eNews - April 2011 Edition
From the Executive DirectorDowntown Everett is abuzz with art-making, and a new set of facilities is evidence of years of planning, fundraising, creative leadership, and determination.
The Schack Art Center is a 19,000 square foot mecca for visual art activities, with a tantalizing schedule of workshops and classes, exhibit space, a retail store, catering facilities for special events and a hot shop for glass blowing – plus a new home for Snohomish County Arts Council.
Upstairs in the same building, Artspace Everett Lofts is fully leased, providing 40 units of affordable live/work studios for artists – with some for individuals, others for families.
A few blocks away, construction is underway at The Plaza Theatre, future home of the Village Theatre's KIDSTAGE and Pied Piper programs, and a new Performing Arts Plaza with art and design elements by Linda Beaumont – all adjacent to the Everett Performing Arts Center.
None of this has come quickly or easily. Snohomish County Arts Council has been offering arts programming for more than 36 years, including art-making classes in various locations throughout the community. Years ago they did a feasibility study on building an art center with good insights on the scope and scale of the project. The capital campaign was launched in 2006, and in 2009 the Center was named for John and Idamae Schack, long-time arts supporters and generous community benefactors who are part of a long list of local contributors to the Schack Art Center. View more pictures of my visit to the Schack Art Center.
Village Theater has been in Everett since 1998, with mainstage performances, Pied Piper programming for children, and KIDSTAGE classes and camps. The new venue is a more intimate setting and better suited for kids on stage and in the audience – and adds much-needed classroom space.
When I visited last week, both sites were hubs of activity: a team of glass artists working near the furnace, jurors reviewing entries in a photography exhibit, construction workers hauling lumber and arts managers planning programs. Lanie McMullin, the city’s economic development director (and a WSAC Board member) recognizes these facilities as key to the city’s economic future: drawing people downtown, bringing business to local shops and suppliers, energizing the workforce and contributing to quality education for kids and adults.
Congratulations, Everett. And thanks for your investments.
Keep in touch,
Artwork Installation
Koryn Rolstad’s Reflections in Motion was installed in the Communications and Allied Health Building of Pierce College Puyallup during the summer of 2010.
The sculpture is comprised of eight suspended groupings of clear and translucent acrylic ellipses, each approximately 11 inches long by 2 ½ inches wide. The colors range from transparent blue to neon yellow to translucent radiant. As light passes through the sculpture, the radiant material and acrylic create a play of colorful reflections on the adjacent walls and floor that changes as daylight passes through the skylight along with ambient sources.
Rolstad states, “This suspended sculpture is an exploration of how light has the ability to engage and affect an environment through dynamic shifts - always transforming, always radiant. The metaphor of light can be used literally and philosophically to illuminate one’s surroundings and stimulate personal discovery.”
Artwork acquired through Washington State’s Art in Public Places program becomes part of the State Art Collection - a collection of over 4,500 works of art located at state agencies, public schools, colleges and universities throughout the state.
How Strong is Your Social Net? A Nationwide SurveyTrudel | MacPherson, an arts consultancy, has created a national survey, How Strong is Your Social Net?, in order to measure messaging alignment, resource allocation, and communications effectiveness in digital and social media in use by arts organizations.
Take the survey: How Strong is Your Social Net?
Arts Education MonthMay is Arts Education Month in Washington State! What better opportunity to shine a light on the successes in our community and bring attention to the issues facing our schools. Here are some things you can do to highlight the importance of arts education in your community:
Legislative UpdateKeep up with changing arts legislation and by becoming a fan at WashingtonArts.
The House Operating Budget proposal recently passed out of the House Ways & Means committee recently proposes a budget for the Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC) of approximately $1.1 million dollars per year in state funding as part of a new Department of Heritage, Arts, and Culture as proposed in HB 2033.
The House Budget proposal would provide the Arts Commission with $1.1 million dollars per year in a combination of General Fund State and dedicated funding from the Heritage, Arts, and Culture Account (currently the Heritage Center Account). This represents approximately a 10% cut over our current state funding. The proposal also transfers 12 FTEs (full time equivalents) from WSAC to the new department (our current FTE count is 14).
Other billsIt looks like HB 1997 (Economic development in King County AND 4Culture funding) is back in action! The operating budget passed out of the Ways & Means committee included language making the bill Necessary To Implement the Budget (NTIB), which means it is still alive and can get another hearing. The News Tribune has the details at Seattle Convention Center and the arts: How a dead bill becomes undead.
