In this issue:

• Message from the director:  it’s our 40^th anniversary!

• The deadline to apply for 2012-2013 Civic Partners funding for organizations is Wednesday, June 8.

• Our Youth Arts funding program will invest $125,000 in 34 youth programs that offer arts training outside of school hours for Seattle’s middle and high school youth.

• Due to uncertainty regarding the city of Seattle’s 2012 budget, we have decided to postpone opening applications for the CityArtist funding program.

• Mayor Mike McGinn has appointed Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi to the Seattle Arts Commission.

• Artist Rob Ley will create a permanent artwork for Fire Station 20 on the west side of Queen Anne Hill.

• Cloud Haiku by Nickolus Meisel is a series of four cast-bronze pillows arranged along the Seattle Streetcar’s Westlake Avenue and Seventh Avenue stop.

• Beginning in July, Seattle Presents free concerts are back for the summer.

• Head down to Pioneer Square’s Occidental Square and see Gallery (206), a phone booth repurposed to contain the work of more than 200 Seattle artists, kicking off ArtSparks.

• Four photographers collaborate with dancers, musicians and actors to move beyond the fleeting moments of a performance to create powerful visual metaphors, on view at City Hall through July 11.

• Join in a discussion about bringing community projects in art, culture and design to the Seattle Center’s 50^th anniversary celebration.

• Get in on the Arts Crush action this October.

Image: This flag flew at the May 11 opening of Seattle as Collector: Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs Turns 40 at Seattle Art Museum. Seattle as Collector is a 40th anniversary retrospective exhibition of artworks from the Portable Works Collection. The opening drew more than 400 people. Photo by Spike Mafford.