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We are committed to promoting local visual artists and arts events. Colville Arts Foundation was established in 2002
by Jane Koelle, Sheila Shanti, Dave Keeley, Jeanne Eichler and Meridee Hatfield. Other artists, citizens who love the arts followed and helped to grow the fledgling organization. By the summer of 2002, CAF had a space in the Heritage Court Building, then owned by Dina Carlson, a Spokane artist.

 CREATIVE: Colville Arts Foundation is a catalyst for bringing creative and artistic people in the region together to present educational arts programs not easily accessible to rural populations.

  ECONOMIC IMPACT: CAF impacts our local economy and benefits our rural population by bringing tourists to Colville who participate in the various arts-related events. Cultural tourism’s foundation is based on the mosaic of the Inland Northwest with its traditions, art forms, celebrations and experiences that portray the diversity and character of our region.

• A growing number of visitors are becoming special interest travelers who rank the arts, heritage and/or other cultural activities as one of the top five reasons for traveling. Visitors have responded by telling CAF that the arts or an arts-related workshop was the reason they chose Colville as a destination either for the day or overnight. Through the proliferation of online services, it is easier for the traveler to choose destinations and customize their itineraries based on their interests.

Many visitors stayed in Colville or the outlying areas and patronized local businesses and food establishments when attending arts events. life drawing classes and/or North Country Artist Trails or Art Around Town. 

Colville Arts Foundation’s website is linked to the Colville Chamber of Commerce and the Spokane Arts Commission.

Our mission is to keep the visual arts alive in Colville—since we no longer have a professional art gallery in Colville. Funding will permit us to advertise, market, and promote the visual artists in and around Colville. Art lovers and visitors and locals meet the artists, visit their studios, and purchase their art through the self-guided visual arts tour that is North Country Artist Trails web site and brochure. North Country Artist Trails is a program of Colville Arts Foundation, a local 501 {c} 3 public non-profit organization. This allows the artists to develop an income stream, supplementing their income due to jobs lost in the traditional mining and logging industries. The brochure is aimed at tourists, and lists restaurants, art events, B&Bs, and other local attractions.

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