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2020 -2021 The Creative Advantage Professional Learning

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by Regan Pro, Kayla Skinner Deputy Director for Education & Public Engagement at the Seattle Art Musuem

Dalisha, a Black woman, with a crown of flowers, holds two posing dolls used for drawing in her hand.
Dalisha Phillips

For the past eight years The Creative Advantage in partnership with the Seattle Art Museum has provided free professional learning opportunities for teachers, teaching artists and community organizations. With a primary focus always on equity, the goals of these trainings are to:

  • Create space for community building and self-directed learning
  • Invite new speakers and perspectives to deepen Seattle-based conversations
  • Provide specific skills related to timely needs for Teaching Artists and educators
  • Continue to include and highlight youth voice

The 2020 – 2021 school year presented new challenges for delivering content but also greater need to bring our stakeholders together to build community, support each other and develop new skills to adapt to online teaching. In response to community feedback and the guidance of our Creative Advantage advisors, we tripled our typical number of offerings providing 17 workshops to 1,038 participants. Workshops roughly fell into three categories (with lots of cross over): providing skills training, fostering community support and centering youth voice. Below are examples from one of each group:

  • Helping educators pivot to their new virtual classrooms, Teaching Artist & Educator Gabriel-Bello Diaz led four workshops on Teaching with Microsoft Teams. Diaz brought his experience leading virtual workshops for teens at Pratt to share tips and tricks with teachers eager to find ways to adapt their best practices from classroom engagement to creative workshops in a digital space.
  • Responding to calls for mental health resources, Art Therapist Dalisha Phillips led a four-part series Keeping it Cool through Change, Challenge, and Conflict Utilizing Art-making and Creativity. Phillips worked with a small cohort in weeklies sessions focused on mindfulness and creativity.
  • A highlight of our trainings is always the workshops that center youth voice. This fall we learned from the brilliant youth participants and program facilitators listed below on what has been working, not working and what we can reimagine when it comes to digital learning.

KEXP: Sharlese Metcalf, Kennady Quille
Seattle Art Museum: Rayna Mathis, John McShea
5th Avenue Theatre: Orlando Morales, Gavin Bradler
TeenTix: Mariko Nagashima, Chelsea Nguyen

The learning has continued this spring as we offered our first online course Pause for Presence Course Series: The Art of Allowing Education to Heal with Dr. Bre Haizlip. Beginning in January, a cohort of over 100 educators met monthly to learn from Dr. Bre and each other. This work will continue into the last course session in May and then culminate with a keynote presentation from Dr. Bre at our Creative Advantage Summer Institute this August. While we are not yet sure when or what shape the Institute will take, we know it will adapt to fit the needs of our creative learning communities. Keep an eye out for more details and we hope to see you there!

A group of people standing, arms around each other.
Regan Pro (left), and The Creative Advantage Summer Institute panelists,
photo by Jenny Crooks

Special note from The Creative Advantage: Regan Pro is stepping out of her position as the Kayla Skinner Deputy Director for Education & Public Engagement at the Seattle Art Museum at the beginning of April. While our professional development partnership with Seattle Art Museum will continue, we want to pause to shower Regan with our love and gratitude for more than eight powerful, and joyful years of creative collaboration. The Creative Advantage has learned so much and benefited from Regan’s community-centered leadership and heart-centered engagement. We are beyond grateful to have worked alongside Regan to build a national model of what an arts and justice based professional learning community can be, and we wish her all the best for whatever comes next.

Please share gratitude and well wishes for Regan in the comments.

Seattle Civic Poet curates BIPOC community poetry project to perform for World Poetry Day

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Womxn & Whales, Poetry in a Climate of Change, is a virtual reading March 21, 2021,   

hosted by the Seattle Library Foundation in partnership with Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. 

Virtual Reading and Q&A Sunday, March 21st, 2021, 4 p.m. pst. 

