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Office of Arts & Culture news and events

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

New Statewide Restrictions on Social Gatherings and Businesses as COVID-19 Cases Surge

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On November 15, Governor Jay Inslee issued new statewide restrictions on social gatherings and businesses in response to the surge of COVID-19 across Washington state. Seattle was the initial epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in America. Unlike the other Washington, every step of the way our local officials, residents, and businesses have understood how dangerous and deadly COVID-19 is to our communities. Following the advice of experts, scientists, and public health officials, our collective actions have led to lowest cases and hospitalizations in the nation of every major American city. We must continue to listen to doctors, healthcare workers, and public health officials who are warning about rising cases and hospitlizations.

While Seattle has one of the lowest rates of cases of any major city, we are not immune to the virus surging in the nation, state, and region. Seattle’s cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing.

During the first two weeks of November, Seattle had 1,550 residents diagnosed with the virus, which is nearly 20% of our total cases since March 2020.

The Seattle case count per 100,000 residents is more than five times higher than what it was at the end of the summer, rising from 40.8 cases per 100,000 residents to over 232 cases per 100,000 residents. Cases severe enough to require hospitalizations are four times higher than at the end of the summer, increasing from 1.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents to 6.1. The number of residents from Seattle currently in the hospital with COVID-19 has increased quickly over the past week and is the highest since April 2020. The number of hospitalizations in King County last week increased by over 70 percent compared to the previous four weeks.

Members of the public can track the current level of COVID-19 in Seattle and King County on Public Health – Seattle & King County’s data dashboard. The dashboard is updated daily.

Governor Inslee and public health officials are rightfully raising alarm bells for surging cases and hospitalizations. Because of the latest hospitalizations and cases, Governor Inslee has imposed new statewide restrictions that will last until at least December 14, 2020. Please visit the state’s website for a full list of restrictions.

We know that people are hurting right now. This pandemic has led to worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the City of Seattle has worked quickly to launch COVID-19 relief programs including rent relief, expanding shelter for people experiencing homelessness, grocery vouchers for working families, direct cash assistance for immigrants and refugees, and financial assistance to small businesses. Residents and businesses can find a list of existing COVID-19 relief resources and policies on this website. Seattle will work with the state on the new $50 million fund for small businesses and workers.

As we head into the holiday season, our instinct is to come together and celebrate with our loved ones. But the reality is that out of public health necessity, this year’s holiday celebrations will look and feel different. It will be difficult, but we are at a crucial point in the pandemic when our actions will shape our ability to return to normal life in the months to come. Everyone who lives and works in Seattle must mask up, avoid gatherings especially all indoor social gatherings, and follow all public health guidance. It’s up to all of us to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect our friends, families, colleagues, and community.

Seattle Cultural Space Agency Applies for Official City Recognition

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A biracial Black and Japanese woman stands in front of sticky butcher paper as others look on. Preservation and a lot of notes are written.
Members of Building Art Space Equitably (BASE)

For the first time in 38 years, the City is creating a new public development authority aimed at preserving our city’s cultural spaces, building community wealth, and investing in cultural communities of color.

The application for a charter for the Cultural Space Agency was filed with the City Clerk’s office and the public has until December 8 to provide comment and feedback on the proposed public development authority. The charter and comments can be found here. The proposed Cultural Space Agency has been developed through a years-long community engagement process and reflects input from multiple stakeholders. 

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; to build community wealth through investment opportunities in cultural real estate projects; and to partner with mission-driven commercial real estate developers and cultural community stakeholders and organizations to create real property projects that reflect the interests and priorities of both. 

The Cultural Space Agency is also integrated into a framework of civic recovery. For the past several months, we have been living through four crises simultaneously: the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic downturn, a civil rights reckoning, and a climate crisis. All of these crises have exacerbated our region’s inequity and created opportunities to further consolidate wealth and property ownership for a few, leaving too many without options and access to economic prosperity. The Cultural Space Agency is designed to re-equalize these opportunities, leverage civic and philanthropic investments on behalf of equitable development strategies, and center our cultural richness as a primary strategy towards rebuilding civic health and wealth. 

A 30-day window of opportunity has opened for community feedback related to the establishment of the Cultural Space Agency. Please take a few moments to review the application, and to let the City Council know your thoughts.

