this community gave her. “When I started, I moved here with the aspiration to be an artist—and I’m still aspiring,” she says. “But Kay Parsons, who headed up this organization, didn’t blink an eye about including me in the tour. She threw an emotional arm around my shoulder and brought me in.”
Now in her second year leading the event, Alicia is focused on creating that same sense of belonging for others. “I want to give that experience to other people—people who come here, or are thinking about making art, or are just curious. That ‘yes, you are, and you can.’ You can be that artist you want to be.”
That affirmation—spoken or unspoken—echoes throughout the Whidbey Island arts community. For many, like longtime landscape painter and teacher Diana Sanford, the work begins not with a concept, but with the freedom to explore. “I developed a workshop called Jam Session, like musicians jamming with no agenda,” she explains. “It helps people get into the improvisational process of painting and stay there longer. It’s not about what you’re imposing on the canvas—it’s about what you’re seeing emerge. It’s a relationship.”
That idea—a relationship with the canvas, with the land, with each other—is at the heart of what makes Whidbey Island’s art scene so distinct. It’s not transactional, it’s transformational.
Whether you’re walking a coastal trail that leads to a sculpture forest, browsing a co-op gallery in town, or speaking directly with an artist during the tour, one thing becomes clear: creativity here is less about the final product and more about the shared experience. It’s a conversation, not a performance.
And in that way, the Whidbey Island art community becomes more than just a place to see beautiful things—it becomes a place to belong.
