10/12/2026
A History of Art and Artists in Stanwood-Camano Island by the decade: Part 11
The 2010s
In the 2010s, the Stanwood and Camano Island area grew as a rural creative hub. The decade featured expanding local studio tours, vibrant community guild exhibitions at the Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center, and the 2017 launch of the Stanwood Camano Arts Advocacy Commission (SCAAC) to unite regional creators. The annual Camano Island Studio Tour expanded its reach, connecting independent island artists with mainland visitors in downtown Stanwood. Groups like the Stanwood Camano Arts Guild hosted popular spring shows and seasonal exhibits. The regional treasure hunt, Glass Quest, launched. Venues like the Matzke Fine Art Gallery and Sculpture Park and local historic schoolhouses provided year-round showcases for regional sculptors, painters, and mixed-media artists.
2015, Watercolor artist Nicki Wight moved to Camano Island. After retiring as a graphic designer, she transitioned to painting and became an active member of the local arts community, opening her studio for the Camano Island Studio Tour.
2015, Barcelona native and fused-glass artist Dolors Ruscha (of Accents in Glass) established her studio on Camano Island. After studying art at the Praff Fine Arts Center in Seattle and training at the Pilchuck Glass School, she creates her Camano Island gallery and studio.
2017, David A. Cassera, the son of late painter and president of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters, G.D. Cassera and the owner of two Pacific Northwest gallery locations (Vancouver, B.C. and La Conner, WA), and who is an international specialist in the traditional arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, opened Que Sera Gallery in Camano Commons Marketplace Loft.
2016, Sunnyshore Studio opened across the street from the original Jack and Ann Dorsey homestead. Run by Jason and Jenny Dorsey, its mission is to showcase the Dorsey family of artists and to share beauty through art, books, and film.
2016, Camano Island artist John Hadley, Jr. became a full-time resident of Camano. Before moving to the area and joining the Camano Arts Association, he had a 50-year career as an architect and real estate professional, studying at Dartmouth College and the USC School of Architecture.
2017, Nationally recognized artist Shogo Oto moved to Camano Island and established his Tireman studio that specializes in branding, large-scale murals, design, custom illustration, and more.
2017, the board of the Camano Art Association met at Sunnyshore Studio to create a three-year vision and strategic plan. One initiative of that plan was to build a partnership between art organizations, local businesses, and civic and educational institutions to make Stanwood-Camano a center and destination for art. A grassroots group began to meet monthly at Stanwood City Hall to forge that partnership, eventually naming themselves the Stanwood-Camano Art Advocacy Commission (SCAAC).
2019, nationally acclaimed acrylic artist Jed Dorsey moved to Camano Island and established Dorsey Fine Art Studio in the Loft at Camano Commons. In 2019, he launched Acrylic University, an online art community and teaching platform, which now has over 3,000 members from around the world.