EVENT REGISTRATION CAN BE FOUND HERE 

Admission is free  

Celebrate World Poetry Day on March 21, 2021 with seven Black, Indigenous, Womxn of Color reading original poetry that explores the intersectionality of womxn’s health, healing, and the endangered Orca whales of the Salish Sea.  

Seattle Civic Poet Jourdan Imani Keith, along with six other local poets, will perform original pantoums developed through workshops facilitated by Keith over the last few months as part of her larger project, Womxn & Whales First, Poetry in a Climate of Change. The pantoum is a poetry verse form that originated in Malaysia in the 15th century and will be the form that guides the general public call for poetry curated by Keith through March. For more information on the general call for poetry click here.  

Womxn & Whales First, Poetry in a Climate of Change is a multi-event project of 2019-21 Civic Poet Jourdan Imani Keith with the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. The project seeks to center the experiences of Black Indigenous Women of Color and explore, through art, the impact of our choices on the environment we all share.  

“As Black Indigenous Womxn of Color in Seattle, we share the urban wilderness of the Salish Sea with the endangered Killer Whales,” says Keith. “Our bodies face the same cumulative risks of environmental toxins and the harms of objectification, yet we both survive and are revived by the cumulative benefits of matrilineal wisdom, tradition and community. Our brilliance and wellness is entwined with the need for healthy and protected social and natural ecosystems.” 

After the virtual reading, Keith and the other poets will hold a conversation with the audience. The event will start at 4 pm (PST) and run approx. 70 minutes including multiple readings, as well as audience Q&A. Registration for the event can be found here. 

The Seattle Public Library reading is the first event under the Womxn & Whales First, Poetry in a Climate of Change project. Future events include a general public call for poetry, a public celebration and reading on April 22, 2021 in honor of Earth Day, and a publication of selected poems. For more information, or to submit for the general public call for poetry, apply here. 

For further information on Womxn & Whales First, Poetry in a Climate of Change, please visit Urban Wilderness Project’s website here or contact Jaeeun Kim at kimjaeeun74@gmail.com. 

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The event is presented in partnership with The Seattle Public Library Foundation, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and Seattle City of Literature. This event is supported by the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times.  

ABOUT JOURDAN IMANI KEITH: 

The City of Seattle’s 2019 -2021 Civic Poet, Jourdan Imani Keith is a storyteller, essayist, playwright, naturalist and activist. A student of Sonia Sanchez, her TEDx Talk, “Your Body of Water,” the theme for King County’s 2016-2018 Poetry on Buses program won an Americans for the Arts award. Her poetry is largely anthologized and was long listed by Danez Smith for Cosmonauts Avenue poetry prize. Keith’s Orion Magazine essays, “Desegregating Wilderness” and ” At Risk” were selected for the 2015 Best American Science and Nature Writing Anthology (Houghton Mifflin). She has been awarded fellowships from Hedgebrook, Wildbranch, Santa Fe Science Writing workshop, VONA, and Jack Straw. Her memoir in essays, Tugging at the Web, is forthcoming from University of Washington Press. 

Art Kits for Seattle Public School Students

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While in a remote learning setting, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and partners across the city have been persistent in getting art supplies to schools and students. SPS and The Creative Advantage led a massive effort to ensure students have the art materials they need.  

SPS has worked with many partners to make this possible, including the National Endowment for the Arts, Seattle Department of Education & Early Learning, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and the Seattle Seahawks through the donation they made to The Creative Advantage last spring. 

“It’s critical that students are validated and affirmed through art materials that allow them to express, explore, connect, and deepen their learning,” Gail Sehlhorst, Visual and Performing Arts Manager for SPS said. “This pandemic is rough on all of us and this project has brought so many institutions and people together — it’s been a bright spot — and we are so very grateful.” 

In some schools, our amazing visual arts educators also collected and distributed supplies from their own classrooms to make sure their students had what they needed to continue learning in a remote setting. As a result, the district will be able to purchase art materials for every school with students enrolled in visual arts courses. 

“Access to high quality arts materials is a matter of equity,” said Ashraf Hasham, Youth Arts Manager for the Office of Arts & Culture. “I’m so proud of this City and all of its players for coming together to meet this need, and that these ‘arts kits’ can be incorporated with the Teen Hubs, our Online Arts videos we created this past Spring, and our synchronous after-school arts education opportunities we’re cooking up for this coming Winter.” 

This effort will serve approximately 25,000 students across the district with art kits. Providing important invest in the of arts and creativity so that students can to continue learning with quality art materials while at home. 

“One of DEEL’s top priorities during this period of remote learning is to support students’ social-emotional needs and ensure that they are able to connect and engage in meaningful ways while learning remotely, especially for our students of color and those furthest from educational justice.” said DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the Office of Arts and Culture in this effort to enhance student engagement and participation through the arts. Supporting the Creative Advantage at our SBI schools and providing arts materials to students participating in Teen Hubs are great ways to encourage student creativity and care for their social and emotional wellbeing.” 

The art kits may include a variety of materials, depending on the school or course, such as markers, erasers, pipe cleaners, colored pencils, sharpies, sketchbooks, scissors, paints and paintbrushes, glue sticks, crayons, and different papers like colorful construction paper, card stock, non-lined paper, and more. At one school, local restaurant Pagliacci Pizza even donated pizza boxes to hold all the supplies for students. 

Thank you to all of our partners that worked together to make this possible and for our visual arts educators for assembling and distributing the kits to their students. It truly was a team effort to serve all SPS students, especially those furthest from educational justice. During this time of uncertainty, it’s important to give students ways to express themselves through the arts, even while learning from home. 

Learn more about visual and performing arts at Seattle Public Schools. 

THE AMP: AIDS MEMORIAL PATHWAY SEEKS AUGMENTED REALITY APP DEVELOPER FOR CAPITOL HILL ART INSTALLATION

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The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway, a Seattle-based public arts installation is seeking a provider to create an Augmented Reality (AR) mobile application that will work in conjunction with the artworks. The application will be an installed app that should work on iOS and Android platforms. The RFP can be downloaded and viewed here. Submissions are due January 22, 2021 by 5pm PST.

Set in the heart of Capitol Hill, on the plaza above the Capitol Hill Light Rail station and into the north edge of Cal Anderson Park, The AMP will be one of the most significant public art installations in the region. The AMP will have four physical artworks as well as a website and the app, which will collectively create a pathway inspired by the history of the AIDS crisis and remind us to take action for a world free of AIDS and discrimination.

Interested applicants are also encouraged to attend an online information session held on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. PST. This is an opportunity to learn more about the project and review the RFP. Questions can be submitted in advance.

To attend the information session, please send an email RSVP with subject line “Add me to the webinar” to: Info@theAMP.org

Submissions:
Please use this form to apply: Submission Form
Deadline for submission is Friday, January 22, 2021, 5pm (Pacific Time)

Mayor Durkan Signs Cultural Space Agency Charter to Create First Public Development Authority in Nearly 40 Years

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New Public Development Authority to Develop Real Estate Projects in Partnership with Cultural Communities 

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan signed the Cultural Space Agency Public Development Authority (PDA) charter to create the first new PDA in nearly 40 years. The Cultural Space Agency is a first-of-its-kind cultural real estate development company, chartered by the City of Seattle and guided by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders from across the cultural, community development, and commercial real estate sectors.   

“The Cultural Space Agency is central to our work to ensure an equitable recovery from COVID-19 for our artists, non-profits, and cultural organizations. Our artists and community have been on the frontlines of the slew of crises we’ve faced this year, and the pandemic, an economic downturn with job losses, and civil rights reckoning have laid bare and further magnified our region’s inequities,” said Mayor Durkan. “We can choose the City that we want to be as we recover from COVID-19. The Cultural Space Agency will lead with equitable development strategies, and center our artistic and cultural communities as a central strategy to rebuild civic health and wealth.”   

