Agency Policies

As a state agency, the Washington State Arts Commission follows guidelines as published in Title 30 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).

You can read about the state laws (RCWs) for the State Arts Commission here.

Below are summaries of policies that guide our programs in the administration of laws and regulations.

Accessibility Policy

Accessibility is a civil right. ArtsWA complies with all local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning civil and human rights. Our programs, grants, and employment practices are free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, or disability. In addition, we comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This includes the ADA requirement that all programs, services, and activities, when viewed in their entirety, are readily accessible to, and usable by, individuals with disabilities. ArtsWA strives for effective communication with individuals with speech, visual, or hearing disabilities. Materials are available in alternative formats upon request.

Disability and Accessibility Resources

View Accessible Meetings, Events & Conferences Guide. This document includes information, tips, and instructions for planning meetings, performances, and other events that are universally accessible.

View guidance on use of the International Symbol of Accessibility (ISA) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA).

Visit Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium. This organization connects arts and culture organizations with the information and resources needed to improve accessibility for people of all abilities.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Office for Accessibility. This arm of the NEA works to make the arts accessible for people with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and people living in institutions. It provides advocacy and technical assistance. It also provides several guides including:

Contact Us

Questions about agency accessibility (public meetings, facility access, etc.)
Deane Shellman, Deputy Director
(360) 252-9985 | deane.shellman@arts.wa.gov

Grants to Organizations questions about requirements for applicants and grantees
Miguel Guillén, Grants to Organization Manager
(360) 586-0424 | miguel.guillen@arts.wa.gov

Arts in Education questions about requirements for applicants and grantees
Tamar Krames, Arts in Education Manager
(360) 586-2418 | tamar.krames@arts.wa.gov

Appeal Procedure

You may appeal a decision of the ArtsWA board, according to our rules (WAC 30-12-036). The appeal must be filed in writing with ArtsWA no later than 21 calendar days after the date the denial was sent. The written appeal must contain the factual or technical reasons why you believe the denial is in error.

The appeal letter should be sent to the attention of:

Karen Hanan, Executive Director
Washington State Arts Commission
PO Box 42675, Olympia, WA  98504-2675
.

Once ArtsWA receives an appeal:
  • The Executive Director (presiding officer) or a designee will preside over the appeal.
  • The applicant and the presiding officer may consult with staff to examine the original application and the panel process.
  • The presiding officer may consider additional relevant information.
  • The presiding officer will notify the applicant and the ArtsWA board of the decision in a brief written statement called the “Initial Order.” There is no timeline for issuing the Initial Order.
  • The applicant or the board may request, orally or in writing, a further review of the Initial Order within 21 days. This is called a “Request for Administrative Review.” If the applicant does not request a review, the Initial Order becomes final.
The Process For Administrative Review:
  • The Board Chair or designee serves as reviewing officer in this stage. They may review the Initial Order without notice to the parties.
  • The reviewing officer ensures that all parties have the opportunity to explain their views. They may rely on the record of the process, explanations by the parties, and other relevant information.
  • The reviewing officer notifies the applicant and commission of the decision within 21 calendar days. This is the Final Order.
  • The applicant may petition for judicial review by superior court per RCW 34.05.510.
Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding ArtsWA’s Appeal Procedure, call 360.753.3860.

Advertising Policy for Digital Media & Printed Materials

Digital Media and Printed Collateral

Washington State agency guidelines for commercial advertising on the ArtsWA website, social media channels, and printed materials.

Privacy Policy

This Policy explains what we do with data collected when you visit this website.  It also describes several state and federal laws that apply to information that you might provide when navigating this site.

This notice covers the following topics:

A. Data collection and use

Information collected if you only browse this site

When you browse this website, we may gather and store certain information about your visit. We automatically collect and store the following:

  1. The Internet domain and network address you use to access our site
  2. The type of web browser and operating system you are using
  3. The date and time of your visit
  4. The pages you visit on this website
  5. The last website you visited before coming to ours
  6. Other web traffic statistics such as Google Analytics or Piwik Analytics

We save and use this information to improve the content of our web services. This information helps us understand how people are using our services.

Information collected if you volunteer information

If during your visit to our website you participate in a survey, send us an email, or perform some other transaction online, the following additional information may be collected:

  1. Your email address and contents of the email
  2. Information volunteered in response to a survey
  3. Information volunteered through an online form for any other purpose

The information collected is not limited to text characters. It may include audio, video, and graphic information formats you send us. We will not usually ask for or collect this kind of information from the general public through this website.

Email you send to us may be used to respond to issues and to further improve our services.  We may forward your email to another agency or a vendor for appropriate action.

The records retention schedules published by the State Archives Personal require us to keep this information only so long as it is useful, and then destroy it. These schedules change from time to time.

B. Personal information

Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) as defined in this Privacy Policy means information about a natural person that is readily identifiable to that specific individual. Personal information includes such things as your name, address, and phone number.

We will not collect PII about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us by sending us email, or completing an online form or survey. You may choose not to contact us by e-mail or to provide any PII using an online form or survey. Your choice to not participate in these activities will not restrict or impair your ability to use our site, or to read or download any information provided on the site. If you choose to provide PII by emailing us, participating in a survey, or completing an online form, we may store this information.

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs information gathering online from or about children under the age of 13. We are especially concerned about protecting children’s privacy. Under COPPA, a web site must get parental permission before collecting personally identifiable information about a child under the age of 13.

Contact us if you have questions about how we use your personally identifiable information. We list our contact information at the end of this Policy.

C. Public access to information

In the State of Washington, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public’s right to access public records that serve various needs. This includes individual privacy. Exceptions are provided by both state and federal laws.

