City of Port Townsend Artist Directory
February 13, 2026
In 2020 the City of Port Townsend, Washington (my hometown) applied for and was granted a state-sanctioned creative district within its boundaries. This designation opens up opportunities for the city to gain recognition for its artists and to apply for grants to help support the creative community.
One of the ways the City wanted to help artists was to create an artist directory that could bring attention to working artists within the district. This would help artists get more visibility within and outside of the community, and to connect with patrons and each other to create new opportunities.
Harmonic Northwest was selected to make it happen, having helped out with the website before and leading multiple years of marketing efforts for the Soundcheck Arts Festival. You can check out the results here:
Harmonic Northwest designed the experience using Figma. We built upon the existing WordPress site, adding templates, styles and scripts, and installing and configuring some key third-party plugins. We ensured that the updates were compatible with their existing Elementor setup and other plugins. We created documentation for users and provided training to allow office staff to manage everything.
People browsing the site can view a listing of artists arranged in a grid with a photo of their work as the primary image and a small profile image overlaying that. Users can filter by artistic discipline, use a search box or sort the listings (by date joined or alphabetical).
The directory allows artists to self-register and then create and manage their own profiles. Artists can add a bio, links to social media and portfolio sites, and add images and video. They can also do basic account management such as changing their password.
Administrators can edit artist profile content and also are responsible for approving artist registrations.
The site currently features over 100 artists—not too shabby for a town of only about 10,000 people. The artists get some exposure, the city gets to show off its remarkable lineup of creative talent, and everybody wins.
Shoutout to the extraordinarily resourceful Ryan Niswonger for leading the development effort on this one.
