To me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the work of 4Culture is its comprehensive approach to the breadth of what we call “culture.” Culture embodies more than the arts, including public art, and local history, the focus of our heritage program. It includes science and zoos and natural history and the ethnic traditions of a diverse society and so much more.

Culture also embraces historic preservation, a little understood field of endeavor that recognizes the value of saving the significant structures that tell the story of a community’s past. For instance, very few people today are members of a fraternal society, but our landscape is dotted with aging fraternal lodges that remind us of the methods of social engagement from our not too distant past. In many rural communities in King County, these lodges are important community gathering places, active reminders of the importance of social interaction. They may have small performances occasionally; they may have interpretive displays about the important people and events in a community’s history, but they are not commonly owned by arts organizations or heritage organizations. They do not typically apply to our Arts or Heritage Cultural Facilities programs (which regularly provide support for preservation projects that are also arts and heritage facilities.)

4Culture has two funding programs that provide capital support to maintain these significant community assets, no matter what kind of use goes on inside. These can include historic farmsteads, train stations, ships, privately-owned residences, gardens, and even churches. The Landmarks Rehabilitation Program and Landmark Challenge Grants are two 4Culture preservation programs – and the only such programs in King County – that provide “bricks and mortar” funding for these kinds of preservation projects.

The stewards of these structures that are important to all of use deserve help with the extra expense involved in maintaining them, regardless of how they are used or who owns them.

The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, our statewide advocacy group, maintains a Most Endangered List – a roster of historic resources of all sorts that face a myriad of threats. Right here in King County are five properties on the current list, including the brick buildings at Sandpoint Naval Station, the little Nuclear Reactor Building on the UW campus, the modernist Surrey Downs subdivision in Bellevue, the iconic P-I globe, and the old Homestead Restaurant at Alki. The Trust is now accepting nominations for the 2010 list, deadline March 15.

It will take much more than a small grant to resolve these complicated preservation issues and others like them, but we are pleased to be able to offer strategic assistance when the time is right.

a LOW IMPACT VEHICLE exploration (aLIVe)

Inspiring connections > transportation, transit and storm water systems

In December 2009, 4Culture posted a call for ideas that will inspire and engage the broader community in a conversation about transportation. The aLIVe project aims to spark interaction across disciplines, showcase ideas and suggest action around issues of energy, livability and design.

The selection panel of experts from the fields of art, applied design, technology, public health and transportation selected eight ideas for implementation of “low impact vehicle” design from a field of 21 submitted applications.  The selected recipients and projects are:

Michelle Arab: A series of drawings made from sediment and debris collected from catch basin filter inserts into the storm drain system.

Vaughn Bell: Sculptural walking sticks and a series of performances that reinforce the sensory experience of the traveler and the notion that the ultimate low impact vehicle is the human body.

Julia Field, Undriving.org: A series of 5-7 short documentary videos that chronicle the choices made by individuals who have made an Undriving pledge and received their Undriver License.

Melissa Glenn and Matt Inpanbutr: Bi(K) o garten – a kit that transforms parking spaces into a temporary “park.”

Michael Hintze, Alisha Dall’Osto, David R. Dall’Osto and Nadine Smith: Magnetic Mass Assist table-top model that illustrates a mechanism to harness the kinetic energy of descending vehicles to assist the riders going up the hill, making bikes more practical for a wider range of riders on steep Seattle terrain.

Dominic Muren: Production Cycle, a mobile, micro-factory in the form of a pedal-powered sewing machine.  Muren will make reusable cloth shopping bags for give-aways at local farmers markets.  The currency for the bags will be information about other waste stream products that can be recycled into goods.  A website that employs Google mapping technology will illustrate the sources of all contributed recycled materials.

Johnnie Olivan: A fleet of 6-8 “Bike-Cars” that are constructed from reclaimed bikes and other materials and designed to offer pedal-powered alternatives for transporting goods and people.

Stokley Towles: A one-person performance and temporary exhibition based on interviews with individuals involved in transportation infrastructure design, storm water systems and public perception and behavior research.  The goal of the project is to stimulate ways for the public to engage in “transpiration” – re-imagining how we travel around the city.

The aLIVe events and projects are produced in collaboration with artist Cheryl dos Remedios and Great City and will occur in various venues over the course of the next 12 months.  Blog4Culture will keep you posted with event details and ways to participate.

photo courtesy of Johnnie Olivan

On February 9, 2010, a selection panel of arts professionals met to review 140 online applications to Gallery4Culture from King County artists working in a wide range of media. With exhibition months to be determined in the near future, the selected artists will be exhibiting between September 2010 and August 2011.