“BIPOC communities seeking to create generational wealth through cultural spaces and art institutions often highlight the lack of affordable commercial space as a major barrier. The City wants to be a partner in solving this problem, and to create new art and cultural spaces for the BIPOC community and underserved neighborhoods. I’m hopeful this PDA, coupled with allocated funding, will create new spaces that will last in community for generations to come,” said Councilmember Tammy J. Morales (District 2, South Seattle and the C/ID)

The purpose of the Cultural Space Agency is to develop cultural space real estate projects in a way that reflects the needs and desires of communities that have borne the burden of institutional racism; build community wealth through investment opportunities in cultural real estate projects; and partner with commercial real estate developers and cultural community stakeholders to create real property projects that reflect the interests and priorities of both.   

“Eight years ago when I came to the city, my goal was to create opportunities for our arts and cultural sector, especially our incredibly talented and underinvested communities of color to thrive,” said ARTS Director Randy Engstrom. “Creating the first public development authority designed to facilitate affordable, locally-controlled, culturally-focused community space is an incredible accomplishment. The Cultural Space Agency is the best mechanism for applying the City’s values to the commercial real estate market, in partnership with and on behalf of vulnerable residents in our rich cultural communities. It is a game changer for our city.”   

The Cultural Space Agency will seek long-term site control on behalf of and in partnership with community cultural organizations representing communities of color. The organization will acquire properties and create property ownership opportunities in communities historically denied ownership options. The City of Seattle has dedicated $500,000 each year for two years for initial operating costs and anticipates leveraging philanthropic investments to secure millions of additional dollars in capital investment in community-based projects.   

“Racial equity is at the center of the Cultural Space Agency, from its initial inception to the robust community engagement processes through the Build Art Space Equitably cohort, supporting communities of color is embed in the foundation of the PDA,” said Cassie Chinn, Deputy Executive Director, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. “Through its governance structure and decision-making processes and its accountability to historically marginalized communities through its Constituency, the PDA creates a tangible local tool and national model to transform structural racism within the public realm.”  

The newly formed Public Development Authority will be paired with the nonprofit Cultural Space Agency, working together, they will support the mission and vision of affordable, locally-controlled, culturally-focused community space. The PDA will be primary in stewarding inter-governmental relationships and in executing commercial real estate transactions, while the nonprofit will take the lead on philanthropic and community relationships.    

In 2013, Seattle became the first city in the United States to invest in a body of work dedicated to the protection of cultural space. That work, led by Cultural Space Liaison Matthew Richter, quickly expanded  to include a broad range of new projects. The Cultural Space Agency was first proposed in The CAP Report, a groundbreaking and nationally-recognized report on the City’s developing cultural space work.  To learn more about the Racial Equity Toolkit that led to the creation of the charter visit here. To learn more about the Office of Arts & Culture’s Cultural Space program that formed the basis of the Cultural Space Agency along with other arts and cultural space policies and interventions please visit this website.  

City of Seattle and Community Partners Launch ‘Shop Your Block’ Holiday Campaign to Support Small Businesses

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City develops new small business map to connect the public to local retailers for the holiday shopping season

The City of Seattle launched the new Shop Your Block retail map as part of the larger public campaign—Shop Your Block—that aims to support small businesses throughout the holiday season. Shop Your Block connects consumers to local small retail businesses throughout Seattle using the new retail map and online neighborhood marketplaces. This campaign is
the result of partnerships between the City, Comcast, small business owners, business district organizations, and community partners. Shop Your Block celebrates Seattle’s unique character and encourages the public to support local retailers in their neighborhood —in person or online— this
holiday shopping season.

The new Shop Your Block map allows users to find local retailers across the City. Users are able to search for retailers near them, or search for businesses by name, address, neighborhood, or product keywords.
The map will also display operation days and hours per business, identify if a business is open for in person shopping, online shopping, curbside pickup, or appointment only. Businesses are also able to display if they are BIPOC, Woman, LGBTQ+ or Veteran owned. Business owners can add themselves to the map by completing a short questionnaire here.

