About Artstra

We are a nonprofit arts advocacy group in southwest Washington. Our mission is to elevate the arts, build greater arts awareness, reward creative excellence, and expand arts accessibility.

Since our founding and through our two Arts and Culture Summit events, we have consistently seen a growing need for an art center — a center that can offer studio facilities and classrooms with specialized equipment for a variety of art disciplines together with exhibit space and affordable live/work artist lofts.

With the right public/private partnerships, such an art center is economically feasible and can be the catalyst that moves our community toward becoming a vibrant arts hub. But powerful community support and persuasive arts advocacy from organizations like ours will be essential.

Artstra’s programs include our annual Clark County Open Studios tour and Poetry Moves, a collaborative effort that features the words of local poets on C-Tran buses. Another of our programs, Creative Relief Clark County, offers art supplies to communities with limited access to the tools of creativity. All of these programs are demonstrating the power of art in our lives — to heal us, connect us, transform us, and to fuel the economy.

Read the latest ARTS BRIEF!

Our vision is to champion a robust arts community in southwest Washington.

Our mission is to be a catalyst for building out the arts infrastructure in the region with the objective of creating a cohesive and united arts community.

Art nourishes our souls, connects our community, and transforms the world.

Board of Directors meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in Umqua Bank’s Community Room, 101 E 6th St., Vancouver, WA 98660. If you are interested in attending, please contact LaRae Zawodny.

Artstra is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts advocacy group in Clark County and southwest Washington.