Congrats to the selected artists!

Erin Elyse Burns – New media/video

James Cicatko – Painting/works on paper

Andrew Fallat – Sculpture/performance

Julia Freeman – Works on paper/installation

Paul Komada – Painting/fiber art

Jason Larsen – Woodcut

Ryan Molenkamp – Painting

NKO, NTG, and Dan Hawkins - Street art

Keeara Rhoades – New media/video/installation

Gregory Schaffer – Photography

Ben Waterman – Sculpture

And sincere thanks are owed to this year’s selection panelists: Zack Bent, Susie Lee, and Robert Yoder for their work; thanks also to 4Culture Board member Kevin Carl who served as an advisor in the process.

The next Gallery4Culture Call to Artists goes out in December 2010 with a January 10, 2011 deadline. This exhibition opportunity is open to King County artists not represented by a commercial gallery at the time of application.

Paul Komada, Boogie Woogie Homage, 2008, Wool yarn, 48 x 48 inches, image courtesy of the artist

Alicia Basinger’s  installation of ceramic sculpture takes its inspiration from various objects (tschotskes, antiques, and the garden).  Her predilection ranges from everyday kitsch to the figurines and over-the-top curiosities of the Rococo and Art Nouveau movements.  Creating structures in clay and orchestrating material transformations with a range of processes, Basinger creates a personal, fantastical world of objects, lanterns, and symmetrical, wall-mounted reliefs.  Her work alludes to concepts of growth, metamorphosis, phenomenon, deterioration, and our universal relationship to nature.

More

Alicia Basinger, Fan (detail), Porcelain, 5″ x 5.5″ x 4″, 2010 ©  Photo courtesy of the artist

If you’re an artist, arts group, heritage organization/specialist/educator, or someone needing help to rehabilitate a landmark, don’t forget to apply to 4Culture for project support – several deadlines are coming up in early March:

Landmark Rehabilitation: deadline March 3, 2010
Heritage Special Projects: deadline March 3, 2010
Heritage Cultural Education: deadline March 3, 2010
Individual Arts Projects: deadline March 10, 2010
Group Arts Projects: deadline March 17, 2010
See more upcoming opportunities on our 2010 Funding Calendar

Have questions? Click the link for each program above to:
1)    read more
2)    check out our brand new online application system
3)    contact the staff member for each program
4)    learn about our free application workshops

Also, we’re thrilled to have transitioned to an all-online application this year which has allowed us to simplify and streamline the process. Leave a comment below to let us know what you think.

© Jason Hirata, 2009 Individual Artist Project recipient has work on view at James Harris Gallery through March 27, 2010. Abstract drawings are crafted using raw pigment mixed with the sweat. “It’s a personal connection,” explains the artist, “but in an extremely literal sense.”

Coming soon! Dynamic new media works by Scott Groeniger and Kenny Schneider will be added to e4c’s rotation this March.

Scott Groeniger

e4c will feature Groeniger’s The Ping Yao Continuum, depicting a scene of daily life at a restaurant in the ancient city of Ping Yao. Played in slow reverse, the food comes out of their mouths and is placed back onto the plates. Tea flows from within the body and returns to the glasses. The simple ritual act of eating together at the same table is one of the most universal human experiences. This video, The Ping Yao Continuum, is meant to express this tension by exploring the domestic ritual of a simple family meal inside the transitioning city, capturing a brief moment in time; and then extending it in reverse in an effort to prolong the experience of the present tense and savor the moment as an isolated, universal, ritual experience.
http://elasticlimit.com/artwork/

Kenny Schneider

Originally produced in 1968, Schneider’s 1002 Rothko’s was created by hand drawing on 16mm optical negatives, using markers, ink, collage materials and 2D cell animation. In 2008, he digitally reprocessed the work as 1002 Rothko’s. Using the Watchout software of e4c, Schneider has choreographed these newly reprocessed cells into a dance across four monitors.
artistsregister.com/artists/CO201

deadline: March 22, 2010

Are you an audiophile? Interested in the intersection of history, geography and stories of place? 4Culture & King County Metro Transit have issued a call for artists and interdisciplinary teams to create audio work along a new bus rapid transit corridor. Read the earlier post for details.

Now that the weather is warming up – yes for Pacific Northwesterners, 50 degrees is warm – and sunny, GO OUTSIDE!

