Visual Arts Committee Presents:

Featured Artist: Ponch Immel

Community Show: Ceramics and Watercolors

Art Drop-Off: Wednesday, October 23rd from 10:15am – 12pm
Art Opening: Friday, October 25th from 5:30pm – 7pm
On Display through November 19th
Pick up: Wednesday, November 20th from 10:15am – 12pm

Featured Artist: Ponch Immel

Artist Statement:
Creativity is A muscle Which must be exercised!

I attended art school for almost 4 years but am mainly self-taught. Taught through books, museums, and galleries around the world.

At the age of three while drawing and sculpting sand at the beach in Minnesota I had an epiphany which left me ecstatic. I don’t think that I even knew the word “artist”, but I knew this was what I was meant to do.

When I make art, I rarely have a firm idea. I usually just go at it breaking up the space (2 or 3 dimensionally) in an interesting way, and at some point, it tells me what it wants to be.

Whatever you see in my work is the correct interpretation. Let your imagination loose!

Ponch was born in 1951 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Growing up she was consumed by two things: Art and living in the mountains. With that top of mind, she headed to the University of Montana in 1969 to study art and live in the mountains. She left Montana in 1973 for 3 years in California expanding her life experience and continued her studies at San Jose State University. Ultimately, she and her husband, Mike moved onto Chicago where she began a family. In 1979 they then moved back to Minneapolis. In December of 1989 they moved to Washington and shortly after arriving, discovered the San Juan Islands. Being from Minnesota where everyone has a lake cabin they decided on a boat – their cabin on the water. In 1991 they took their first family vacation on the water to the San Juans. They made stops at all the usual destinations but found two of their favorites to be Rosario and Deer Harbor. They continued to visit with their three daughters and friend every year after that with the goal of moving to Orcas permanently when possible. With children leaving home and selling the family business, they moved to Orcas Island at the beginning of the pandemic purchasing our house and moving full-time to Orcas in 2019.

Community Show: Ceramics and Watercolors

Orcas Center’s Visual Arts Committee (VAC) is calling all Orcas artists to showcase your creativity and passion for ceramics and watercolors!

Community shows are open to ALL island artists, beginning and experienced alike. Its purpose is to showcase island art and celebrate the creativity of our neighbors! To exhibit in a community show, an artist needs to come on the Delivery Day (for this show, Wednesday, October 23rd from 10:15am – 12pm with their artwork ready to be hung or displayed on a podium. Join us for the reception on Friday, October 25th starting at 5:30pm to see the full show with featured artist, Ponch Immel!

Important Dates:

Art Drop-Off: Wednesday, October 23rd from 10:15am – 12pm
Art Opening: Friday, October 25th from 5:30pm – 7pm
On Display through November 19th
Pick up: Wednesday, November 20th from 10:15am – 12pm

To learn more about exhibiting your art, please visit: www.OrcasCenter.org/VAC