  • Will this new structure be helpful to your community?
  • Is cultural space important to the development and the protection of your neighborhood?
  • What projects would you like to see supported?
  • How could your community, your neighborhood, your organization, connect to this new entity? 

Read more information about the Cultural Space Agency. 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 here. 

University of Washington Evans Capstone Team conducts a policy analysis of creative strategies for anti-displacement and cultural placekeeping

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For a third consecutive year in a row, ARTS staff joined forces with a team of MPA graduate students from the University of Washington Evans School of Public Policy and Governance to conduct a fieldscan and pull together local best practice case studies of creative strategies for community placekeeping and anti-displacement.

Creative placekeeping refers to strategies that build cultural vibrancy to promote and celebrate the heritage of communities residing in a neighborhood – often focusing on people of color in historically ethnic and culturally specific neighborhoods.

One cannot ignore that the institutionally racist practices that kept out many residents of color from owning homes in parts of Seattle’s north side further segregated people of color into homes mainly in the Central District and the Southeast Seattle corridor. This process of exclusion occurred through legally sanctioned financial and real estate covenants, clauses, and restrictions, a set of practices known today as red lining.

Now the soaring costs of real estate and commercial rental space is dismantling networks of communities of color and their access to permanent cultural spaces.

In recent years, ARTS has worked collaboratively across city departments on projects including the Equitable Development Initiative managed by Office of Planning and Community Development and the BASE Cohort (Build Art Space Equitably) Program, and founded our new home ARTS at King Street Station as long-range solutions to the challenges of rapid racial gentrification.

Families of Color Seattle Black History Month Event 2020 at Wa Na Wari. Photo by Mujale Chisebuka
Photo by Nick Turner, Ethnic Seattle

This report tells the story about racial and ethnic resilience in the face of gentrification and displacement and its acceleration due to the impact that COVID-19 has had on the creative economy. Many of the case studies documented here are groups that have made some progress through the use of arts and culture and grassroots organizing with the right mix of cultural assets, access to community control over space, and public and private partnerships. We hope that continued support and amplifying the stories and work of cultural organizations like Wa Na Wari in the Central District, the Wing Luke Museum and the CID Coalition in Chinatown/International District, Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center in Southwest Seattle, Rainier Beach Action Coalition in Southeast Seattle, RVC and Shunpike in the capacity building space, and countless other groups who are active in the work of community placekeeping will not only ensure that arts and cultures for and by communities of color have a seat at the table, but that their work can help build or dismantle that need for a larger table. Learn about their stories and much more in this newly released report.

We are grateful to the recent Evans School graduates who authored this study: Kevin Cernansky, Mitchell Chen, Chenyang Jin, Pich Keo, Huan Xu, their faculty adviser Dr. Joaquin Herranz, Jr, and all the community voices who made this study possible. Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar, PhD, was the ARTS staff lead on this project.

Solar Utopia explained by Seattle Artists

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What is a solar utopia? Britta Johnson, artist and curator, posed that question to 12 regional film and video artists, asking them to respond with short videos that will be showcased online individually and as a compilation in January 2021.

The artists envisioning Solar Utopia’s for this project are Brent Watanabe, C. Davida Ingram, Clyde Petersen, Coley Mixan, D.K. Pan, Inye Wokoma, Satpreet Kahlon, Stefan Gruber, Susan Robb, Tracy Rector, Webster Crowell, and Wynne Greenwood. Britta Johnson will provide introductory and closing elements.

The project takes into consideration the limitations set by the current “Stay home, stay safe” order – work is being created on a small scale, with available gear and resources, and will include a variety of live-action and animation methods. Each artist will bring their own unique perspective in answering “What is a Solar Utopia?” and interweave themes from Seattle City Light’s mission into the work: sustainability, environmental stewardship, and renewable energy.

“The current COVID-19 pandemic and uprisings for racial justice have thrown many of our societal systems into question; now more than ever, it is necessary to envision possible futures and hope. Seattle is home to a small but powerful cluster of film and video artists who have at the core of their practice a commitment to imagination and utopia – manifesting the world they wish to live in.” notes curator Britta Johnson. “We can all learn from their example and bring our own contributions to this collective endeavor.”

This project is commissioned with Seattle City Light % for Art funds and Administered by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Public Art Boot Camp – Online!

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Group photo of 2020 Public Art Boot Campers wearing face masks in front of a temporary public art project mounted on a chain link fence.