Channel your inner tourist, and go down to Seattle’s Central Waterfront. Why not?! How long has it been since you’ve been down there? Lots to see and do…

Founded in 1851, Elliott Bay has served as the city’s front door. South of downtown at the mouth of the Duwamish River is Harbor Island, the world’s largest artificial island when it was constructed in 1909. The island’s profile is defined by the massive gantry cranes used to load and unload containerized cargo – said to have inspired the AT-ATs of Star Wars fame. Heading north, Piers 54–59 are a distinctive group of historic wooden warehouses home to working fireboats, the Seattle Aquarium, and a variety of tasty seafood restaurants and quirky shops. These sheds are the most authentic remnants of the old waterfront still standing.

Continuing north, historic markers placed all along the seawall commemorate milestones in Seattle’s maritime history. Explore Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park, and/or the walking and biking paths that connect with Smith Cove Park and the Elliott Bay Marina in the Magnolia neighborhood. For other things to see and do visit DestinationHeritage.org.

Seattle’s Central Waterfront © 4Culture 2010

hot off the press

Public Art 4Culture has updated and reprinted the Public Art Guide. Available in our offices, at the Convention Center and Pacific Place in downtown Seattle and in local arts agencies throughout the county, the Guide may also be accessed online for download and printing. Explore your public art!

Come join 4Culture in a collaborative effort in connecting communities.  This FREE event features artists working in culturally specific traditions to showcase their work both on stage and an art exhibit of emerging talent.  This is a great way to network with venues that present art and artists who create art.

March 10, 2010 10 am – 6 pm 
Fisher Pavilion, Seattle Center

UPDATE– the registration deadline for presenters and artists has been extended to 5 pm, Friday, March 5. Download registration forms here.

The Ethnic Arts Connection is a collaborative project of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Seattle Center, 4Culture, Washington State Arts Commission, Ethnic Heritage Council, Fest and Arts Northwest.

HistoryLink.org

Check it out!

image: © HistoryLink.org

Have you heard the one about the biologist, geologist, engineer, and artist who hiked up a relic stream bed together?

I hadn’t either until last November when I headed to the Money Creek Bridge with King County Roads’ Erick Thompson (biologist), Julia Turney (geologist), and Rich Hovde (engineer). These three were on their way to the Skykomish area to visit this bridge in order to solve a complicated problem together. Put simply, bridges are made to stay put, and creeks, by nature, don’t. When the Money Creek Bridge was built, in the 1950’s, its two arches spanned over two sections of the creek. Since then, Money Creek has significantly changed its path in the vicinity of the bridge three times. Originally, the creek split its water through both of the bridge’s openings. Currently, almost all of the water spills through one side causing the bridge footing to be undermined. Bridge folk call this “scour”, and if they let it continue, the bridge will ultimately fail.

There are lots of ways to fix this problem, but cost and environmental concerns narrow the list quickly. A typical quick fix is to add some large boulders called riprap* around the bridge footings to prevent the water from taking its toll. However, in this case, everyone agreed that Money Creek’s volume and velocity would make this a very temporary fix. As an added concern to this proposed fix, the addition of riprap to one side might cause water to be forced to the center pier and scour that area. Another thought was to divert water through the now dried up side of the bridge. Easy to do: drive some big excavators down to the creek’s edge and dig a trench for the water to follow. Fortunately for the environment, however, there are regulators who frown on any work that will disturb habitat for fish and plants.

Erick Thompson is the guy who gets the permits from the state environmental regulators, ensuring that engineering problems like this can be resolved with the environmental impacts in mind. Whatever work does happen for the Money Creek Bridge, there will have to be environmental mitigation work, too, to lessen the impact of the intervention. This works in a similar way as carbon offsets—by planting trees in Africa, you offset the impact of your transatlantic flight. By creating salmon spawning pools and planting native species in the area of the work, Erick and the County are able to offset some of the impact to the creek.

While we drove to the bridge at dawn that morning, with the temperature in the teens, the crew thought they knew what the answer to this bridge question would be. But once we arrived and reviewed the site, nobody had a clear solution. They were trying to balance cost, environmental impact, and the possibility of unintended consequences. Finally, as we hiked up a relic stream bed where the creek had flowed at the time of the original bridge-building, the idea of diverting some of the current waters into this channel came to the fore – it would solve many of the bridge’s problems. Of course, an idea like this would require more study back at the office where, fortunately, the temperature is kept in the high 60s.

*Riprap is currently my favorite Bridge Unit glossary term.

