It would be hard to imagine a Washington day more beautiful than the recent Sunday in LaConner when the Flintridge Foundation chose to present its visual art awards for Northwest and California artists at the Museum of Northwest Art.

The Flintridge Foundation gives a $25,000 award to five artists from Washington and Oregon and five from California. The award recognizes “artists who have sustained a career in the arts for twenty years or more, but are not currently recognized at a national level commensurate to the quality of their work.” Northwest artists receiving the award for 2004 were familiar ones: Randy Hayes, Robert Helm, Robert C. Jones, James Lavadour, and Akio Takamori. The California artists: Carl Cheng, Lewis deSoto, Mike Henderson, Oliver Jackson, and Susan Rankiatis - none of whom I knew prior to this event - were a similar group, but their art reflected the great artistic traditions, sunny climate, and urban grit of the Golden State.

Flintridge recipients tend to be artists who have labored at their craft for a long time, usually showing at a commercial gallery every few years while on the faculty of a state University. They have long ago ceased to generate a high level of interest among collectors but are too young for the sweeping career retrospective. Many have focused their attention on public art commissions over the years and do not fit into conventional categories.

To me, these men and women are the unsung heroes of the art world. Collectively they have taught thousands, brought established art traditions to the West Coast, and helped define regional styles. Most important of all, they had the guts to commit to a lifetime of art making. Lord knows it must not have been easy. But it must be pleasant to contemplate such struggles from the beautiful vantage point of a sunny Skagit Valley afternoon.