“The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn have impacted so many small businesses and workers. People are hurting. The necessary new COVID-19 restrictions will have a particularly profound impact on our small businesses as we head into what normally would be a busy holiday
shopping season,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan. “The Shop Your Block campaign is central to the City’s commitment to creatively support our small businesses during this challenging time. As we head
into the holidays, I encourage all Seattle residents to mask up, shop their block and support Seattle’s incredible small business community.”

“Small businesses are crucial to our city’s economic recovery, and they serve as the lifeblood of our communities. If you are able, consider shopping at a small business this holiday season, for everything
from gifts to groceries for your family’s holiday meals. Between outdoor merchandise displays, curbside pick-up, online options and more, there’s no reason to not shop your favorite local stores,” said Councilmember Tammy J. Morales (District 2, South Seattle & the C/ID).

“Spending your money at locally owned businesses ensures your dollars stay in our community. You can protect public health and patronize your favorite neighborhood shops from the convenience of your
home by using Neighborhood Marketplaces. When you shop in your neighborhood you keep small businesses open, your neighbors employed, and you help our local economy recover,” said Councilmember Dan Strauss (District 6, Northwest Seattle).

Since the onset of COVID-19, local retailers have experienced severe economic hardships, navigated statewide closures, re-opening protocols, and changing consumer habits. According to the Workforce
Development Council of Seattle King County, from March 1 through October 24, 30% of the retail trade industry has been impacted by layoffs, shutdowns, etc. as a result of COVID-19. Retail also ranks as the third highest industry of continuing unemployment insurance claims at 9.5%. Retail salespersons have the third highest continuing unemployment insurance claims in King County. As many retail businesses began ramping up for the holiday shopping season, new restrictions were announced by Governor Inslee in response to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Seattle and statewide, reducing in-person shopping capacity to 25% for retail stores.

“2020 has been a hard year, but here’s a chance for all of us to come together and give back in a positive way during the upcoming holiday season. Shop Your Block is a new effort we created with the Mayor’s
Small Business Advisory Council and other business and community partners to celebrate and support our neighborhood small businesses who are struggling to get through this unprecedented economic crisis.” said Bobby Lee, Director of the Seattle Office of Economic Development. “Many retail businesses are relying on this holiday season to re-coup some of their financial losses since the onset of this pandemic. Shop Your Block allows all of us to shop safely while showing our support for our small businesses. Join us!”

“The culture of our city depends on the unique and creative small businesses that offer diverse points of view, products and experiences.” says Amy Augustine, owner of Flora and Henry located in Pioneer Square that specializes in women, home and children’s goods. “This is the moment for Seattle to choose to protect its small businesses. Why not fill this holiday with local, artisanal, boutique shopping. We promise we can deliver the magic for this home for the holidays moment.”

In response to the initial stay at home orders, DEI Creative and neighborhood business improvement area district organizations (BIAs) and business districts —partners of the Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED)—began to develop online marketplaces for neighborhood businesses to pivot their in person operations to an e-commerce platform. To date, neighborhood marketplaces are available for Pioneer Square, Capitol Hill, West Seattle, North Seattle, Ballard, University District and Pike Place Market neighborhoods, with other Seattle neighborhood marketplaces expected to come online soon.

“The Ballard Marketplace is a virtual shopping experience designed to support our downtown Ballard businesses and adapt to the new economic environment we’ve all been thrust into. The Support Local – Ballard Marketplace provides Ballard businesses with a new, or additional method, to generate online sales and gives shoppers, who wish to do their holiday shopping online, a way to visit and support all their favorite Ballard shops and restaurants during this challenging year,” said Ballard Alliance Executive Director Mike Stewart.

OED is also partnering with Comcast to film and produce promotional videos for Shop Your Block that highlight small businesses, the retail map and online marketplaces, and encourage the public to take part in shopping local this holiday season. Comcast also contributed $50,000 to support the creation of a digital platform with HomeSight that supports South Seattle neighborhoods such as Othello, Rainier Beach, Beacon Hill, Hillman City and Columbia City—one of the online marketplaces participating in the
Shop Your Block campaign. In addition to supporting this campaign, Comcast has also partnered with OED to help small businesses and workers through the Small Business Stabilization Fund and Digital Bridge pilot program.