Seattle’s Public Art Boot Camp is an intensive training program that culminates in a commission of a temporary artwork for the City of Seattle.

The “recruits” have been selected through a competitive application process, and starting this November 2020, a series of online workshops will be available to anyone interested in learning more about public art. Featuring staff, artists, and experts in the field, the information shared will highlight the steps needed to successfully navigate through the completion of a public art project.

The workshops will be a WebEx live event and a recording will be made an available on our YouTube Channel.

Session 1 – Developing Public Art Concepts Without Losing Your Own Style and Aesthetic

Collage of the three presenting artists
Norie Sato, Sarah Thompson Moore, Melvin Freeman

November 7, 2020, 10 am – Noon
Artists presenting: Norie Sato, Sarah Thompson Moore and Melvin Freeman
Register here

Congratulations, you’ve received your first public art commission! You’ve met with the community, conducted research about the site and met with the project team so you know some of the site restrictions. Now, how do you take all that information combine it with your own aesthetic and come through with a strong concept design? Hear from artists in the field how they navigate developing an artwork concept that stays true to their own voice but takes into account many factors.

Session 2 – Planning and Fabrication in Public Art

Saturday, February 20, 2021, 10am – Noon
Artists presenting: TBD
Register here

From your original artwork concept you’ve gone through a series of reviews and revisions and now have a final design. Now it’s time for the nitty gritty logistics of engineering, construction documents and putting together a solid plan (and team) for implementation. Hear from artists and experts in this panel discussion of their experiences, best practices and tips going forward.

Session 3 – Implementation and Long-term Life of Artwork in Public Art

Saturday, April 17, 2021, 10am – Noon
Artists presenting: TBD
Register here

The day has arrived for installation! You’ll hear directly from artists best and worst-case installation scenarios and share lesson learned. Artwork installation, however, is just the beginning of the life of the artwork in the public sphere and this session will include important items to consider such as maintenance, conservation and the protections and responsibilities the artists have for the long term.

Session 4 – Art of Applying and Public Art Boot Camp 2021

Saturday, May 1, 2021, 10am – Noon
Presenting artists: TBD
Register here

Curating a strong application, writing a compelling letter of interest, insight into the selection panel process as well as an overview of where and how to find new opportunities in which you can apply will all be presented by staff and artists in the field.

This session will also serve as the information workshop and invitation to apply for the next year of Public Art Boot Camp in which participants go through the year-long program which culminates in a temporary public artwork for the City of Seattle.

Since 2015, Public Art Boot Camp advances racial equity by centering artists of color and providing them the information and experience, they needed to enter the niche world of public art. To learn more about Public Art Boot Camp, read our white paper here.

Mayor’s 2021 Budget Priorities and ARTS

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A boat full of people on the ocean. Many fish swim below.
Yola by Melissa Cole, Textured acrylic on wood with fused glass and coin accents, 2017

Today, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan is releasing her 2021 Proposed Budget. This budget comes during a series of unprecedented challenges for the City. A pandemic, an economic recession, a civil rights reckoning, climate related wildfires, and failing infrastructure in our City have all combined to make this budget unlike any other in our history. Our revenue challenges are a direct result of the pandemic causing a significant and immediate slowdown in economic activity. In 2020, we froze spending, delayed projects and spent down our one-time revenue sources to delay impacts to the City.

The Mayor’s 2021 budget prioritizes maintaining investments in community that promote equity as well as critical funding to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. To the extent possible, this budget maintains core services in an effort to minimize the impact of filling a more than $300 million dollar shortfall to our City budget.

The following is a summary of the Office of Arts & Culture’s (ARTS) key changes in the 2021 Proposed Budget:

ARTS is funded by Admission Tax revenue and the 1% for Art Program. This funding supports arts-related programs and capital expenditures to keep artists living and working in Seattle, builds community through arts and cultural events and the placement of public art, and increases arts opportunities for youth. ARTS commits to an anti-racist work practice that centers the creativity and leadership of people of color – those most impacted by structural racism – to move toward systems that benefit us all.

Currently, ARTS’ Admission Tax budget is based on revenue collected two years prior (e.g. 2020’s budget is based on the amount of Admission Tax collected in 2018). The lack of events in 2020 due to COVID meant that the department would face very steep cuts for 2021-2022 to manage the revenue losses that would hit the Arts and Culture Fund in 2022. To address this shortfall, beginning in 2022, ARTS’ Admission Tax budget will switch from appropriating based on revenue collections two years prior to appropriating based on projected collections in the same year as the City receives them. This change greatly reduces the size of the cuts needed for the Arts and Culture Fund to maintain a positive balance, assuming events return in 2022. Shifting to concurrent year funding will also bring Arts and Culture Fund budgeting practice in line with that of the General Fund.