Grants / OpportunitiesHumanities Washington is accepting nominations for its annual Humanities Washington Award. In 2011 the award will be given to an individual or organization based in North Central Washington. The award, established in 1995, recognizes an individual or organization in the state of Washington who has demonstrated imaginative leadership in the humanities on a local, regional, or state level. Deadline: 04/27/11.
The Wisconsin Arts Board’s Percent for Art program is accepting applications for a major commission project for interior or exterior artwork associated with the UW Madison Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR) with a budget of $260,000. This commission opportunity is open to artists living in the continental United States and who demonstrate that they have completed one or more commissions with a budget of $200,000 or more. Deadline: 04/29/11.
KCTS9 is accepting nominations for the Golden Apple awards, which are intended to honor the best in pre-K – 12 education in Washington. Recipients will receive a cash award and be featured in a special prime-time program in February. Awards may be given to organizations and program administrators as well as teachers and principals. Applications from all areas of the state are invited and encouraged. Deadline 04/30/11.
The City of Olympia is seeking up to 12 loaned sculptures from Washington State artists for temporary display of up to one year for the Percival Plinth Project (PDF) and for consideration for the People’s Prize purchase of one sculpture for the City’s public art collection. Deadline: 05/02/11.
Artist Trust is accepting applications for their latest round of Grants for Artist Projects (GAP), which provide support for artist-generated projects. Projects can include (but are not limited to) the development, completion or presentation of new work. Deadline: 05/10/11.
In celebration of an upcoming exhibition, Evergreen Muse: The Art of Elizabeth Colborne (1885-1948), the Whatcom Museum is accepting submissions for Fate of the Forest: An Open Hanging. The reception for both exhibitions will be held on June 17, 2011. Any artist who is a member of the Whatcom Museum can submit one exhibition-ready work in any media interpreting the Pacific Northwest forest. Deadline: 05/15/11.
The Washington State Archives is accepting applications for the Digitization Grant Program. The grant is available to libraries and heritage organizations that possess historically valuable records created by separate local government entities. Grants of up to $5,000 are available to digitize historical public records. Digital copies will be provided to the grant recipient and mounted on the Washington State Digital Archives, thereby improving preservation and increasing public access. Deadline: 05/16/11.
The Port Angeles Fine Arts Center is accepting applications to participate in their summer theme show — The Back Country (July 10-October 9). Art of all media will be considered. Deadline: 05/23/11.
Seattle-based arts and cultural organizations are invited to apply for the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs' Civic Partners funding program. The program provides two-year funding commitments with allocations made annually in 2012 and 2013. Funding is intended to promote a healthy and diverse arts and cultural community and support the organizations’ core program goals. Deadline: 06/08/11.
EmploymentThe New England Foundation for the Arts is recruiting a Program Manager for their National Dance Project.
Seattle Opera is recruiting for a number of different positions including Direct Sales & Telefunding Representative, Annual Fund Manager, and Youth Programs Manager.
The Bainbridge Island Arts & Humanities Council is seeking an experienced, energetic, and creative Executive Director.
Events / Workshops / ConferencesStevenson - Participate in the 2011 Cultural Congress Charting the Course: Creating for the Common Cause, April 25 - 27 at Skamania Lodge. Join colleagues and take part in vital opportunities to stay informed and connected with peers, as well as be instrumental in setting strategy and direction for the future of arts and cultural in our rapidly changing communities.
Pullman - In Celebration of National Library Week the Neill Public Library is hosting Book Lust author and celebrity librarian Nancy Pearl next Monday April 11th, at 6 pm in the View Room at the Gladish Community Center. This evening of literary inspiration is free and open to the public.
Anacortes - The Anacortes Arts Festival presents the Tuvan throat singers and instrumentalists Alash Ensemble at Brodniak Hall on April 29 at 7:30 pm. Alash come from the tiny Republic of Tuva, north of Mongolia in Central Asia, with an equestrian culture influenced shamanism. Throat singing, or Xoomei, uses vocal cords to produce multiple pitches simultaneously creating layered, complex sounds.
Port Townsend - Centrum is presenting a concert of Choro music (before there was bossa nova, there was choro, a uniquely Brazilian form of high-energy improvisational music that blends European and African traditions) at the Joseph F. Wheeler Theater on April 16, featuring the internationally acclaimed mandolinist Dudu Maia. |
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