Skagit River Poetry Foundation is proud to announce Guemes Island artist, Cathy Schoenberg, as 2026 Official Poster Artist for 13th Biennial Poetry Festival

“Creativity is so important in our lives, whether you write, or paint, you should just do it.” 

Importance of Creativity

Cathy Schoenberg, Guemes Island artist, wanted to collaborate with the foundation, “Because it’s art and it’s integrated. I love poetry and the foundation, how cool that we have something like that in the Valley. I love supporting any and all [art organizations], it’s so important. Whether you write, or paint, you should do it anyway…it’s so good for your soul.” 

“Our perception changes as we look at art and our mind grows, our mind will actually grow, it’s not only the appreciation of art, it’s more than that.”

Molly McNulty, the Executive Director of the Skagit River Poetry Foundation, approached Cathy to be the next festival poster artist because she loved her work and she thought her art would resonate with Festival attendees.

2026 Festival Poster Art

The original poster art is titled, Book Worm, and invites the viewer to sit down at the desk, reach for a pen, contemplate the words on the page, turn the page and write a few words of their own, reflect and be in the present moment, enjoy a few sips of coffee or tea with bold words of “Book Worm” on the white mug. In the open journal is a line from the poem, Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye, who will be the headliner in our 2026 festival, “Then it is only kindness that makes sense any more.” Words that invite the viewer to step more gently and listen more closely. Words that help us make sense of an unsteady world, this is what poetry and all art can help us do. 

The Growth of an Artist

Cathy Schoenberg has been an integral part of the Skagit Valley art community since the early 1980s. Known for her oil and acrylic paintings, her art studio can be found in Anacortes. When you see a Cathy Schoenberg painting, you enter a world of color with big bold florals, lush leafy plants, simple but beautiful slices of domestic life, cats splayed out on pianos. Even the sweeping emotion and undeniable movement of flamenco dancers fill her canvas. When flowers first appeared in her art, she would take photographs and then paint poppies and tulips, “then I started to make all kinds of crazy things.” 

Cathy was born in Spokane, Washington and began her journey as an artist in high school and attended Spokane’s Fort Wright College where a design course would have an impact on her painting style for the rest of her life. 

Over the years, Cathy experimented with various mediums, including watercolor, and even ceramics. She enjoyed making pottery so much that she acquired her own kiln. She drew for years and then found her way back to oils. “It’s good to switch from one medium to another, it allows you to grow.” She even plays the ukulele in a community band on Guemes Island! 

Style and Inspiration 

“Color and structure is very important to me.” An art teacher once told her to use the colors in her wardrobe to paint. Cathy’s color and subject choice comes from what she’s experienced. She once lived in a cold climate and during that time she decided to paint tropical lush plants and warm colors to imbue warmer vibes.

“I like to draw when I travel,” she says as she leads me to bookshelves full of drawing journals. She tells me about her travels through Spain and taking a flamenco class where she was inspired to sketch and paint the dancers. As Cathy laughs she says, “The dance instructor told me I couldn’t paint the dancers unless I took the class.” She immediately went out and shopped for new clothes and came back and learned how to flamenco dance. A prime example of dedication to her art and dancing outside her comfort zone. 

Approach to Art, Approach to Life

Cathy approaches her work by starting out with a basic idea, “then I let the painting go where it wants to go. I don’t think about the final product, I just think of one thing at a time, like the Buddhist way. Be sure of one thing and then finish it and go on to the next. The way life should be,” she says.“I would like people to feel peace when they look at my artwork.”

Artist and Advocate

Cathy serves on the Guemes Island library board because she feels very strongly about books, the power of reading, and how libraries play a crucial role as places of connection, exploration, and support for diverse communities. She features banned books in a few of her paintings as she points around her studio – I see Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird and Tom Robbins’ Still Life with Woodpecker, larger than life on canvas. 

Thank you, Cathy

The foundation would like to thank Cathy for her collaboration. Her artistic approach reminds us that a basic idea, feeling, or word can bloom and take on its own life for a refreshing surprise. Presence teaches us about possibility and slowing down to allow the space to be sure of yourself and to take that first step towards empathy. Her creative process can instruct us that rooting yourself in the now is critical for growth and self discovery. Our poets and teachers witness these surprises in our classrooms when students make that first mark on the page, and write the first few words of their story. They become more certain and confident and then a burst of creative expression arrives and surprises them as they write poems in a supportive environment.

The Anacortes Art Walk  is the first Friday of each month. Her studio is at 1010 5th Street in Anacortes, #320. Find Cathy’s art at Scott Milo Gallery’s website, scottmilo.com. Follow her on Instagram, @SchoenbergCathy.

The 13th Biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival will be held in LaConner on October 22 – 24, 2026. The festival brings a diverse group of poetic voices from around the nation to facilitate workshops for the local community.  

The Skagit River Poetry Foundation’s mission is to support lifelong literacy and cultural diversity through the writing, reading, performing, and teaching of poetry in Northwest Washington schools and communities. Our Poets in Schools program places teaching poets in Skagit, Island, and Whatcom County school districts for one week residencies to explore and create poetry with K-14 students.  More info at SkagitRiverPoetry.org.

The support of our community keeps us going. If you’d like to ensure that our small nonprofit stays strong and keeps supporting students, please consider donating funds. 

Donate online at: SkagitRiverPoetry.org/donate or, send check or money order to: Skagit River Poetry Foundation, PO Box 238, La Conner, WA 98257

Written by Cora Thomas, Former Executive Assistant & Marketing, Skagit River Poetry Foundation

Photo Credits: Cora Thomas