Community Art Programs
Every summer, Alchemy Art Center brings a robust line-up of free activities and programs to our island community. Thanks to partnerships with Island Rec, The Family Resource Center, the San Juan Island Sculpture Park, and the Farmers Market, our activities touch the lives of hundreds of kids and adults and each season. Activities are created and led by different cohorts of seasonal visiting artists, as part of our Artists in Community Program. Our community programming is made possible through the support of ArtsFund, ArtsWA, Tulalip Charitable Funds, the San Juan Island Community Foundation, the San Juan County Arts Council, and by generous donations from our community members. Thank you for helping us bring art to islanders!
Take a look at our 2025 schedule of FREE community art programs!
Looking for our big giant calendar of all of our programming, like classes, yoga, music, etc? Check that out here.
Past Projects and Programs
In 2024 Alchemy served over 4500 islanders - many were reached through activities led by our Artists in Community program.
In 2024-2025, Alchemy has expanded its partnerships with the SJI Library, the Family Resource Center, SJI Pride Foundation, Island Rec, and the Mullis Center to year-round free activities. Previously, most of our Artists in Community programming took place between the months of June and August. Through activities like Indigo Dye, Outdoor Gear Repair, Small Sculpted Faces, and a variety drawing and painting programs for young kids, we have been able to more extensively reach both the youngest and the oldest members of San Juan Island. To stay up to date with our year-round programming, visit our calendar or our instagram page.
Recent Artist in Community Programming:
String and Shadow & Up Up Up Circus
In 2024 master craftspeople and performers String and Shadow Puppet Circus as well as fan-favorite Up Up Up Circus came to San Juan Island on their summer tours. Both troops performed at the SJI County Fairgrounds, and was sponsored and hosted by Alchemy Art Center. We love being able to host other arts organizations so they are able to bring their skills and stories out into the Salish Sea. Keep an eye out for these performers in 2025!
SJI Pride 2024
The San Juan Pride Foundation always puts on a beautiful festival, this past year it was at Brickworks. Alchemy set up a booth in the newly constructed permanent stalls alongside the Brickworks pavilion, where we featured a number of different activities led by our visiting artists. Among these were screenprinting a custom Pride 2024 design, a community mural, mask-making, and face painting. Through our partnership with SJI Pride we are able to help both young and old LGBT+ islanders express themselves artistically.
Art in the Park
Every year one of our most successful and popular programs is our Art in the Park series from June-August. We partner with Island Rec to host pop-up activities in Linde Park every other Sunday, and usually draw anywhere between 13-30 participants per session. Some of our most beloved Linde activities from last year include: Ceramic Basket Making, Make Your Monster, Scrap Fabric Puppet Making, and Indigo Dye.
Eel Grass Tile Mural
Through the winter of 2024-2025 Alchemy partnered with the Friends of the San Juans and Waterworks Gallery to make a tile mural celebrating Eelgrass, an important habitat in the Salish Sea. More than 150 Islanders made uniquely shaped and decorated ceramic tiles which were assembled into a 24’ long mural depicting fronds of Eelgrass. We are still looking for a permanent home for the artpiece, but it is currently on display at the Friends of the San Juans office building, downtown Friday Harbor.
Community Mural Project
During the early days of the Pandemic, Alchemy created a community mosaic project that islanders could participate in from home. The project, a 15-foot salmon made up of about 240 individual tiles, was intended to create a feeling of connection and collaboration during what was an incredibly difficult and isolated time for everyone. The salmon image was chosen for its key role in our Salish Sea ecosystem, and it’s symbolism for our interdependence.
Some 80 quarantined islanders participated in the first salmon, working from home to create their unique pieces of the larger whole. This project grew to include kids from Camp Eagle Rock and the Family Resource Center. In the summer of 2021, a new double-sided version was created on-site at the San Juan Island Sculpture Park, to be permanently installed as a freestanding sculpture in the collection. This piece was created with the help of hundreds of
