Map shows where art is throughout Washougal

The hunt for public art in Washougal is a little easier now.

The Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance recently put out a map of all public art viewable in the city. The free maps can be picked up at Washougal City Hall, 1701 C St., the Washougal Community Library, 1661 C St., the Washougal Information Center at Two Rivers Heritage Museum, 1 Durgan St., the Port of Camas-Washougal, 24 S. A St., and the Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce, 422 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas. It can also be downloaded at www.washougalartfestival.org/local-art.

The map lists 25 works of art spread around Washougal, including the Seaman the Dog statue in Reflection Plaza, the Petroglyphs in the tunnel under state Highway 14 and the Captain William Clark bust at city hall.

“(Washougal Parks, Cemetery and Facilities Manager) Suzanne Grover and I sat down and just started making a list of where arts are in Washougal,” said Janice Ferguson, alliance president. “We had a rough map and decided that we just wanted to have a nice brochure we could hand out.”

About 500 maps were printed earlier this month so alliance members could start handing them out and bringing them to different spots around the city. The alliance paid about $2,000 to make up the maps, and funded them using money from the city’s hotel/motel tax, which agencies can apply to use for tourism-related ventures through the Washougal Lodging Tax Committee.

The map was designed by D Studio 21 of Washougal. Ferguson said the alliance has talked about updating the map in future years, but probably won’t do so for at least one year. Some new art is expected in Washougal soon, as the final sculpture in the Women Who Weld’s four-part “Elements” series, “Water,” is expected to be unveiled this year.

The newest sculpture on the map is the Golden Back Heron at Washougal City Hall, which the alliance purchased using money from the first Washougal Arts Festival, held in August 2016. Ferguson said the alliance is planning this year’s festival, which is scheduled Aug. 12.

There are about six people in the alliance, which started roughly three years ago, Ferguson said. It’s made organizing events like the arts festival and public arts map much easier.

“We finally gained enough people that we have the momentum to make things happen,” she said. “Washougal is a great place to come and walk. There are a lot of hidden treasures here we wanted to share.”