Most recently, Comcast announced a new nationwide grant program, Comcast Rise, which provides marketing, creative, media, and technology services to businesses owned by underrepresented groups, beginning with a focus on Black-owned businesses. The program aims to expand to other
small and diverse business owners. Visit http://www.ComcastRISE.com for more information on eligibility requirements, and the latest updates.

“Now more than ever small businesses need support from across the community. We recognize that creative programs like this are critical to helping them find successes in the coming months,” said Rodrigo Lopez, Regional Senior Vice President of the Comcast Washington region. “We are proud to support Shop Your Block with resources and continue to find new ways as a company to make an impact on small businesses and groups of people who have been adversely impacted by this global pandemic.”

Shop Your Block is also partnering with Intentionalist—an online platform that supports small businesses and diverse local communities through its online directory, guides, marketplace, and gift cards. The gift certificate marketplace is a one-stop-shop for gift certificates from restaurants and retailers throughout the Greater Seattle area. Intentionalist’s holiday gift guides highlight gift ideas available for purchase at small businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans, Indigenous people, and people with
disabilities.

“At Intentionalist, we believe that where we spend our money matters. Our Holiday Directory, Gift Guides, and Gift Certificate Marketplace make it easy to explore a variety of gift options that celebrate and support local businesses and the diverse people behind them. The small businesses at the heart of our communities are counting on all of us to #SpendLikeItMatters this holiday season,” said Intentionalist CEO, Laura Clise.

The public is encouraged to use the retail map and online marketplaces to not only shop local, but also shop early as this holiday season is expected to be very different from past years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reduced in person shopping capacity will require retailers to limit the amount of people in the store, making online shopping the ideal option for many consumers. Shop Your Block supports users ability to safely shop online and maintain social distancing as the city continues to respond to COVID-19.
Users who wish to shop in person are encouraged to shop early, and are required to wear a face covering and follow safety protocols local businesses have in place to maintain a safe shopping environment.

“Shop Your Block keeps your favorite shops in business. Consider shopping locally online or purchasing a digital or in-store gift card that not only supports the shops you love but keeps everyone safe,” says Binko Chiong-Bisbee, owner of KOBO, an artisan shop and gallery located in Capitol Hill and the International District. “Remember there are more options than Amazon. It requires a little more research and digging, but when you come across a small local business, do what you can to support its efforts so it will survive until we can get on the other side of this public health crisis.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the City of Seattle has worked quickly to launch COVID-19 relief programs for businesses and workers.

How arts education made an impact at two alternative high schools serving BIPOC unstably housed youth in Southeast Seattle 2018-2020

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In The CYD Secondary Arts Project, a two year pilot program, Seattle Public Schools and The Creative Advantage specifically designed arts programming to reach and engage high school communities who were unstably housed or unsheltered. In 2018, ARTS received funding through the Human Services Department (and the endorsement of the Mayor’s Innovation Team) to provide high quality and culturally-relevant arts to chronicle the role of arts and creative youth development approaches to boost school attendance, classroom engagement, and matriculation.  

ARTS partnered with two schools, Southeast Interagency High School (87% BIPOC students and 30% of total enrolled students self-reported being unstably housed) and South Lake High School (where there are nearly 100% BIPOC students, of which 50% are unstably housed). Future iterations of the program will include the Seattle World School, which is 100% recent immigrant and refugee youths and at least 30% reported in recent years as being unstably housed.  

The program engaged a number of community arts partners including WeAPP, a speech writing and public speaking program, The Acting Lab (created and taught by Steve Sneed), where students learn the fundamentals of theater, and Print 4 Life (created and taught by Greg Thornton), a program that teaches students the mechanics of screen printing and gives students first-hand experience with entrepreneurship. Local government agencies beyond the arts sector are recognizing the importance of the arts in reaching harder to reach vulnerable communities. 