In the post-COVID-19 world, Admission Tax revenue is expected to be lower in the coming years than previously projected. Along with the rest of the City, ARTS will need to do less operationally to maintain fiscal balance. The 2021 Proposed Budget reduces ARTS’ Admission Tax expenditures by $1.5 million (a 12% reduction relative to the 2020 Adopted Budget). The $1.5 million in program reductions is a combination of administrative savings and generally small reductions to a number of programming categories. Two of the larger reductions include a $500,000 reduction in Cultural Facilities Fund Grants because very few community organizations indicated an interest in applying for capital improvement funds at this time, and a $237,000 reduction in Seattle Park District funding for arts and cultural activities in parks. We hope to restore some amount of funding to both of these programs at some point in the future when the economy has recovered, and more funding becomes available.

To minimize impacts on the community, ARTS undertook a thorough and democratic process relying on discussions with staff who are closest to the marginalized communities ARTS focuses on serving.

Over the next two months, the City Council will review the Mayor’s proposed budget. Final adoption of the budget is expected on Monday, November 23. More information about details in the budget can be found at www.seattle.gov/budget and you can also direct any broader budget questions to jenny.durkan@seattle.gov.

Reflections + Take Aways – Creative Expression to Build Social Emotional Learning

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by Tina LaPadula

A cat sits on a couch, looking up at artwork attached to a door: a tree with leaves and birds.

The Creative Advantage hosted virtual professional learning for teachers and arts partners led by Art with Heart (AwH). Here are some reflections from facilitator Chelsey Thornton, Senior Operations Manager, AwH.

You know you had an excellent time training when attendees send pictures of their cats inspecting the creative expression they just manifested. This summer, Art with Heart had the honor of leading community learning spaces for Seattle Public Schools on using Creative Expression to Build Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in-person and online. Some of the key things we learned and took away from the training were:

  • Trauma is stored in images, sounds, and sensations. Creativity uses those same things to restore. Because of this, creative expression helps kids name and manage their emotions, develop strategies for coping, build SEL skills, and explore how to make healthy connections and communicate.
  • Cultivating group culture is just as important online as it is in-person. Building group culture and norms that everyone agrees to helps youth establish ownership. It also nurtures relationship skills, social awareness, and responsible decision making.
  • “SEL offers the possibility of acknowledging, addressing, and healing from the ways we have all been impacted by racism and systemic oppression and to create inclusive, liberatory learning environments in which students of color and students living in poverty experience a sense of belonging and agency to shape the content and process of their learning and thrive.” – National Equity Project
  • Digital equity encompasses many things in our online spaces, but particular focus should be given to: creating safe spaces online where there is consent to learn with others, a choice to be present, and as facilitators being intentional with how we are helping youth share their voice.

In all of this, remember YOU. Take time and space for the grief and loss you are experiencing as a youth-serving adult. Our worlds have shifted, and we won’t always get to do the work we anticipated. That is okay; we are showing up for each other and our communities, which is the most tremendous success.

City announces new project with VividMatterCollective to recreate and properly preserve the Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter Street Mural

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Starting Tuesday morning, September 22, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be collaborating with the original artists from VividMatterCollective to recreate the Black Lives Matter street mural painted during this summer’s protests on Capitol Hill.

Photo by Kyle Kotajarvi

The mural has rapidly deteriorated primarily because of paint applied to an unscored surface covered in slippery aggregate. After discussions between ARTS, SDOT, and the fifteen artists who worked to create the street mural in June, all have agreed to a comprehensive removal, recreation, and reservation plan that kicks off on Tuesday.

Close ups of the damaged street mural

The street mural is located on Pine Street between 10th Avenue and 11th Avenue and was a central gathering place during the protests that was then preserved by the City by creating a reconfigured street to limit vehicle access to the mural. The recreation efforts will get underway quickly to avoid the inclement weather – rain and pavement that is too cold for paint to properly cure – that would delay this work until sometime in 2021.

