eNews - July 2011 Edition
From the Executive DirectorWhat’s Up? Talking About the Arts
When asked about art in their communities, people living in central Washington have a lot of great stories to share: Symphony performances in the historic Capitol Theater, murals in Toppenish. Neon at the Yakima Valley Museum and beadwork at the Yakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center. The Larson Gallery’s listing of local artists, and 509 Art’s efforts to connect arts efforts throughout the region.
Building arts participation was the theme of our June 29 forum in Yakima, part of the Arts Participation Leadership Initiative that brings great speakers to develop skills and perspectives for arts managers and community leaders. The day’s work confirmed that a key to success is telling others about what’s most meaningful to you. One attendee later told me she was so enthused that she went back to her desk the next day and started anew with her plans for an upcoming fundraiser. “I realized that my belief in the project must outweigh my fear of making the ask,” she said with great enthusiasm. “I tore up the letter I’d started and picked up the phone. The response has been terrific.”
Are you ready to share your stories? Can you talk about the art in your communities?
In Yakima, a great example was right overhead: Flow, by artist Susan Zoccola, is the result of a partnership of the Convention Center with Yakima’s newly formed City Arts Commission. The suspended sculpture, recently installed in the convention center’s South Lobby, interprets the irrigation systems found throughout eastern Washington. Learn more from the Yakima Valley VCB newsletter.
This summer, let’s make sure we all know a little more about what’s happening around town and across our state. And let’s work on those stories for the fun of it (here are some great things to do!) and to share our convictions about how the arts matter (here’s how the arts make our community better).
Keep in touch,
p.s. Want to know more about what was discussed in Yakima? Join us for the free Arts Participation webinar, scheduled for August 3 at noon.
Grants UpdateNow that we have a clearer understanding of what our budget looks like for the upcoming year we’ll be moving quickly to revise and post guidelines for grant programs and anticipate having these available on our website in mid to late July.
We currently anticipate that application deadlines for various programs will fall between mid-August and mid-September, with a goal to notify all applicants of funding decisions in October or November.
With the shortened timelines – and reduced state and federal funding (resulting in an 11% across the board reduction to all of our grant categories) – we’ve made some significant and necessary changes to our FY 2012 grant guidelines and applications.
For Grants to Organizations, we will be suspending operating support grants. Instead, three levels of project support grants will be available:
For Cooperative Partnerships, contracts for statewide services taking place January through June 2012.
For Arts in Education grants, we will provide eighteen-month Community Consortium grants and six-month First Step grants:
For Folk Arts grants, we will suspend Apprenticeship grants. Instead we are going to provide three Folk Arts Fellowships in FY 2012.
More information will be available as our plans are finalized; we will let you know when guidelines and applications are available. Please let us know if you have any questions. And follow us at WashingtonArts for up-to-the-minute information.
Artwork InstallationIn June, artist Mandy Greer installed her first project with Washington State Arts Commission - The Universe Awakens to the Child.
The mixed media sculptural suite of four suspended chandeliers, created for the students of Bow Lake Elementary School in SeaTac, represents the bounty, diversity and wonder of the natural world that has inspired human cultures globally and throughout time.
The school’s art selection committee expressed interest in capturing bold color, and utilizing the artwork as an educational catalyst to grab your eye and capture your attention over time. Using the motif of the classical four elements paired up with their respective four seasons, each chandelier portrays birds, trees and plants that have been selected from mythologies and folk tales from around the world. For each season, Mandy selected birds to create that are considered protectors and patrons of children, and represent ideas that are important to them – play, autonomy, and the quest for knowledge.
Mandy states that “world mythology is full of comforters, guardians and associates of children who care for them along their journey through childhood. This collection of hand-stitched flora and fauna bloom at the threshold of the school, where children both enter into a nurturing world of learning and exit into the larger world to make their own way.”
Mandy will be spending time with the Bow Lake students and community in the Fall in order to educate them about her process and demonstrate how she makes her objects of art. In addition to the community events, she will also complete a book about her process that will be placed in the school’s library.
View more images of The Universe Awakens to the Child in a gallery on Facebook. And to see early drawings, visit the artist's flickr gallery.
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.
Articles and InformationArts jobs are real jobs and growing. "Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Endowment for the Arts projects a growth rate of 11 percent for arts-related occupations over the next seven years." Federal Labor Statistics: Arts Jobs Predicted to Grow at Eleven Percent, Miller-McCune.
WSAC project support grantee Path With Art provides programming and a supportive, artistic community that profoundly benefits both men and women at risk of becoming homeless, as well as those who have survived the trauma of homelessness and other life challenges. Their artwork of the month is a poem by Terry Lull.
WSAC Grants / OpportunitiesTeaching Artists are invited to apply to participate in the Teaching Artist Training (TAT) Lab, an eight-month program that includes five full days of training, teleconferences, and mentorship with a cohort of 40 teaching artists from various artistic disciplines and regions across the state. Deadline: 07/25/11.
