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Festival History

The Pend Oreille Valley Lavender Festival began in 2004 as a grass roots endeavor to involve the community in economic development and tourism promotion for our county. The original sponsors WSU/ Pend Oreille County Extension and the Kalispel Tribe of Indians worked with volunteers from the community and other business sponsors to develop a spectacular artisan event when the lavender is in full bloom on the Pend Oreille River.


The original Festival site was a portion of the 259 acre Conner homestead now under the ownership of Jerry and Wendy Kapelke. The grounds were lushly landscaped with myriad mature specimens of flora both indigenous and unique to the area. Thousands of lavender plants were in full bloom during the Festival and many different varieties of lavender were displayed. The glory of the fragrance and color, enhanced by the haunting melodies provided by talented, professional musicians, made this a remarkable open-air market experience. The Festival also offered an introduction to new regional artists and provided garden tours, craft demos, children's activities and great food.

This year, the Festival has relocated to The Park at First and Calispel in Newport, Washington. With over 3000 visitors and 60 vendors in 2007, we needed to move to a site with easier access and room to expand.

In 2008, we are exhibiting large pots of blooming lavender plants arranged throughout the park in Tuscan garden setting. Along with the food and craft vendors, music and entertainment, craft demonstrations, children's activities, we will be adding wine tasting for the first time. In addition to the musicians who have been part of previous festivals, actors will perform excerpts from the most popular productions in the area this year including scenes from Howard's Follies.


Poster Artists - Pend Oreille Valley Lavender Festival

While no one has difficulty imagining a robust relationship between gardeners and farmers with rural life, the artist-rural connection is less evident. Fortunately, events like the Lavender Festival make that too often hidden bond, very explicit. Our Lavender Festival artists have found their inspiration in the vivid, rich natural world of the Pend Oreille Valley. What sustains our community inspires our artists, and they teach us to see. Lavender Festival artists, like so many of the local volunteers who promote this festival with pride, have unique and inspiring stories to share.



Clare E. Clark – 2004 Poster

Clare's creativity was nourished early on by the writers, musicians, and artists in her family. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California Fullerton, Clare settled in Newport, Washington, doing freelance design while she and her husband built their dream home on the Pend Oreille River. Surrounded by such natural beauty, she soon focused solely on painting and teaching the medium of watercolor.

The influence of her two children led Clare to believe that everyone should have the opportunity to recognize his or her creativity. One of her greatest joys is the work she does in the ArtScape after-school program and with students in the schools of Pend Oreille County through the Arts Consortium Project.

Clare is a past member of the Spokane Watercolor Society.



Kate Drum – 2005 & 2007 Posters

Kate manages to bring viewers of her posters to the deep, riverside beauty of the Inland Empire lavender experience. This is a decidedly Western United States rural event and Kate manages a singular kind of Inland Pacific Northwest expression. She lives in wooded Pend Oreille County where daily excursions into the natural environs around her home of 26 years inspire her acrylic and pastel paintings.

"I walk the mountain daily – rain, snow, or shine – taking in the beauty of its surrounds: the lake, beaver pond, creek, mossy rocks and ferns, distant views, forests of old growth ponderosa, larch, fir, hemlock, cedar, maple, birch, cottonwood, aspen. And the wildlife – bear, cougar, bobcat, moose, elk, deer, beaver, weasel, bald eagle, osprey, and blue heron. The woods provide all the line, color, pattern and texture I could ask for."



Nancy J. Knight – 2006 Poster

"Kindergarten and Crayons" is where Nancy Knight, a native of the Phoenix, Arizona area, first discovered her love for creating art. Over the years she has worked with acrylics, graphite, colored pencil, pen and ink, and a bit of printmaking. She now is enjoying the experience of painting with watercolor.

After graduating from Palomar College in San Marcos, California, Nancy moved to Oklahoma where she instructed classes in the photo realistic "pencil rendering" technique at South Eastern Oklahoma State College.

Nancy had a show of her watercolor painting at the Kirtland Cutter Gallery in Metaline Falls, Washington, and at Interplayers in Spokane in the Spring of 2007. She has participated in group shows at CREATE in Newport, and was sponsored by the Spokane Watercolor Society. Nancy lives near Newport, Washington with her husband.

"There is much in this world that is wonderful and beautiful. My desire is to preserve a moment in time. I am happiest when I am using my talent to create images for others to enjoy."



Gloria de los Santos – 2008 Poster

Gloria is our newest artist. She has worked as a professional artist, graphic designer and photographer and is a developer of new methods for visual expression. Currently her work is represented in the Art at Work program at the Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane.

Gloria attended the School of the Art Institute, Chicago, and received a B.A. in Communications Design from University of Illinois. She has lived and worked as an artist in such diverse locations as Bermuda, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles. Her filmography special effects credits include Titanic, Hollowman, Star Trek Insurrection and Mists of Avalon. Currently, she is the arts coordinator for the Orient/Inchelium/Valley Arts Consortium funded through a WSAC grant. She has served as the volunteer Director for the Colville Arts Foundation since 2002. Her web site is www.gloriadelossantos.com