In April, the Orcas Island Library’s “Art in the Library” series will feature an exhibit of paintings, prints and sculpture by artist Ponch Immel. 

Ponch recalls, “At the age of three, while drawing and sculpting sand at the beach in Minnesota I had an epiphany which left me ecstatic. I don’t think that I even knew the word “artist”, but I knew this was what I was meant to do.” Ponch attended art school, but still considers herself largely self-taught, inspired by books and museums around the world. “Creativity is a muscle which must be exercised!”, she says.  

Ponch grew up in Minneapolis and after moving with her family to Washington in 1989, settled on Orcas in 2019.