Presented by WSAC and the Seattle Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with the Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 4Culture, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Other Grants / OpportunitiesSeattle World’s Fair 50th Anniversary (The Next 50) is seeking applications for up to twenty temporary projects to highlight arts, culture and design. National and international individuals, curators, and institutions as well as youth-led projects (24 years old and under) are encouraged to submit proposals of new and original temporary visual, performing, literary and media art projects that could range in duration between one day and six months. Letter of Intent deadline: 07/22/11.
Artist Trust is accepting applications for the 2011 Artist Trust Arts Innovator Award. Arts Innovator Awards support Washington State generative artists of any discipline who are originating new work, experimenting with new ideas, taking risks, and pushing the boundaries in their field. Deadline: 07/25/11.
The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture and Terrain are accepting submissions from artists for NEED | WANT, a new juried art exhibition for Fall 2011 concerned with the way contemporary American society assigns value and priority. Artists of all ages and disciplines, working in any media, are eligible to submit work. Deadline: 07/29/11.
Visual artists working in Washington, Oregon or Idaho are invited to apply for the Seattle Art Museum’s (SAM’s) annual Betty Bowen Award. Applications are available now at www.callforentry.org. Deadline: 08/01/11.
The Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), is seeking an artist or artist team to develop a permanent, multi-site outdoor artwork at two to five select points along the Burke-Gilman Trail. Each part of the installation will enliven its location on the trail and collectively create a larger cohesive artwork. The call is open to artists residing in Washington state. Deadline: 08/01/11.
The Knight Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) are accepting applications for an eight-city competition seeking new models for local arts journalism in the digital age. Applications are being accepted for projects that benefit the following cities: Akron, OH; Detroit, MI; Macon, GA; Charlotte, NC; Miami, FL; Philadelphia, PA; San Jose/ Silicon Valley, CA; and St. Paul, MN. The applicant may be from outside these eight cities. Up to $100,000 is available per project. Deadline: 08/18/11.
The National Endowment for the Arts is accepting applications for their new Arts in Media category open to mobile technology, digital games, and other platforms. Grants are available to support the development, production, and national distribution of innovative media projects about the arts and media projects that can be considered works of art. Grants generally will range from $10,000 to $200,000, based on the platform and the complexity and scope of the project. Deadline: 09/01/11.
The Mukilteo Arts Guild is seeking musicians for the 4th annual Bluegrass and Folk Festival in Mukilteo on August 20, 2011.Contact Steve Schmalz for details.
EmploymentSeattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs is seeking a senior project manager qualified in the area of Public Art, to perform planning, development, coordination and oversight for the implementation of major public art projects.
ArtsWest is seeking a new marketing director. The
position is responsible for the coordination of all aspects of marketing, public relations, media relations, advertising, internal and external website updates and content, and production of printed
Events / Workshops / ConferencesTacoma - The Washington State Arts Commission usually meets five times a year - throughout the state and via online webinar. Our next meeting is Tuesday, August 2 at the Tacoma Art Museum (TAM), 1701 Pacific Avenue, from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. Board meetings are open to the public.
Seattle - The Western Arts Alliance (WAA) Annual Conference will be held August 29 through September 2. WAA provides access to contacts and information on more than 3,000 artists and attractions touring in the West, and over 200 presenting organizations this side of the Mississippi. The five-day conference is filled with authoritative speakers and programs, showcase performances, networking opportunities and social events. Early bird registration rate is available through July 16.
Tacoma - Still time to see, In the Spirit: Contemporary Northwest Native Arts Exhibit through August 28, 2011 at the Washington State History Museum. This juried art exhibit showcases the work of contemporary Native American artists. Guests will see how today’s Native art connects traditional artistic heritage and contemporary forms of expression. The featured artwork was selected by a jury comprised of local experts in Native American art. And plan ahead for the In the Spirit: Northwest Native Arts Market and Festival on August 6 from 10 am to 7 pm.
Seattle - On July 16 and 17, the Nordic Heritage Museum will be hosting a family favorite for all ages: the annual Viking Days Festival. The festival features Scandinavian food, entertainment, music, craft vendors, Viking re-enactments, craft demonstrations, and crafts for kids.
Goldendale - Lillian Pitt, a highly regarded Pacific Northwest Native American artist working in sculpture and mixed media, will give the opening remarks for an all student exhibit at Maryhill Art Museum on July 16 at 4 pm in the EyeSEE Room. The student art show is part of the opening day of Maryhill Art Museum's exhibit entitled Beside the Big River: Images and Art of the Mid-Columbia Indians.
Mercer Island - Youth Theatre Northwest is opening their 2011-2012 season with a production of Wonderland based on the beloved books by Lewis Carroll, adapted by Seattle artist Don Fleming, and directed by our Education Director Amanda Lee Williams. Wonderland performs now through July 17. When a young girl falls down a mysterious rabbit hole and enters a wondrous and nonsensical world, quite simply anything can happen.
Spokane - The Spokane Arts Commission is presenting a new exhibit at the Chase Gallery, Humor will be on display from June 28 through August 26. The group exhibition features work by Robin Dare, Larry Ellingson, Cathy Fields, and Dara Harvey. An artist reception will be held on Friday, August 5 from 5 to 8 pm. |
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