Leo Berk, King County’s Bridge Unit Artist-in-Residence, is working collaboratively with Roads Services Division staff to understand the function and design possibilities of short span bridges. Tasked with designing a kit of parts for incorporation into the County’s small scale bridges, Leo’s process has begun with research into the process of bridge building, maintenance and repair. Along the way, he is discovering methodologies and approaches that undergird the work of the Roads Services Division, and he is sharing some of those discoveries with us through his series of blog posts.

(c) Money Creek Bridge by Leo Berk

Over the past several years, I’ve written many messages about 4Culture’s legislative efforts in Olympia.  Lodging taxes are the primary source of the revenues we use to support our major arts, heritage and preservation funding programs. In 2009, approximately 300 arts and heritage organizations received operating support, 95 individual artists  and 75 groups were awarded grants to do projects, thirty-nine heritage organizations and specialists received project support, and dozens of cultural facilities received capital or equipment funding.

Beginning in 2013, all of the revenue currently supporting arts and culture in King County will be re-directed to service debt on stadia.   4Culture will only have access to the interest generated by the endowment we have been building, in compliance with state law, since 2001.   An estimated $1.4 million per year.   At that level (roughly an 80% decrease), almost all of our funding programs and initiatives will be eliminated.

I attended two very interesting hearings in Olympia last week on bills in the House and Senate that would change the law so arts and heritage programs in King County would receive a portion of future lodging tax revenues.   Testifying on behalf of the two bills was Deputy County Executive and former State Senator Fred Jarrett.   Mr. Jarrett told the House and Senate Committees that vibrant arts and culture help King County attract innovative new businesses and the high quality workforce that will drive the region’s economy.  “How do we know that,” he asked, “because they tell us.”

One thing I’ve learned over the past six years is how difficult it is to have a bill become law. I’ve also gained an appreciation for the difficult task legislators face every year, not just in challenging economic times, but even in times when the state is in relative financial health.   We citizens, I’ve noticed, have no shortage of good ideas for how the state should allocate its resources.

Arts, heritage and culture live in the realm of “quality of life,” which sounds sort of soft and inessential in comparison to “basic health,” or “education” or “public safety.”    I, like Jarrett, would argue that investment in the region’s quality of life is the foundation on which a growing and robust future economy is built, spinning off increased tax revenues that enable us to better provide for the basic needs of the community.

I’ve seen lots of economic impact data over the years, and it is impressive; I’ve heard about the competitive advantage creative communities have in attracting a high demographic workforce.   All of that is real.  We have cultural assets that many communities can only dream of.  But the value of arts and culture isn’t just its impact on the economy.   It’s the intrinsic value to the young student who finds his or her calling playing in an orchestra or singing in a choir or performing in a musical; to the senior citizens learning to paint or sculpt; to the insurance broker playing his or her trombone in a community orchestra.    It’s the local history museum whose work helps deepen citizens’ connections to place.   It’s the pride communities take in their public art, their historic district, and their community festivals.

Economic impact, attracting innovative businesses and an educated work force, enhancing sense of place, providing a comprehensive education, increasing tourism, investing in the imagination and creativity of our citizenry: it just makes common sense.   Doesn’t it?

Jim Kelly

Photo: headed to Olympia at dawn for legislative hearings, 4Culture, 2010

Sol Hashemi: Object History Awareness
Exhibition: February 5 – 26, 2010
Artist Reception: First Thursday, February 4, 2010, 6 – 8pm

Tonight, stop by Gallery4Culture during First Thursday artwalk to check out Object History Awareness, a solo exhibition of photographs and ready mades by recent UW graduate Sol Hashemi.    His photographs are an ambiguous mixture of straight documentation interspersed with altered elements, resulting in works that are playful, idiosyncratic and even  humorous.

Read more about Hashemi and Gallery4Culture

Sol Hashemi, Detail of Floods, Archival Inkjet Print © 2010

If so, we hope you’ll apply to one of 4Culture’s 2010 arts projects funding programs!

Updated guidelines, info about free workshops, and links to our new online applications may be found here:

Individual Artist Projects (deadline March 10)

Group Arts Projects (deadline March 17)

Carrie Bodle © 2009

David Kwan
Kwan has adapted his work SOLARIS, a series of sound-generated video projections for e4c. Kwan composes soundscapes from live radio transmissions, related to the electromagnetic waves that form the basis for the ordering of matter in space and that continue to permeate the environment. These soundscapes are fed through a customized video imaging system to reveal their inherent patterning.
www.davidkwan.net

Ann-Marie Stillion

Ann-Marie Stillion will present Eva Washington: sweet are the uses of adversity, a project that combines photographs, film and audio to examine and share the story of Eva Washington, a 76-year-old woman who lives alone on the streets of Seattle. Each monitor of e4c will portray different visual aspects of Washington’s life. Stillion writes, “Eva’s personal story is the story of millions of people around the world who find themselves living without shelter.”
www.arttrek.com

Learn more about both artists and e4c here.

