History

In 1961, the Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC) was established as a state agency to support the arts on a public level by Governor Albert Rosellini. The agency was established as a commission that has members appointed by the governor to conduct governmental duties pertaining to: making art accessible to the public, K-12 art education, and advocacy for support of the arts.

 

From 1961 to 1966, the commission investigated artistic needs and explored avenues to meet these needs. However, a lack of funding made implementation of project and program ideas difficult (from $198 in 1962 to $6,800 in 1966).

 

One early creation of the Arts Commission was the Artmobile. This vehicle toured Washington State reaching schools and communities in high need of art. This project was aided with the help of a federal education grant.

 

The artmobile inspired a focus on touring programs, which would allow ballet, theatre, opera, and music to travel to smaller communities. At the same time, the commission recognized the need to hire an Executive Director in order to improve program implementation.

 

The commission also became involved in cultural and environmental issues in Washington. In order to control visual pollution along our highways, WSAC urged the legislature to uphold the Highway Advertising Act of 1961. In compliment to the legislative requests, recommendations were made to improve roadway landscaping and provide designated scenic highways.

In 1967, legislators approved WSAC’s request to hire a full-time Executive Director. By that time, projects utilizing appropriated funds from legislature, a state agency grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and a special federal grant were fully underway. This financial boost allowed the Arts Commission to award their first series of grants to artists and organizations, and continued funding for the artmobile.

The Art in Public Places Program was established by state legislation in July 1974. Because new construction drives percent-for-art funding and projects are not distributed equally across the state, Washington’s legislation was revised in 1983 to allow pooling of artwork allocations to help address any statewide disparity.

 

Throughout the 1970’s, the Art Commission successfully provided grants and assistance to arts organizations, schools and artists. In 1981, fiscal cuts to the agency totaled 58% and a Cultural Enrichment Program was relocated to WSAC from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). As a result, seven full-time employees that previously supported the program were not added to the WSAC staff.

Many efforts were made during the 1980’s to improve Washington’s exposure to the arts, such as the Governor’s Arts Awards TV production “Artsfest ‘83”. WSAC also initiated a consortium: SWAP Northwest and Exhibit Touring Services. These projects were aimed at increasing Washington’s public access to the arts through cooperative bookings and performances in the state. SWAP eventually grew into our current Cooperative Partner - Arts Northwest.

In 1983, the State Folklife project was started in cooperation with the Washington Commission for the Humanities. The intent was to assist the Washington State Centennial Commission in the planning and implementing of arts programs.

The Folk Arts Program was created in 1991 to document, identify, honor, and assist in the perpetuation of these traditions in Washington State. The purpose of the Folk Program is to help preserve, present, and protect the traditional arts of the many diverse cultures among the state’s citizenry.