MONA: Museum of Northwest Art

About this museum

La Conner is a small waterfront town in the Skagit Valley that has been an artists' refuge since the 1940s, when painters like Morris Graves and Guy Anderson found in its light and landscape a quality that suited their contemplative, Northwest - inflected vision. The Museum of Northwest Art - MONA - is the institution that grew from that tradition, and today it stands as the most authoritative showcase for the art of the Pacific Northwest, presenting rotating exhibitions that range from the founding generation of the Northwest School to contemporary artists redefining what it means to make work in this corner of the country. Housed at 121 South First Street in La Conner, the museum's galleries are organized to reward close looking, with enough space between works to let each painting or sculpture breathe. The programming extends beyond exhibitions: workshops and educational events draw participants from across the region, reinforcing MONA's role as an active arts community hub rather than a static repository. With a rating of 4.7 stars from more than 200 reviews, the museum has earned loyal visitors who return season after season to see what the new exhibitions bring. Admission is free - genuinely, without asterisks - making MONA one of the most generous cultural institutions in Washington State. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, with hours of 10 AM to 5 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Thursdays, and noon to 5 PM on Mondays and Sundays. Mondays are closed during some periods; confirm at monamuseum.org. If the Skagit Valley tulip fields are what draws you to this region in spring, let MONA be the reason you linger into the afternoon.