SOLARIS, © David Kwan
Eva Washington: sweet are the uses of adversity © Ann-Marie Stillion, 2009

The news officially came out last week in The Seattle Times.  The Boeing Company is set to demolish the centerpiece of its own World War II history – Plant 2 on East Marginal Way.

How could this happen here – in the city where Boeing was born, where the fabled B-17 Flying Fortresses were built, and where 30,000 Seattle workers labored day and night in support of America’s war effort?  Surely, this factory embodies one of the most amazing and significant national stories in World War II.

Take a look at what the Bay Area is doing to honor its wartime heritage – especially at the Rosie the Riveter – World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, CA. Not every base, shipyard, or factory’s being saved, but Bay Area folks are clearly keyed in on the incredibly important role played by their home front industries.

How is it that there hasn’t really been an open conversation in this community about the threat and the opportunity for preserving Plant 2 – this iconic Seattle site?  True, it’s a giant white elephant, and true, the site is horribly polluted.  But beauty and cleanliness aren’t exactly criteria for significance in history.  And once the site’s redeveloped, the tangible power of the place is gone.

How Plant 2 managed never to be designated as historic, even at the local level (the Hanford Nuclear Site’s B Reactor is now a protected National Historic Landmark) makes one wonder.  A Boeing spokesman notes in The Seattle Times article that he doesn’t anticipate the plant’s history will pose any obstacles to the company’s plans to demolish.  So presumably, Boeing did work its way through all the mandated cultural resource compliance reviews at the local, state, and national level.  Again – how could this happen here?

© The Boeing Company

4C staff was recently invited to take a tour of King Street Station. It is such an impressive restoration project – with hidden gems tucked in everywhere – that we just had to share! View our video slideshow to get a sneak peak of all the cool things that are being uncovered…

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more updates on this project, as well as additional photos, visit www.seattle.gov/Transportation/kingstreet.

The United States Census Bureau launched a nationwide road tour last month to motivate America’s growing and increasingly diverse population to complete and mail back the 10-question census forms when they arrive in mailboxes in mid-March.

Census data can impact arts funding and programs in our community. It determines the distribution of more than $400 billion in government funding annually for critical community services, including education and transportation. And it impacts your voice in Congress by reapportioning congressional seats to states.

With your help and connections, the Census Bureau will be able to communicate the importance of being counted in bringing valuable resources to our communities. By fulfilling their goal of 100% participation, the Census Bureau will be able to continue to produce accurate data, which will directly affect the quality of life in our community. Census data, including population figures, are often used to write proposals for grants that benefit our whole community, including cultural organizations.

To help ensure 2010 census data is accurate, organizations can display census information in their lobbies and/or include messages in performance programs. To request census materials, contact Brynn Hurlstone, local partnership assistant with the U.S. Census Bureau, (206) 948-5944. For more information on the U.S. Census, go here.

Deadline March 22, 2010

Open now – a great opportunity for an artist with experience and continued interest in creating audio work, and for self-selecting inter-disciplinary teams including literary artists, spoken word artists, sound artists, musicians and more to collaborate with one another and with community members to reflect varied interests and expertise in a layered, audio-exploration of place!

4Culture & King County Metro Transit have released a Request for Qualifications for an artist to create audio work that will explore and enhance the experience along a new rapid transit bus corridor.  The selected artist/artist team will survey the first route of King County’s new rapid transit service, the RapidRide A Line which will span Pacific Highway South from Tukwila to Federal Way, and create a route-specific soundscape.  Intended to create a sonic sightseeing experience that will daylight stories of place, the artist-created soundscape may include route-source and route-inspired words, found sounds, and/or digitally created sound and music.  A variety of approaches are possible; anchoring in place will be central.

The soundscape will be accessible as downloadable audio files through the 4Culture website – while onboard WiFi-enabled RapidRide buses and through broad internet access – and through Listen4Culture, our audio cell phone program.

Open to professional artists and artist teams with a primary member living in WA, OR & BC.  Access the call here.