These Times

A seed has been sown in downtown Shelton

Kirk Ericson | Aug 01, 20240

Marmo Caffe & Gallery, one of the newest businesses in Shelton, is a few doors down Cota Street from the Journal, the oldest business in Mason County.

When I entered Marmo for the first time several months ago, I saw tables of Italian marble, I saw framed paintings and photos artfully spaced and displayed against white walls, I saw a bathroom that’s one of the most attractive bathrooms I’ve ever done business in, I saw food products for sale from Europe and I saw the elegance of its caffeine-production machinery.

“This place isn’t going to make it,” I thought. “It’s way too nice for Shelton.”

And I thought the owner, Isa Radojcic, was naive to think a place like this could find a life in Shelton.

Turns out, I was the naïve one, and it was the worst kind of naivety — naivety born of cynicism. It was based on what I thought I knew about Shelton and the other small towns I’ve lived and worked in, and from growing up in the biggest small town in our state, Spokane. I’ve seen an inertia in small towns that fosters suspicion of newcomers and new approaches and often values proven longevity over proven competence in its people. I figured that inertia was fixed, as permanent as the tide.

Now, Marmo has become something of the epicenter of Shelton’s effort to craft a state-sanctioned Creative District, anchored along Cota Street. For several months, Marmo has hosted the many people who pulled off Saturday’s inaugural Shelton Art Walk, which drew more than 1,000 people to downtown Shelton from midafternoon to 10 p.m.

On Saturday around 5 p.m., one hour into Art Walk, I caught up with Jae Hill, Shelton’s Community and Economic Development director. Hill on Saturday exuded the alertness and fatigue of a new dad, except this baby has had a gestation period of two years, and it’s still not fully birthed — that happens when Shelton’s application for establishing the Downtown Shelton Creative District is fully accepted by a state commission. And then you have to raise the child …

“This is the first thing I’ve participated in that’s been built from scratch,” said Hill, who took the Shelton job two years ago after nearly two decades working in planning for King County government. “This is not your traditional planning.”

One of Hill’s aims is to make Shelton Art Walk sustainable for the long haul, through grants, dedicated tax revenue and increased business activity, all of which require creating “a more pedestrian-friendly environment to create more business,” Hill said. “We’ve seen a couple of new businesses open in just the last few months.”

Sixteen parking spaces have been added along Cota Street by shifting from parallel parking to angle-in parking, which narrows the width of the street, forcing vehicles to slow. The spots are marked with fresh white paint. Planter boxes have been added on both sides of the street, and new white line curve out before the intersection with 3rd Street, forcing vehicles to slow further. Catenary lights over Cota Street, which were installed for free by PUD 3 and purchased for less than $400, illuminate the area at night with a glow that’s of lower intensity than streetlights.

“I’ve run into a lot of positivity and negativity” during the course of the project, Hill said. “But it’s been a broad coalition that’s gotten us to this day.”

“Today feels like Christmas and a birthday on the same day.”

Glenhelen Smither, an artist who was a full-time art teacher at CHOICE High School for five years, is a member of the Shelton Creative District Committee. We chatted Saturday while standing next to vases she made, vases painted in the sunny colors found in French Provencal art.

Smither helped “bring in the artists” for the event, saying “We received 80 applications for vendors a month ago.” They had about 30 vendors and 20 participating businesses at Saturday’s event.

“What’s the value of creating art?” I asked Smither.

“It’s more than just creating art,” she said. “When we think of creativity, you’re tapping into your own creative process … the way you think, the way you know, and when you do that, you’re fully engaged.”

Out-of-towner Jenny Lyon was strolling along Cota Street on Saturday, taking in the views.

“We were visiting our property near Lake Cushman and heard about this event and we decided to see it,” Lyon said. “It’s good to see people out like this because normally there aren’t a lot of people out in downtown. This is nice. It’s a cute little town.”

I pointed out the new white lines for the new parking spots.

“The lines are very nice,” she said.

I told Lyon that this event seems fundamentally different than the other parades and festivals that downtown Shelton hosts each year.

“Maybe they’re based on nostalgia,” she replied.

Ahh.

Maybe Saturday’s event is imagining our future, not recalling our past.

Perhaps that’s a fundamental element of the effect creativity can have on us. Whether it’s a moonrise or flower vase cast in soft yellows and blues, art can make us slow down and see more of what’s before us and what’s ahead of us, much like the angle-in parking, catenary lights and extended white lines can make us slow down, and perhaps see more of what there is to see.