Have a knack for numbers? We’re hiring an accountant to track project budgets, analyze city financial reports, prep revenue and expenditure reports, assist in developing the department’s operating budget and more. The position is half-time, but additional hours above 20 hours per week may be required. Interested? Click here to read the job description and apply online. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Seattle Center seeks programming for Fun Forest site
Seattle Center is seeking proposals for “fun, imaginative and family-friendly” activities to enliven space once occupied by amusement rides.
Next month, Fun Forest Amusements (FFA), Inc. – which has operated at Seattle Center for 47 years – will consolidate its amusement rides in an area south of the Monorail station, freeing up 68,000 square feet of outdoor space.
Selected proposals will be for temporary attractions and events between May 2010 and December 2011. In January 2012, Seattle Center will start preparing its facilities and grounds for a six-month celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.
The deadline to submit proposals is Monday, Jan. 18, 2010. Download the Request for Proposals.
Image: Ferris wheel at night during Winterfest 2002. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.
Accepting applications for Youth Arts funding
We are accepting applications for our Youth Arts funding program which supports arts training for Seattle’s middle and high school youth beyond the regular school day.
Individual artists, artist teams, arts and cultural organizations, and/or youth and community service agencies with nonprofit status or fiscal sponsorship are eligible to apply. Priority is placed on serving youth or communities with limited access to arts and culture. Funding awards range from $1,500 to $10,000 for projects in all artistic disciplines that take place between September 2010 and September 2011. The application deadline is Feb. 23, 2010.
“Arts training nurtures the imagination, boosts confidence and opens pathways to success for young people,” said Michael Killoren, director of the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. “The arts inspire discipline, hard work and the joy of creative expression, all elements of a well-rounded education.”
For more information and to access the online application click here.
Image: Students rehearse for the Pat Graney Company’s House of Mind performance. Photo by Tim Summers.
Klezmer and medieval-choir music close 2009 concerts
Holiday spirit need a boost? Here’s our prescription. A measure of medieval-choir music and a dash of klezmer tunes. Tuesday, Dec. 15, the Medieval Women’s Choir sings Spanish and Italian holiday selections from noon to 1 p.m., at Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 Fifth Ave. The Klez Kats offer “joyous klezmer, lilting waltzes, mysterious gypsy and Middle Eastern music influenced by Jewish tradition and culture,” Thursday, Dec. 17, noon to 1 p.m., at City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave.
The concerts are part of the Seattle Presents concert series presented year round by our office. We’ll be back in January with Hawaiian ukulele music and Scottish bagpipes to chase away the winter blues. Details here.
Public art centerpiece of top U.S. park
Forbes.com recently named Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park among the top 12 of America’s Best City Parks. The focal point of this urban oasis in one of the city’s densest neighborhoods is Waterworks, a water feature and public artwork designed by artist Douglas Hollis with The Berger Partnership.
Located over the lidded Lincoln Reservoir, Waterworks is a striking asymmetrical cone. Water flows down the cone into a series of runnels and pools, depicting the various properties of water in motion and stillness. Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art funds supported the project.
Image: Douglas Hollis, Water Works, 2005, Cal Anderson Park, Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art.
SAM offers free admission to police and fire personnel
The Seattle Art Museum is paying tribute to law enforcement and fire personnel and their families this holiday season by offering free museum admission through Dec. 31.
All active and reserve members of law enforcement or fire departments are invited to show their valid ID at the ticket desks of the Seattle Art Museum and Seattle Asian Art Museum and receive up to four free tickets for admission. Children ages 12 and under are always admitted free at SAM.
Current exhibitions on view at the Seattle Art Museum include Michelangelo Public and Private and Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act. You can also get more info by calling (206) 654-3100.
Office’s December eNews now available online
Check out the December issue of the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs eNews here.
In this issue:
- Message from the director: A-list of achievements
- City seeks artist for Lake Union Loop
- Seattle artists receive more than $240K in project funding
- New timeline for Youth Arts program
- Hammering Man on holiday following surgery
- Free concerts ring in holidays at City Hall, Municipal Tower
- City Hall exhibition showcases contemporary quilt art
- Seeking proposals for City Hall galleries
- Give the gift of art this holiday season
- Add sparkle to your holiday season with Winterfest
- Jazz to kids music on Art Zone this month
Survey, local panel delve into recession’s impact on arts
The New York Times last week ran a story summarizing the findings of a major new survey of American artists which found slightly more than half experienced a drop in income from 2008 to 2009. More than 5,300 artists responded to the online survey commissioned last summer by Leveraging Investments in Creativity.
Closer to home, Allied Arts recently convened a panel to discuss the struggles and opportunities for artists and arts organizations in today’s tattered economy. Seattle Channel began airing the disucussion last week as part of its Town Square series. Click here to watch the discussion.
Neighborhood Fund fuels community arts projects
Over the years, the city’s Neighborhood Matching Fund has invested in dozens of arts and cultural projects across Seattle, ranging from renovated cultural facilities to community festivals to public art.
Have a community arts project in mind but need some start-up cash? The Department of Neighborhoods is hosting free informational workshops that offer an overview of the fund. Participants will learn about revised 2010 guidelines and application forms, project proposal development and successful outreach strategies.
Neighborhoods staff will host two workshops next week: 6 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the Douglass Truth Library, 2300 E. Yesler Way, and 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska St.
A required component of the program is its match provision. For most projects, the community is required to donate cash, volunteer labor or donated services or materials at least equal in value to the cash provided by the city.
The deadline for the Small and Simple Projects Fund is Jan. 11, 2010, and the Large Projects Fund Letter of Intent is due Feb. 8, 2010.
For more information or to RSVP to a workshop, contact Danielle Calloway, 206-733-9916.
“Hammering Man” takes a holiday
Hammering Man went under the “knife” this afternoon. We removed the 48-foot sculpture’s left arm to make repairs to the gear drive mechanism that powers the popular sculpture by artist Jonathan Borofsky.
Hammering Man has hammered smoothly 15 hours a day since he was installed at the entrance to the downtown Seattle Art Museum in 1992. He’s part of the city’s public art collection. By our estimate, he’s logged nearly 90,000 hours of hammering, only taking a break on Labor Day. That adds up to a lot of wear and tear.
See the “surgery” in progress on the Seattle P-I’s Big Blog. Brush up on your Hammering Man history here.
For now, Hammering Man’s arm will rest in the South Seattle warehouse of a local contractor. The drive mechanism is in Michigan, where it’s being rebuilt. The repairs are estimated to take several weeks. We hope to have Hammering Man back in the swing in January.
