Despite uncertain funding for 4Culture, over 240 King County arts organizations opened annual Sustained Support award letters to find grant funding stable for at least one more year

Carolina Chocolate Drops

A sigh of relief was heard across King County this month as 221 arts organizations and 20 local arts agencies, representing all 9 county council districts, opened their 4Culture Sustained Support award letters.


“The City of Enumclaw is extremely grateful for this opportunity.  It is making the difference in keeping the cultural lights on or shutting down.”
—Gary LaTurner, City of Enumclaw Arts Commission

 

“I have never, in all the time I have worked here, gotten so many rejection letters from proposals I’ve sent.  It’s a big deal that we can count on 4Culture’s support for our program.”
—Museum development director

 

“Thank you for your help.  In these difficult times, we especially appreciate your persistence.”
—Marilyn Swafford, Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra

4Culture provides the region’s arts organizations with operating support totaling  $1,658,400 through the 2010 Sustained Support program. This program supports King County-based arts organizations with a minimum three-year history of producing high quality public programs in all arts disciplines, including: music (66), theater (52), visual art (24), dance (22), education (18), media (14), service organizations (12), literary (11), festivals (9), presenting organizations (10), other (2). Organizations may use the funds to offset operating costs, and make programs more accessible to the residents of and visitors to the county by offering free programs or providing discount ticket/admission/class prices.

View the full list of 2010 award recipients

“Our third annual installment of “Accord-O-Rama: A Squeezebox Spectacular” almost didn’t make it to the stage.  This low-cost and popular family tradition squeezed back to life only with news of this grant.  As a result, almost 400 appreciative fans clapped and danced through a lively afternoon featuring musicians from five cultural traditions.”
—Wier Harman, Town Hall

 

“Operating support means validation for who we are and what we do as an organization. It gives us the ability to best meet the needs of the schools and communities we work with and to be flexible and responsive when unforeseen opportunities (or challenges) present themselves. It’s the most important support we can get.”
—Una McAlinden, ArtsEd Washington

 

“4Culture’s contribution helps ensure KEXP’s continued ability to offer our community rich music experiences, while we support performing artists from Seattle and around the country.”
—Tom Mara, KEXP

 

The current revenue stream for Sustained Support and other 4Culture programs comes from a portion of  King County lodging taxes collected in 2009.  This modest allocation has supported the arts in King County for 20  years.  With the lodging industry hit hard by the recession, lodging taxes revenues were down 17% in 2009 in comparison to 2008. In recognition of the impact of the recession on arts organizations, the 4Culture Board of Directors took several measures  to maintain dollars necessary for Sustained Support and Individual Artist projects at 2009 funding levels:  Administrative expenses were reduced, staff furlough days were implemented, unclaimed awards more than three years old were recaptured, and the Board made a one-time decision to allocate an additional $1.1 million from interest income and reserves for  the 2010 budget.

Under current state legislation,  the lodging taxes that support cultural programs in King County expire on December 31, 2012, after which  4Culture will rely only on the interest generated  by  the endowment that has been building since 2001, in accordance with state requirements.  This will decrease the funding  available for all 4Culture arts, heritage and preservation programs by approximately 80% beginning in 2013. 4Culture in partnership with King County will continue to work with the legislature to secure a portion of future lodging taxes for cultural programs in the county.

© Giant Magnet, Carolina Chocolate Drops. Photo by Bruce Deboer