To tell the impact story of this partnership, we collaborated in the data collection to share the social impact that these programs had on aggregate with our young people, without stigmatizing the individual youth’s circumstances themselves. We conducted interviews at all levels of administration, teaching artists, youths; shared light anonymous paper surveys; and examined the creative works that emerged over the course of this two year pilot. In other words – we wanted to tell a story not just with GPA and graduate rates – but a more holistic account of what we observed, knowing that our programs allowed young people to tell their own stories, boosted their engagement in the classroom, and allowed them to access creative marketplaces with their wares. 

Young people also gained close knit relationships with their BIPOC teaching artists, brimmed with excitement over the culturally-relevant teaching and learning assignments, and used their artwork to channel grief and trauma that is an ongoing part of the circumstances of navigating economic uncertainty and houselessness, and at times, street violence and loss of life.   

The pivot to online learning due to COVID-19 during the Governor’s Stay at Home orders brought significant challenge to both teachers and our evaluation process, but all of this is documented to the best of our knowledge in our follow up addendum. To review other research on arts education visit our research section here.

This series of papers was written by Hannah Curtis, University of Washington, sociology doctoral student, who is currently also a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow hired as a consultant, with significant contribution from Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar, PhD, and Tina LaPadula, employees at the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. We are grateful to our SPS partners at all levels, community arts partners, and the young people for being so giving of their time. Thank you to HSD for their financial partnership and the Mayor’s Innovation and Performance Team, for support in arranging this pilot partnership.  

Seattle Civic poet Jourdan Imani Keith is offering six individuals a series of poetry workshops dedicated to protecting endangered womxn and endangered whales

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Womxn and Whales First, Poetry in a Climate of Change: A Call for BIPOC VOICES!

Seattle Civic poet Jourdan Keith has opened an opportunity for six individuals to participate in a series of workshops designed to create a BIPOC community and public art through poetry. The application is currently open and closes Dec. 18. 

“Endangered Womxn and endangered whales face a common threat yet we are united by a common beauty,” say Keith. “2020 has shown us that intersectionality of our social and natural ecosystems and the way they harm vulnerable people, their families and communities.” 

The series of free workshops centers the voices of Black Indigenous People of Color, specifically, cis and Transgender Womxn who recognize their vulnerability in the face of climate, health, and social justice concerns. Held virtually on Tuesdays, December 22 through January 12, the workshops have been designed to invite participants to create poetry and understand the intersectionality of our experiences alongside the experience of endangered Orca whales in the Salish Sea. The group will learn to write and perform poetry to share with the public so that more people know the value of interspecies and the intersectional risks and benefits that can save lives.  

Through community building, shared meals and reflection of cultural relationships to whales participants will create poems and visual accompaniment to share with the public to increase consciousness of others about our collective well-being. During this season when people are particularly vulnerable to the harms of isolation Keith will gather participants in a virtual living room to commune and write poetry about womxn and whales. 

Mayor Jenny Durkan announces the departure of Randy Engstrom from the Office of Arts & Culture

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Durkan honors Engstrom’s innovative leadership of ARTS 

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced the resignation of the Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) Department’s Director Randy Engstrom, who will turn his attention to teaching, advocating for national cultural policies, and spending time with his family, after leading the department for eight years. Mayor Durkan announced the appointment of Interim Acting Director Calandra Childers until a successor has been appointed. 

The 2018 Seattle Office of Arts & Culture’s (ARTS) Mayor’s Arts Awards. Photo by Marcus R. Donner © 2018

“Randy has always been such a dedicated and passionate advocate for arts in our city, and under his leadership, the City supported countless nonprofits, artists, and cultural organizations, created a new home at King Street Station and new cultural districts across the city, and supported relief for artists and nonprofits in this immensely challenging year. The Office of Arts & Culture is at the forefront of the creative economy, pushes to invest in our Black, Indigenous and People of color communities, and continues to lead one the nation’s most innovative public art programs. In the coming year, their work will be central as we commit ourselves to an equitable recovery from COVID-19 that centers our most vulnerable communities, including our workers and artists who have lost so much during COVID-19.” 

