Washougal Arts and Music Festival has lasting impact

As the Mount St. Helens Institute’s artist in residence, Washougal painter Susan Fronckowiak cannot take part in this year’s Washougal Arts and Music Festival, set to take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Reflection Plaza in downtown Washougal, but she said the event is still close to her heart.

Fronckowiak said her first appearance at the Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance’s annual event in 2024 reminded her that people can never know how a single conversation might impact their lives or touch someone else’s.

“A few exchanged words, a moment of genuine listening or a shared story can shift perspectives, open hearts or plant a seed of change that grows quietly over time,” Fronckowiak said. “Sometimes it’s only in hindsight that we realize how deeply we were touched or how much we learned or offered simply by being present. Every conversation holds the quiet potential to connect, heal, inspire or awaken something new.”

It all began when a Washougal middle-school student named Rachel Foote stopped by Fronckowiak’s booth at the 2024 Washougal Arts and Music Festival to say she loved the artist’s paintings, especially one depicting Mount Hood under a pink sky.

“I gifted her that painting,” said Fronckowiak, the owner of the Treehouse Art Studio in Washougal. “Throughout the day, she kept returning and we ended up having many sweet conversations.”

Rachel told Fronckowiak that she attends Gales Creek Camp, operated by The Gales Creek Camp Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Tigard, Ore., that provides camp experiences to children and families affected by diabetes. She told Fronckowiak that “it would be amazing” if the Washougal artist came to the camp to paint sometime.

“That moment stuck with me,” Fronckowiak said.

Several days later, Fronckowiak reached out to camp leaders and told them about her encounter with Rachel. Almost one year later, on July 29, she spent an entire day at the camp, reuniting with her young friend while helping more than 40 campers paint trucker hats.

“The best part? Seeing each camper light up and make something (of) their own,” Fronckowiak said. “They were reminded that they are ‘the artists of their own lives.’”

Fronckowiak said her appearance at the camp and newfound friendship with Rachel happened “because a young person took a risk and spoke up to someone a lot older than her and asked for something she wanted.”

She credited the Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance with creating an all-ages community event that could foster such a connection.

“The invitation for all of us is to strike up a conversation with someone new,” Fronckowiak said. “We never know what stories we’ll share, what connections we’ll spark or how a simple chat might brighten both our days.”

Fronckowiak has already arranged to return to the camp next year to help Rachel and the other campers paint a mural.

“Let’s keep encouraging young people to use their voices,” she said. “You never know what it might lead to.”

Doug Flanagan: 360-735-4669; doug.flanagan@columbian.com

IF YOU GO

What: 2025 Washougal Arts and Music Festival

Who: Sponsored by the Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance

When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9

Where: Reflection Plaza, 1703 Main St., Washougal

Artists: Richard Britschgi, Barbara Bureker, Heidi Cardoza, Tamara Dinius, LesleyAnne Ezelle, Alecia Hall, Kellie Kuter, Kevin D. Miller, Sandy Moore, Ellen Nordgren, Sue Pak, Jason Payton, Peg Peppler, John Relyea, Christy and Berton Atherton Schrack, Cyndee Starr, Hiroko Stumpf, Erin Thornbrue and Tom West

More information: washougalarts.org/washougal-arts-festival