“Vivid Matter Collective along with the City of Seattle is proud to announce the collaborative effort in preserving the beautiful Black Lives Matter monument, making it a permanent landmark celebrating progress and change during this unprecedented time in Seattle’s history.”

Artist Kimisha Turner, a member of the VividMatterCollective

The careful effort by all parties to identify a comprehensive plan to recreate a longer-lasting Black Lives Matter mural in its original location is an acknowledgement of the cultural significance of the site in the Black Lives Matter movement.

The deterioration of the artwork further accelerated when members of the public who were not a part of the collective applied sealant without the original artists’ permission. The sealant damaged the artwork, which is now beginning to separate from the roadway in some areas. The City is committed in time, resources, and values to do better.

The original artists have worked with SDOT to develop a plan to remove the current artwork and prepare the site so that the artwork can be recreated in a more durable fashion to survive the harsh roadway conditions.

SDOT will begin temporarily removing the artwork on Tuesday, September 22 and preparing the site for the artists to repaint the mural on Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27. Repainting of the mural is dependent on weather conditions.

Work will commence by tracing and scoring the existing footprint of the mural to properly prepare the surface for the application of paint. SDOT will provide supplies and installation support to the VividMatterCollective. This will include expert guidance from SDOT’s own Dahvee Encisco, who is
himself an experienced muralist. He will be onsite from beginning to end with the artists to advise on how to install a durable on-street mural with the correct primer, number of paint layers, and adding traction material to each coat of paint that can withstand the roadway conditions in this area.

It is important for all to remember that even when utilizing best practices and materials, on-street murals will continue to deteriorate at a rate much faster than other surfaces. Maintaining the integrity of the recreated Black Lives Matter mural will be an ongoing project for all.

“The Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter street mural is a potent symbol of free speech and civil rights. I am deeply sorry that we fell short in our efforts to prevent damage from occurring to the original mural. SDOT is committed to supporting the original artists to restore their work in a more long-lasting fashion.”

Sam Zimbabwe, SDOT Director

SDOT has been working with the original artists to create a preservation plan for some time. In July, SDOT installed posts to prevent people from driving over the mural and added a new 4-way stop sign at 10th Ave E and E Pine St to help eastbound drivers transition onto the block with the mural at a slower speed. Those protective measures will remain in place.

Apply now for Build Art Space Equitably (BASE) Program

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Information Webinar September 22, 2020 | 4:30-5:30 PM
Link to webinar:  https://zoom.us/j/91592301274
If you cannot make this webinar but would like to watch the recording, email monyee.chau@seattle.gov 

The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture is now accepting applications for the Build Art Space Equitably (BASE) Program. This program, launched in 2018, responds to growing concerns we have heard from communities of color about gentrification and displacement, and the need to gain capacity in cultural space development for the stabilization, growth, and sustainability of community-led space. Broadly, we’ve heard from both the arts and cultural community and from the commercial development/property management community – both sides of the cultural space equation. Everyone has asked the same basic question – “I want to work with arts organizations / with property developers, but I don’t understand how they work. Where can I learn about the intersection of art and real estate?” Your depth of leadership and practical experience will contribute greatly to create a program that can help develop even more people to advance these efforts.

Designed out of the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, we’ve created a 12-month cohort program, based in communities of color, that launches a new certification curriculum for both arts and cultural professionals and real estate professionals. We hope to continue creating a network of certified experts in both equitable development and arts/cultural spaces. We launched this certification program in 2018 and hope to continue it well into the future, and potentially well beyond Seattle. Special thanks to the Wing Luke Museum, Historic Central Area Arts & Culture District, Densho, Rainier Valley Corps, and South Seattle Emerald for their input that led to the implementation of BASE.

Approximately 16-18 individuals will be selected for 2020’s cohort, which we hope will represent a balance from the real estate and the arts/cultural worlds. Members of this cohort will learn from each other and explore topics such as feasibility studies, land acquisition, property development, financing options, artist studio aggregators, raising money for nonprofit capital campaigns, and the power of community organizing, knowledge, experience, and passion will be shared collectively.

To apply for the 2020 Build Arts Space Equitably (BASE) Program, please complete this application survey by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday, September 28th, 2020. If selected, the time commitment will involve approximately 3 hours per month for a year, and you will be paid $20/hour for your time. For more information on the program and Frequently Asked Questions, we will be screening a FAQ webinar on September 22nd, from 4:30 – 5:30 PM under this zoom link, put together by our program team.