Mayor Jenny A. Durkan

“It has been the honor of my career to lead the Office of Arts & Culture for the past eight years. To every artist and cultural worker in Seattle and the vast, brilliant, and resilient cultural sector in our region; you are the center of all of the work we do. As our city entered the myriad of crises that defined 2020 – COVID, economic collapse, and racial justice reckoning, I am proud to be part of the Durkan administration which seeks to re-imagine the way we do our work as a government. I am humbled and hopeful that the city may co-create a more equitable, creative and sustainable city for future generations.” 

Randy Engstrom

In his eight years at ARTS Engstrom has overseen a number of initiatives including: 

  • Continuing to push established and emerging programs to reflect the City’s commitment to racial equity. 
  •  Working to establish the Cultural Space Agency, the first cultural space affordability and anti-displacement program in the country. 
  • Facilitating a community informed roadmap for a more equitable creative economy, which will center Seattle’s creative and cultural community in its recovery and reimagination post COVID.  
  • Opening ARTS at King Street Station, a community-led exhibition space in King Street Station, opening with yəhaw’ an exhibition that featured more than 100 indigenous creatives. 
  • Launching and implementing The Creative Advantage, ARTS’ comprehensive partnership with Seattle Public Schools to restore arts education to every student in the District. 
  • Establishing ARTS as a national model on the strength of its staff, from a relentlessly innovative cultural investment team to an award-winning public art program. 

Mayor Durkan announced that Calandra Childers will serve as Interim Acting Director, effective February 1, 2021. Childers, who joined ARTS in 2012, currently serves as the Deputy Director. Mayor Durkan will announce the next steps for a permanent leader of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture in 2021. 

The Future Ancient Presents

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By Che Sehyun

In partnership with Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture and the Seattle Art Museum, The Future Ancient Public Art team pivoted from in-person museum programming to online programming and developed “The Channel,” an art and cultural variety show featuring interviews, performances and cultural gems as we tell and ground our living history in story, performance and contemporary cultural practices. 

Season 1: “Culture Without Borders” features 40+ local and international artists and cultural workers of Tibetan, Cham, Hmong, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander and other Asian descent, as well as Black and Indigenous folks. Our 30+ member team of Seattle-based artists works to value our cultural heritage in a future-forward, socially transformative way based on our experiences. Our eight-episode season airs Saturdays in October & November 2020, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in a livestream, interactive format.  Please tune in and catch up on past episodes!

The Future Ancient public art project works to center our cultural future and collective liberation.  The project works to understand our past, our present place and help imagine an indigenous future where #BlackLivesMatter, a hallmark of racial equality and respect for our diverse cultures, people and Mother Earth.  

In addition to “the Channel”, the Future Ancient also presents the Artist Roster Survey that invites Asian and Pacific Islander Artists and Cultural Workers to submit their information through December 12, 2020.  The purpose of the Roster is to promote economic opportunity for local Asian and Pacific diaspora artists and cultural workers through an artist roster for hire, develop self-awareness as a sector to empower and advocate for our cultural future, as well as to uplift, empower and build the Asia Pacific community.  As a benefit, all applicants will receive a special invitation to professional development training and VIP networking event as well as free tickets to the Seattle Asian Art Museum and Seattle Art Museum.

Through a competitive process, local Corean artist Che Sehyun was selected as Special Projects Curator for the Seattle Asian Art Museum, a first in its history to hire a local Asian and/or Pacific Islander (API)  artist to provide a year’s worth of public art programming that centered API lives and perspectives and celebrate the historic grand re-opening and $55 million remodel.  The vision was to uplift, empower and build the Asian Pacific diaspora community and our relations with all people.

Links: 

API Roster Survey: www.bit.ly/apiroster

All Project Links: www.linktr.ee/futureancient

Web: www.TheFutureAncient.org

Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/thefutureancient

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefutureancient

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefutureancient