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Office of Arts & Culture news and events

Preserving arts jobs in tough times

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Untitled-4Mayor Greg Nickels today announced the city of Seattle will award $250,000 in federal stimulus funds to help preserve dozens of jobs at 22 Seattle arts and cultural organizations.

“The arts play an important role in our economy, boosting spending in other sectors and contributing to our quality of life,” Nickels said. “We are focused on protecting jobs in all areas of our local economy, and these dollars will help nonprofit arts organizations preserve jobs during difficult economic times.”

The federal funds will help organizations retain or restore salaried and contract jobs, ranging from performers to production staff to business managers and artistic directors. The dollars will support jobs at a range of organizations, including Maureen Whiting Dance, Seattle Chamber Players, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Center for Wooden Boats, Velocity Dance Center, Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Young Shakespeare Workshop. Click here for a complete list of funded city organizations.

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs received the $250,000 award in July from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to re-grant to Seattle organizations to preserve arts jobs threatened by the economic downturn. The NEA had $50 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to distribute nationwide.

The Office awarded the stimulus dollars through a competitive application process. A peer panel reviewed more than 80 eligible Seattle arts and cultural organizations for one-time awards of either $5,000 or $15,000 to support staff salaries or contract fees incurred between fall 2009 and summer 2010.

Read the mayor’s full press release.

Seeking portable works by mid-career artists

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The Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), seeks to purchase available artworks from midcareer artists for SPU’s Portable works collection. Midcareer artists are considered artists who have been working professionally for at least 10 years and have a significant exhibition history. Artworks in all media will be considered. Application deadline is September 30. Go here for information on how to apply.

Image: Anna Fidler, Loveful Heights (detail), 2004, mixed media, 6″ x 38″. Seattle Public Utilities Portable Works Collection. Photo by the artist.

Salsa at City Hall tomorrow

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Turn up the heat on your lunch break tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 27. Join timba band Pedrito Vargas y Su Grupo Ashé on the City Hall plaza for a free outdoor concert, noon to 1:30 p.m. This scorching hot 11-piece  band combines Cuban music, salsa, funk, jazz, rock and hip-hop. We’ll provide a dance floor, so bring your dancing shoes! Check out upcoming Seattle Presents concerts here.

Funding available for neighborhood arts events

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Festivals and events color the character of Seattle’s neighborhoods. Community groups planning a neighborhood arts or cultural event in 2010 can apply for funding through our Neighborhood & Community Arts program. Funded organizations recieve $1,200 each to support annual public festivals and events. The deadline to apply is, Tuesday,
Oct. 27.
Pick up some pointers on putting together a successful application at a Meet and Greet, 6 to 8 p.m., Monday, Oct. 5 at the Theatre Off Jackson. RSVP to Paul Rucker, (206) 684-7084 by Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Former NEA chair offers tips for the arts in a bad economy

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Bill Ivey, former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University, addressed more than 1,100 of the nation’s arts leaders at the opening session of the 2009 Americans for the Arts annual convention in Seattle in June. The Office was the local host of the convention, titled Renewable Resources: Arts in Sustainable Communities.

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Ivey discussed the position of the arts in a challenged economy while highlighting potential opportunities for the arts in the Obama administration. Ivey is the author of Arts, Inc. How Greed and Neglect Have Destroyed Our Cultural Rights.

Grade’s changing sculpture to stir conversations about water

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Artist John Grade began installing a temporary sculpture at the Bitter Lake Reservoir this week. The sculpture—titled Mantle—evokes the image of a water tower. It will gradually take shape over the course of several weeks. In September, the artwork’s wooden frames will cradle a spherical cloud-like form. Grade is creating the cloud with a corn-based polymer. The “cloud” will gradually biodegrade when exposed to rain and ultimately disappear. Over the course of about six months, viewers will see the temporary installation change, offering a means of framing and examining the role water plays in our urban lives. Mantle will be on view through January 2010 at the North Seattle reservoir, near the intersection of North 138th Street and Linden Avenue North.

Grades temporary project is part of Water Calling—a series of short films and temporary public art projects designed to get Seattleites thinking about environmental stewardship and urban watersheds. The projects were commissioned with Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art funds and managed by this Office.

SAM panel to talk art in sustainable cities, Aug. 27

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Photo by Ian Edelstein.

How do we ensure that urban revitalization benefits both the arts and artists? Join Seattle Art Museum (SAM) and the Cascade Land Conservancy for a free panel discussion that will explore the intersection of art, culture and the environment, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 27 at Olympic Sculpture Park’s PACCAR Pavilion.

The Office is a sponsor of the conversation, titled Art and Sustainable Cities: A Dialogue, which is part of SAM’s Pivotal Perspectives: Conversations on Art and Culture.

American political journalist Michael Kinsley will moderate the conversation featuring panelists D.K. Pan and NKO, co-founders of the Free Sheep Foundation; Randy Engstrom, founding director of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center and vice-chair of the Seattle Arts Commission; public artist Buster Simpson and Beth Takekawa, executive director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum.