© Cris Bruch, South Branch, North Fork, Puddles, 2011, Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

Public Art Director Cath Brunner led reporter Gary Faigin on a tour of Brightwater’s public art last week. His review of three of the artworks installed at the Environmental Education Center will air on NPR station KUOW, 94.9 FM, between 12:00 and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 4. The artworks discussed are South Branch, North Fork and Puddles by Cris Bruch; Collection & Transformation by Ellen Sollod; and Circulator by Jim Blashfield. All of the artists who created artwork for Brightwater were also interviewed by 4Culture at the time of the opening about their work for the treatment plant. You may listen to and download edited audio on our website.

We look forward to hearing the review, which should be available for download and streaming as well.

Update: A written review of Faigin’s visit to Brightwater was posted on ArtDish this week. The air times for the radio piece were changed from the original schedule. You can catch the review on Thursday, and it will repeat Saturday. Check the station’s website for the daily schedule.

Weatherwax High School, ca. 1910. University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, WAS1780

J.M. Weatherwax High School, a historic building in Aberdeen, WA was destroyed by a fire in 2002. The 1909 building facade’s architectural sandstone blocks survived, and were salvaged for reuse. A meaningful artifact to the local community, the stones serve as a reminder of the local family for whom the high school was named, and also symbolize strength and survival, rising from the ashes, and resilience – qualities that Aberdeen residents see within themselves.

The City of Aberdeen, in cooperation with the Grays Harbor Community Foundation, is seeking an artist to create a significant three-dimensional artwork that will honor the Weatherwax family legacy and inspire both generosity and commitment to community in local residents and those that pass through the City. The artwork will be of a scale and level of detail to support both motorist drive-by and up-close viewing experiences, and will incorporate the architectural standstone blocks in a meaningful and visually engaging way. The artwork will be sited at the Simpson Triangle, a highly traveled site between the business districts of Aberdeen and Hoquiam, WA.

This artwork opportunity is an exciting step in the City’s efforts to revitalize major arterial routes within the city and create a vibrant civic space that will set the tone and design standards for future development and public art integration.

The artist for this commission will be selected through an open call process, with the final artwork decided on the basis of paid, competitive proposals. Professional artists residing in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia are invited to visit our Opportunity Listings and apply.

4Culture Public Art is managing the artist selection process, final design development and artwork implementation process for this artwork opportunity.

Civic Center/Candy Chang, Before I Die, © 2011

Think of your favorite works of public art that you have experienced or know of.  What qualities make these pieces stand out to you as successful projects?

As part of the Public Art 2012 annual planning process, staff and members of the advisory committee asked ourselves these questions and selected three of our favorite projects in the categories of Best Public Art 4Culture Project; Best Public Art Project Anywhere, Anytime; and Doing the Most With the Least.  Much of our December meeting was dedicated to presenting these projects in the style of a PechaKucha, (a slideshow with 20 seconds to describe each image), followed by spirited conversation.  The salient points from this exercise will help frame our direction in the coming year, as we determine how to continue the outstanding legacy of our program in this time of severely reduced revenue.

Olafur Eliasson, Green River © 2000

Qualities we are most passionate about in Public Art include work that is transformative, confrontational, accessible and that challenges the current ideas of what Public Art can be.  Transformative work spans many avenues of thought, from transforming a physical place to transforming how a community interacts with each other and their local artworks; transforming materials through repurposing, and transforming how we see the world through the content of the artwork.  Bringing art to the people is one of the main tenets of public art, but what form this takes continues to evolve.  Projects that are participatory are important, whether the involvement is with their design, creation, or end experience. Nurturing projects in underserved areas and with underserved populations, especially youth, was a recurring idea in our discussion.

Work that serves as a catalyst with interesting and relevant subject matter continues to be evocative and fresh as it evolves over its lifespan.  We are dedicated to supporting the risks necessary for artists to produce their best work, as well as developing new areas of engagement for public artists, such as Artist Residencies with various County departments; and continuing to place artists with design teams working on overarching community plans, urban design, and specific development sites. We strive to create opportunities for artwork to be embedded in the natural environment, our infrastructure, and our built environment in ways that give high visibility and iconic identity to a site, while combining art with function. Permanent artworks must be durable and are most successful when exhibiting a high level of craft, or pushing the boundaries of craft.

Carol dePelecyn, Re:cycle © 2009

Artwork that promotes interaction is important to us, whether this is between the audience and the work; the street and the community; the community and the commissioned artist; or the artwork and the commissioning client’s work.  Interaction can take the form of an experience that surprises, reveals the known in an unusual way, or helps us reinterpret our world in the way we see the public, our resources and ourselves.  Confrontational artwork can provide vital social commentary and engage in political activism, as well as generate participation through conversations, while questioning what it truly means to communicate.  We are interested in promoting work that tells a story; whether of a place, a community, or something that makes the personal public.

The value of big ideas and big impact for a modest budget was a recurring theme.  Artworks that connect people at a root level, that engage people in ways that are not condescending, that make people laugh, that are radical and surprising are needed to ensure lively, open and safe communities which continue to honor the creative spirit that animates us all.

You will have noticed by now that Blog4Culture has a fresh new design. We’ve revisited both the look and the functionality of the blog with an eye to getting the reader more quickly and intuitively to the content they want to see. We’ve also simplified and updated our enews to read more clearly on mobile devices as well as on your computer. Let us know what you think.

Don’t receive the enews? We can fix that. Sign up  here to have the monthly enews delivered to your inbox. While you’re there you can also sign up for our public art opportunities and Site Specific event notifications.

Some of you follow us on Facebook – we’d love to see more of you in the house. On our 4Culture Facebook page we post reminders, events, links to the blog and general goodness. We welcome posts on our wall from the cultural community that share what’s happening in Arts, Heritage, Preservation and Public Art in the county, and projects generated by those who live here. Have you received a grant from us? Project funding? Our project managers love to hear your good news but we encourage you to post it on Facebook as well.

Have you discovered the info-stream that is Twitter? Some folks find Twitter overwhelming but really, it’s just conversation, community and links to things you might want to know about, 140 characters at a time. That’s bite-size. We have two Twitter streams where we tweet about our programs, share links of interest, make friends and converse with our folks. If you’re looking for an update about what we had for lunch you won’t find it on either stream, but if you want to discover what all the fuss is about or if you are already on Twitter, follow us up. Come on in, the water’s fine.

@4Culture (Arts, Heritage, Preservation and Public Art content) and @pa4culture (Public Art’s stream that features design, technology, architecture and public art).

Twitter illustration by Philip E. Pascuzzo, 2010

Have you heard of  Tumblr? This micro blogging site has hosted Public Art’s informal studio blog for the last year or so – what’s new, what’s in process, things we’ve been thinking or talking about. We will maintain the Tumblr site for the next quarter and may then move such content over to our other sites. In the meantime, check out our current and archived posts, and if you are on Tumblr give us a follow. You never know, we might be encouraged and stick around on this platform.

And finally, let us speak of Google+. Though we admire its circles, its clean design and its lack of overt advertising we are holding steady with the social media we already have going. Are you committed to Google+? Do you think we should build a page and presence there? Let us know, our outreach is always evolving.

Of course, if you don’t hold with things digital (or even if you do) you can always find us in the office. Visit Gallery4Culture and watch the e4c screens, browse our resource room, help yourself to the brochures and cards at the front entrance and say hello to staff.

101 Prefontaine Place South in Pioneer Square is an especially robust platform, and it’s not going anywhere.

]]> http://blog.4culture.org/2012/01/find-4culture-online-were-everywhere/feed/ 0 http://blog.4culture.org/2011/12/heritage-and-arts-team-up-for-olympia/ http://blog.4culture.org/2011/12/heritage-and-arts-team-up-for-olympia/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:53:54 +0000 Eric Taylor http://blog.4culture.org/?p=18045 Once again, Washington’s arts and heritage communities are combining forces to take their message to Olympia on Arts & Heritage Day, February 1, 2012. For a second collaborative year, the Washington State Arts Alliance... Continue

Olympia 2008 ©, photo by 4Culture staff

Once again, Washington’s arts and heritage communities are combining forces to take their message to Olympia on Arts & Heritage Day, February 1, 2012. For a second collaborative year, the Washington State Arts Alliance [WSAA] and the Washington Museum Association [WMA] are leading the effort to make an impressive cultural community showing at the Capital during the legislative session. Through a series of scheduled meetings, arts and heritage advocates will have the opportunity to talk in person with their legislators about issues that matter most to them.

Arts & Heritage Day kicks off the evening before with a reception for elected officials and their constituency in the historic Lord Mansion at the State Capital Museum on Tuesday, January 31. The activities on February 1 begin bright and early with the Heritage Caucus in the John A. Cherberg Building at 7:00 a.m. Organized in 1990, the Heritage Caucus meets every Wednesday during the regular legislative session, and is a bi-partisan gathering of state legislators, staff from cultural agencies and nonprofit organizations, and interested citizens. The Heritage Caucus meeting on Arts and Heritage Day will include presentations by WSAA and WMA, showcasing the statewide work of the organizations’ membership.

In addition to meetings with legislators, Arts & Heritage Day also provides opportunities to network with likeminded colleagues while crisscrossing the Capitol campus, and at lunch and coffee breaks. Last year, arts turned out a sizable crowd, and heritage folks added a respectable number. This year, Arts & Heritage Day can be truly collaborative with equal representation from both disciplines. Mark your calendar for January 31 and February 1, 2012, and plan to turnout for Arts & Heritage Day in Olympia.

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We don’t want you to miss an opportunity so we’ll start posting any future employment listings to the Opportunities section of our website.

You may be used to scanning through the Opportunities section searching for funding and project support so it makes sense to include cultural employment listings there as well.

There you’ll be able to find both Arts + Public Art and

Heritage + Preservation related employment listings.

Click on the Professional Development radio button to view employment listings in any of the tabs above (4Culture, Local/Regional, etc…).

If you have an employment opportunity you would like to be considered for posting, please click on the Submit an Opportunity tab.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2011, Workers install Christian Moeller's Verdi at Bothell Pump Station. Photos courtesy of King County Wastewater Treatment Division by David Freed.

King County’s Wastewater Treatment Division and 4Culture are proud to announce the latest installation of public art for Brightwater.

Christian Moeller’s Verdi, a 65-foot sculptural tower at the Influent Pump Station in Bothell, ingeniously encloses the pump station’s odor control stack while educating people about the environmental mission of King County’s clean-water utility. Moeller is known for public artwork that is smart and elegant. His artwork often employs a simple material palette and always delivers an unforgettable experience when encountered. Verdi is composed of more than 3,500 repurposed green glass water bottles.

In developing his work for Brightwater, Moeller considered the political and economic structure of water resources fueling a world-wide demand for designer water.  This “growing market for bottled water has exploded and hundreds of companies find themselves in competition, selling us a product that on deeper thought should be freely accessible to all,” states the artist.

The bottle tower also references community water towers, which are often a small town’s most prominent feature as well as a source of civic identity and pride.

The Brightwater Pump Station is located at the Bothell Business Park’s entrance at the intersection of N.E. 195th and North Creek Parkway in Bothell.  The facility will open to the public in the spring. Blog4Culture will announce details about the dedication ceremony and official lighting of the tower.

Artist and cultural planner Theaster Gates will deliver the keynote address at a public forum, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday at Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave. The forum, which is free and open to the public, will also feature a panel discussion with Jacqueline Gijssen, senior cultural planner, city of Vancouver, B.C.; Cathryn Vandenbrink, regional director, Artspace; and other cultural space leaders. A question-and-answer session and reception will follow the forum.

As an artist, Gates transforms spaces, institutions, traditions and perceptions. When not making art for museums, Gates is committed to the restoration of poor black neighborhoods, converting abandoned buildings into cultural spaces that allow not only new cultural moments to happen in unexpected places, but raise the city’s expectations of where “place-making” happens and why. He is president and founder of the Rebuild Foundation, as well as director of arts program development at the University of Chicago.

Gates is the 2011-2012 recipient of the Seattle Art Museum’s (SAM) Gwendolyn Knight and Jacob Lawrence Fellowship. His solo show Theaster Gates: The Listening Room will open at SAM on Dec. 9 and run through July 1, 2012.

Cultural Space Seattle is designed to engage artists, arts and cultural organizations, elected officials, government leaders, arts administrators, creative business owners, investors, real estate developers and brokers, nonprofit organizations and interested citizens. For more information, contact the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs at (206) 684-7171, arts...@seattle.gov or www.seattle.gov/arts.

The event is supported by JPMorgan Chase, 4Culture, Seattle Art Museum, Town Hall Seattle and is presented in partnership with University of Washington College of Built Environments and ARCADE.

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs promotes the value of arts and culture in communities throughout Seattle. The 16-member Seattle Arts Commission, citizen volunteers appointed by the mayor and City Council, supports the city agency.

2011 © Tom Ikeda with Bill and Melinda Gates

4Culture would like to give a special shout-out to one of our Heritage Advisory Committee members, Tom Ikeda, who was recently honored by the Microsoft Alumni Foundation as a 2011 Integral Fellow. Congratulations Tom!

The Foundation fellowships celebrate former Microsoft employees who have used their talents, time, and resources to make a meaningful difference in the daily lives of others. Tom Ikeda was honored as the founding director of Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project, a digital archive committed to sharing the stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II. Densho uses digital technology to preserve and make accessible firsthand accounts, historical images and teacher resources, which allow users to explore principles of democracy and promote equal justice.

4Culture has been proud to support the Densho project through our Heritage programs for many years, and are thrilled to have Tom’s expertise and innovation as a regular contributor to our all-volunteer Heritage Advisory Committee. For more information about 4Culture’s board and advisory committee members visit our “Leadership” section under “Who We Are” on our main website.

Members of 4Culture's Board of Directors, photographed by Youth in Focus's Kari C. and Duy H.

Every arts and heritage organization relies on dedicated, willing volunteers for a host of tasks that are essential to fulfilling the mission of the organization they serve.

This message is a “THANK YOU” to all of those people who quietly toil to bring cultural experiences to life.

You are Board members, ushers, docents.   If you volunteer with a small arts or heritage organization, you may entirely run the organization.  You are tutors, art instructors, heritage exhibit designers, community choruses.  You are marketing and development interns, errand runners, work party volunteers.

In the case of 4Culture, you are the fifteen members of our Board of Directors; the thirty one members of our four standing advisory committees; the scores of jurors who serve on funding panels and dozens of panelists who help us select artists for opportunities such as Gallery4Culture exhibits, e4c, the Public Art Artist Registry, the Touring Arts Roster and Site Specific performances.

King County just adopted new district boundaries. Attached is a map of the old and new lines. The changes were based on census information and were approved unanimously by the Council on November 15^th. The new district plan is effective immediately.

Most 4Culture applications require that you correctly identify your council district, based on applicant address. Please check out the map and see if your district has changed.

Read more info

This is one in an ongoing series of posts by artist Elizabeth Conner, artist in residence on the Tolt River. Elizabeth is working with scientists who are monitoring the river in the aftermath of a recent restoration project near Carnation.…

On a warm day in July, I meet Dan Eastman and Josh Latterell under a bridge over the Snoqualmie River at Chinook Bend. They prepare for “edge mapping,” a repeat of a 2009 sample survey that was done at the same flow level, equipped with a GPS device and a velocity meter, which they load into an inflatable. I observe from shore, since I am not trained for water activities.

Edge-mapping measures the amount and distribution of slow water: good habitat for juvenile salmonids. This activity helps answer two questions:
• At what flows is edge habitat most limited?
• Do restoration projects increase the amount of edge habitat overall, especially at flow levels when edge habitat is scarce?

As the river becomes more complex following restoration, more slow-water areas should appear, assumed to be good for juvenile fish. The team has been sampling fish in different edge habitats to make sure this assumption is correct. Chinook Bend, and the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie, both underwent restoration two years ago, so the monitoring activities are related. However, the scale of the Chinook Bend landscape is completely different.

“I feel like an ant when I’m here,” Josh remarks. He and Dan locate the boundary where water is moving at 0.45 meters per second, a low velocity that enables juvenile fish to easily hold their position in the current without expending energy needed to grow. These edge habitats may also provide some shelter from larger predatory fish that live in deeper water. Fish achieve their own segregation by size, and they can exist safely within three feet of schools of predatory fish that have chosen deeper water.
High-precision GPS units are used to trace two lines on every bank: the wetted edge of the river, and the location where the current exceeds 0.45 meters per second. Josh explains that GPS units are used as space-age crayons, accurate to within an arm’s length, to trace a giant cartoon of the limits of slow-moving fish habitat.

I think about how artwork that relates to this project might engage in its own “edge-mapping,” exploring variations on Josh’s early remark to me that “the forest is fish habitat.” What are the “edges” between urban and rural, people and fish, past and present, high-tech and low-tech, words and images? Can some of these edges, which might appear to be fixed, become more permeable? Josh and I talk about how this blog, a new experience for both of us, has been useful in developing shared languages that might help dissolve the perceived edges between subjectivity and objectivity, science and poetry. What would a moving and changing version of this slow process of change look like?

On another summer day, at the end of August, I join Josh Latterell, Laura Hartema and Cody Toal on the Tolt, just upstream from the Snoqualmie. This team is measuring median size of pebbles over time, to test the effect of restoration on spawning gravels. The “gravel survey” is a monitoring activity I have eagerly anticipated, because it sounds so baffling.

“You have to warm up. You gotta stretch,” says Laura. Cody and Laura stand back to back midway between one of several sample points established in 2008, every 100 meters along the “wetted edge” of the river. They walk slowly, heel to toe, a designated number of steps, then stop and, eyes closed, place the tip of a yellow wooden 2B pencil into the gravel at the tip of their front boot. They measure and call out the diameter of the rock touched by the pencil point. Josh records this on a data sheet containing 100 squares, for 100 measurements of 100 randomly selected pebbles. This collection of measurements will be used to describe the size distribution of rocks in the river, to help understand how restoration projects are affecting the river’s ability to reshape itself, and the suitability of the streambed for spawning.

At the command “turn and mark,” Cody and Laura mark their locations with a little cairn of larger rocks, turn to face each other, and retrace their steps, repeating the choreographed labor-intensive pencil and boot measuring activity. Josh explains that the pencil is used in order to obtain an unbiased sample. “If you use your finger to point to a rock, you will already have a “tendency to bias” against pebbles smaller than the end of your finger,” rather than making a random selection. “The more you can reduce biases, known and unknown, when you are measuring nature, the more accurate you will be.”

“Elizabeth, want to do the next one?” I am happy to participate, but immediately understand why Laura advised stretching exercises. This is hard! I lose my balance and work much more slowly than my partner. This necessitates some additional scientific controls to mitigate the work of a rank amateur, who now has a much more direct understanding of what monitoring looks like, and how it feels to do this work.

Photos by Elizabeth Conner

King County’s Department of Transportation, Metro Transit Division has constructed a new LEED-Gold certified Operations Building at the Atlantic/Central Bus Base (ACB). The ACB is especially important to transit service capacity because of its central location – nearly half of Metro’s fleet is dispatched from here.

The site is in the northeast corner of Seattle’s primary industrial area, and is near the International District/Chinatown, the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood, and Safeco and Qwest Fields. It is bounded by Royal Brougham Way on the north, Airport Way South on the east, South Massachusetts Street on the south, and Sixth Avenue South on the West.

1,200 Metro operators now use the facility for dispatch, training, and breaks between split shifts. Metro administrators have office space here as well.

Artist Norie Sato was selected to join the design team with architecture and engineering firm, Tetra Tech and together they identified opportunities for integrated artwork. With ‘Round and ‘Round she has created a successful link to the Metro aesthetic and highlights the intersection between the building’s interior and exterior, public and private.

Each base – the Atlantic and the Central – operates separately, but similarly. Norie’s artwork embraces this interconnection, celebrating the various networks within the base and between the bus system, the county, and riders as well as the dispersal and return of the vehicles to and from the facility. Movement and rhythm are incorporated within the circular motifs of an interior terrazzo floor and a sculpture on the facade of the building.

Two intertwining labyrinths serve as a focal point of the 7,200 square foot terrazzo floor at the central spine of the facility. Each base is represented by a color, one by blue, the other by green and this differentiation is evidenced throughout the design. Medallions and circular aluminum and brass strips are imbedded for added visual interest.

These colors, forms, and materials extend outward to sculptural elements protruding through the lattice work of the green screen on the building’s exterior. Aluminum half-spheres and blue LEDs are installed on one side of the main entry door, and brass half-spheres and green LEDs are on the other. As plantings grow and envelop the screen, the artwork will be viewed as a secondary pattern in juxtaposition with the natural.

© Norie Sato ‘Round and ‘Round, 2011. Photo: Spike Mafford

Saturday, November 12, 10:00 a.m. – noon

Valise Gallery, Vashon

Artist Vaughn Bell brings her aLIVe project, I Ped, to Vashon on Saturday, November 12. Bell created a group of augmented walking sticks that encourage the user to mindfully experience and explore the landscape.

The I Ped allows you to make your own landscape through the creative act of observation and attention to your pedestrian environment. A more rustic version of your digital mobile device, it gives you the hands-on experience of a walking stick. It is useful when navigating rough terrain, and includes the necessary, basic tools for mapping and observing your environment: notepad and writing implement, and magnetic compass. I Ped is a tool for walking. Community members and visitors will be invited to borrow an I Ped and create their own landscape by walking, noticing, writing and drawing, then sharing those observations with the next person who uses the walking stick.

Artists Elizabeth Conner and Carol Schwennesen will be in the gallery on Saturday as well with their exhibit TIME. The opening reception for the exhibit is First Friday, November 4, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Valise Gallery, 17633 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon, WA 98070

For more information about I Ped and to arrange group or individual walking experiences contact Vaughn Bell. Visit her website: www.vaughnbell.net

 Photo: © Vaughn Bell, 2011, I Ped

For all of that do-goodness, they were awarded the 2011 Conductive Garboil Grant at a public celebration last week. Thanks to everybody who came out to show their support, especially our stalwart selection committee members!

Conductive Garboil Celebration © 2011 Catherine Trapani

It’s budget time at 4Culture. Even though 4Culture is an independent public entity, its funding is appropriated annually through the King County budget process, which will be completed the weekend before Thanksgiving.

4Culture receives most of its funding through three county revenue streams: the capital budget for the Percent for Arts Program; lodging taxes allocated by the state for cultural programs in King County; and a small general fund appropriation for maintenance and stewardship of the 1,600 piece King County art collection amassed since 1973.

Lodging taxes are an interesting economic indicator. The lodging sector noticed a trend in mid-2008 that predicted the approaching recession about six months earlier than most of us realized. Convention cancellations and reduced leisure travel bookings foreshadowed the economic collapse that became evident to all of us by the end of the year. The lodging taxes allocated for cultural programs in 2009 fell precipitously, followed by modest gains in 2010, but still 15% below the 2008 levels.

That trend is now reversing. Lodging taxes in 2011 are on the rise, a sure sign that the local economy is in recovery mode. While that is good news for arts, heritage and culture in King County, it will not result in an increase in our grant funding in 2012. Here’s why.

As anticipated, the annual lodging tax revenues for 4Culture will end on December 31, 2012. The legislation passed in Olympia last session thankfully enables 4Culture to spend down its endowment between 2103 and 2020 to cover the gap until we get back into the lodging tax funding stream in 2021. In this seven year period our funding levels will be predicable but relatively static.

In 2009 and 2010 the 4Culture Board saw our funding going down in tandem with the lodging industry, and approved the use of 4Culture’s interest reserves to maintain consistent levels of awards to the field. They felt during hard economic times it was critical to provide stable levels of support when so many other funding streams were also down. But knowing we will rely on those reserves to bridge our revenue gap  in the near future, we are budgeting conservatively through the next year. What does that mean?

We anticipate that our funding levels in 2012 will be roughly equal to what they are in 2011.  Some programs may be more competitive. And let’s hope lodging taxes continue to grow with the economy in 2012. After that, it’s fixed income time for lodging tax awards until 2021.

Much more troubling is the county’s capital budget. Several capital projects that typically would have allocated 1% for art have been cancelled or postponed. The largest public works project in King County history, the Brightwater water treatment plant, is now completed. Until the economy recovers sufficiently for the county to consider infrastructure investments, public art revenues will be down. Fortunately, the county will continue to provide the modest costs of stewarding the arts collection from the general fund.

I believe we serve our community best when we are open and transparent about our finances and keep the cultural community informed about the trends that impact our ability to support the work of the field.

One final note. Most of you may not be aware that 4Culture has been audited annually by the state Auditor’s Office since we became a public development authority in 2003.  Since then we have had fifteen audits, seven audits to determine if we are operating in compliance with state laws and eight financial audits.  The auditor just completed the 2010 audits of 4Culture with no findings.

Since this message is about money and budgets, I thought you might like to know that we take our responsibilities for sound management seriously.

Jim Kelly

John Ackermann © 2011 Mike Hipple

Check out the 2012 calendar

4Culture provides application workshops in-person and on-line, in addition to one-on-one assistance via email or phone. Our 2012 workshop schedule will be posted in mid-December. Check back for locations, dates and times and in the meantime, visit the on-line guide for your preferred program.

UPDATE: The first workshop schedule for 2012 is now posted 

© 2011, Coyote Central, Photo by Jess Schwab

Adapted from the newly-released retrospective, The Future Remembered: The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Its Legacy by Paula Becker, Alan J. Stein and the HistoryLink staff, the performance takes its audience back to the mid-fifties, when City Councilman Al Rochester proposed the fair as a 50^th anniversary celebration of the 1909 Alaska Pacific Yukon Exposition, Seattle’s first world’s fair. The story arcs through the heady and anxious days leading up to opening day, April 21, 1962, and culminates with the closing of Century 21 on October 21. Along the way, a cast of four actors channel the colorful personalities who contributed to the fair that transformed the Puget Sound region forever.

The Future Remembered will debut at a fundraiser on November 15, at Intiman Theatre. Proceeds from that event will support history projects for The Next Fifty, the 50^th anniversary celebration of the 1962 World’s Fair. For more information, contact Lee Benner at Seattle Center Foundation.

The staged reading is also available for bookings around King County now and throughout 2012. Contact Eric Taylor at 4Culture to see about scheduling this timely, one-of-a-kind performance for your venue.

Image: 1962 Century 21 logo © courtesy of The Next Fifty

Washington lost a true champion of arts and heritage last Friday. Senator Scott White, one of the prime forces behind the passage of SB 5834 in the 2011 legislative session, passed away last Friday at the age of 41.  Senator White leaves behind two young children and his wife, Alison.

I first met Scott years ago when he was a policy analyst for the King County Council. He later became the Council’s chief of staff. In 2002, Scott helped shepherd the county legislation that transitioned the King County Office of Cultural Resources into the Cultural Development Authority of King County, now doing business as 4Culture.  He took great pride in the role he played in that achievement.

In 2008, he ran for and won a seat in the State House of Representatives from the 46th legislative District, which happens to be my district.  Two years later, he ran for and won a seat in the state Senate, following the retirement of Sen. Ken Jacobson. Despite his freshman status, Scott was elected the Senate Majority Whip by the Senate Democratic caucus. He worked closely with King County leadership on a remarkable economic development bill in 2011 that came up one vote short of passage, but certainly not by lack of effort by Senator White. When it became clear in the closing hours of the 2011 session that the large economic development bill would not get that single necessary vote it needed in the Senate, Senator Scott White, Senator Ed Murray, and others, sponsored SB 5834 with the single objective of saving arts and heritage funding in King County. Scott introduced the critical amendment to Senator Murray’s bill that assured the bill’s passage in the House.

I am proud to have been able to call Scott my Senator. He will be greatly missed. On behalf of 4Culture, our sincere condolences to his wife and family.

Jim Kelly

© 2011, Senator Scott White, Washington State Senate Democrats