Twenty-three artists will open their studios during the 33rd annual Artist’s Studio Tour Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Many of the studios also include guest artists, meaning the tour actually includes 66 island artists. The Journal connected with four of these guest artists, each long time islanders: Amanda Azous at Kristen Reitz-Green’s studio, Daniel Finn at Susan Williams Roseblade’s studio, Jim Nollman at Gretchen Allison’s studio and Lynn Mercer at Mary Gey McCulloch’s studio.
As a San Juan island resident who loved art but grew up with limited access to resources on the island, Maria Michaelson had a vision. She longed to create opportunities and accessibility for islanders, particularly island youth, to explore and experiment with different art forms. Her dreams were realized as the co-founder and co-director of Alchemy Art Center, a non-profit community art center which offers monthly memberships, classes, workshops and seasonal artist residencies. However, her original vision had never involved meeting her future husband through the process, nor that he would be the other co-founder of the organization.