As a public agency, all our information is governed by laws such as Washington’s Public Records Act (RCW 42.56). Information you send us may become a public record, and it may be subject to public inspection and copying if not otherwise protected by federal or state law.

Information collected through use of this site may be public information and subject to inspection and copying by members of the public.  For example, the Public Records Act states that:

The Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA), in accordance with published rules, shall make available for public inspection and copying all public records, unless the record falls within the specific exemptions of subsection six (6) of RCW 42.56.070Chapter 42.56 RCW, or other statute which exempts or prohibits disclosure of specific information or records. To the extent required to prevent an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy interests protected by Chapter 42.56 RCW, an agency shall delete identifying details in a manner consistent with Chapter 42.56 RCW when it makes available or publishes any public record; however, in each case, the justification for the deletion shall be explained fully in writing.

In the event of a conflict between this Privacy Policy and the Public Records Act or other law governing the agency’s disclosure of records, the Public Records Act or other applicable law will control.

D. Correcting personally identifiable information

State law requires agencies that collect personally identifiable information to provide procedures for correcting inaccurate information. This includes establishing mechanisms for individuals to review information about them and recommend changes in information they believe to be inaccurate (RCW 43.105.365).

Contact us to access any personally identifiable information we collect about you. We list our contact information at the end of this policy. Please send us a written request that clearly shows the error. We will do our best to correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information. We will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

E. User tracking and customization of pages

To serve our users better, we use a variety of indicators to customize your browsing experience with this website. This includes the use of “cookies.” Setting your web browser to block all cookies, including essential cookies, could affect the availability and functionality of this website. Web browsers may include Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome or Firefox.  We only have control over indicators we provide. We do not have control over third party tools or other technologies deployed on this website that may be created by using embedded third party applications.

F. Security

ArtsWA has taken steps to safeguard the integrity of its data and prevent unauthorized access to information we maintain. We intend these measures to:

  • prevent corruption of data
  • block unknown or unauthorized access to our systems and information
  • provide reasonable protection of information in our possession
G. Copyright

This site contains text, artwork, photos or other content copyrighted by others. We use this content with permission of the copyright holder. Therefore, we recommend that you contact our Webmaster for permission to use any content contained on this site.

H. Disclaimer

Neither the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA), the State of Washington, nor any agency, officer, or employee of ArtsWA or the State of Washington warrants the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information published by this system, nor endorses any content, viewpoints, products, or services linked from this system, and shall not be held liable for any losses caused by reliance on the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of such information. Portions of such information may be incorrect or not current. Any person or entity who relies on any information obtained from this system does so at their own risk.

Our web site contains links to other web sites. These include links to web sites operated by other government agencies, nonprofit organizations, or private businesses, including but not limited to the websites of our vendors. When you follow a link to another site, you are no longer on our web site and this Privacy Policy will not apply. You will be subject to the privacy policy of those external sites.

Reference in this website to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public. This reference does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the State of Washington, ArtsWA, or its officers, employees or agents.

We reserve the right to revise and update this Privacy Policy at any time without notice by posting the revision on our site.

I. Glossary

A “network address” is assigned to your computer or mobile device whenever you are using the Internet. Network addresses can be IP address like this: 192.168.0.11 or like this: fc00:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:/7 or Ethernet addresses like this 00:00:00:FF:EE:11

“Cookies” are small data files stored on your hard drive or in your device memory when you visit a website. Cookies and similar technologies are widely used by websites to make them work more efficiently. Cookies provide information to the website operator about how users are using their website. Most browsers allow you to block cookies by adjusting the “settings,” “preferences” or “internet options.” To find out more about cookies, including how to see your cookies settings and how to manage and delete them, please refer to your browser ‘help’ section. You can also visit the Federal Trade Commission’s explanation on its website, or the Washington State privacy resources at Privacy.wa.gov.

ArtsWA contact information

You may contact ArtsWA by email: info@arts.wa.gov.

IT Mission and Priorities

  1. Transition to Desk Top Support through WaTech.
  2. Secure and protect agency data and applications.
  3. Ensure agency data and applications are available to agency staff, partners, and the public.
  4. Ensure and coordinate technical support of mission critical agency systems and training to agency staff through WaTech.
  5. Improve procedures, leadership/management, and develop staff.
  6. Develop and follow agency and statewide IT strategic, budget, continuity of operations, incident response, disaster recovery, and security plans.
  7. Ensure agency compliance with federal and state law, WaTech OCIO, DES, OFM, and agency policies and standards. Help maintain IT-related agency policies, procedures, standards, and forms.
  8. Ensure staff and partners have access to updated and relevant software.

 

 

ArtsWA Priorities for IT

  1. Migrate to Desk Top Support with WaTech (Done 2019)
  2. Migrate to Exchange (Done 2020)
  3. Migrate to WaTech Enterprise Shared Tenant for O365. [Done 2020]
  4. Transition to Teams and Teams Telephones (Done 2020)
  5. Transition to Multi Factor Authentication
  6. Integrate email in WaTech Vault with Exchange Online Archive on Microsoft Cloud. (Done 2020)
  7. Investigate financial solutions involved in ZoomGrants. Complete OCS Design Review and OCIO waiver of policies. (Done 2020)
  8. Participate in One Washington’s transition to Systems as a Service (SaaS) (Ongoing)
  9. Participate as One Washington’s Point of Contact (Ongoing)
  10. Participate in One Washington as Agency Sponsor and Agency Support Team Leader (Ongoing)
  11. Prepare Annual IT Certification regarding inventory, applications, IT hardware, IT security, and IT policies. (Ongoing)
  12. Develop open data policy. [Done 2019]
  13. Publish public information as open data.
  14. Research E-Signature and implement
  15. Research increased storage capacity for My Public Art Portal at lowest price
  16. Research GIS use for Agency Programs