Arts Organization Continues to Shine Nearly Three Decades Since Founding
For twenty-nine years, the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) has been a beacon for creatives, changemakers, and community members—enriching lives through powerful, shared experiences in the arts. The nonprofit opened its doors in May 1996 after a ten-year, grassroots effort to establish the organization and it has grown over the years to provide more than 120 days of arts, educational, and cultural programming for its 15,000 patrons annually.
“The arts matter, and we firmly believe in their power to inspire, connect, and enrich,” says Executive Artistic Director Deana Duncan. “This year we are celebrating nearly three decades of impactful work on Whidbey Island, and we wouldn’t be here without everyone who has come before us—the staff, board members, and volunteers who have made all of this possible. Our community has left its mark on this organization in so many ways. From financial and creative support to literally building this space from the ground up, WICA is a testament to the compassion, dedication, and artistic genius of our community.”
With three heritage festivals—DjangoFest Northwest, Whidbey Island Film Festival, and Celtic Festival—numerous educational opportunities, a student scholarship, and programming that brings music, theatre, dance, the visual arts, and the humanities to its Langley campus, WICA is part of the very fabric of the island’s identity.
As the organization has grown, so have its community partnerships, which have explored numerous creative ways to connect with issues related to the future of farming, sustainability, aging, and the role that the arts play in our educational institutions. For 29 years, WICA has withstood economic difficulties and a global health pandemic, and has emerged as a beacon of artistic light on a local and regional level.
As Island County’s largest arts organization, WICA employs 600 regional, national, and international artists annually. It has been recognized by Theatre Puget Sound for its dedication to the community, winning the People’s Choice Award for North Puget Sound for two consecutive years. As WICA looks ahead to the monumental anniversary in 2026, it does so with a sense of pride for what has been accomplished and a renewed commitment to the very community that has made this all possible.