Public Art 4Culture: Our Practice

Now in our fourth decade of commissioning and collecting art for the public realm, we follow established processes to create the best art for a given site with the selected artist. To create successful artwork in public space we consider the needs of the client, the possibilities and limitations of site, the needs of the design and implementation teams and the vision of the artist.

Our partners within the County work with us to build a collection that continues to evolve, challenge and innovate. We welcome consulting partners, who often afford us exciting opportunities to work on challenging projects with exceptional artists.

Artists are our greatest asset, for without their innovation, vision and creative thinking the special alchemy that can take place when the artistic mind is brought to bear on solving problems of infrastructure, site and aesthetics would not be possible.

We encourage artists to take chances, push the envelope and take on new challenges. We strive to define and employ best practices in the field throughout the life of a project, including project scope, artist selection, project management and maintenance, and we try to run a green practice with responsible material use and energy conservation. We never forget that we are using public dollars for the benefit of the people who live, work and visit shared public space within King County.

Consulting

Art in everyday life brings a sense of meaning and place to local citizens, gives visitors a lasting impression, and reflects a region’s investment in the future.

What we build has a lot to say about who we are.

In every project, we value an open and inclusive partnership coupled with high accountability. Because we have built our practice over three decades we understand the responsibility of creating artwork with public dollars, the need for a transparent process, and the craft of matching the artistic sensibilities of a project artist to the nature of a place or community.

Art created for the built environment requires understanding the needs of the client, the artist and the public, coupled with the ability to maximize opportunities and overcome challenges during design and construction. 4Culture is a pioneer with integrating the work and thinking of artists into civic places, utility infrastructure and private developments. Our art planning and project management expertise is firmly grounded in years of practical application and implementation success.

Visit our Consulting page to learn more about our practice and to see some of our completed projects.

Threads: Explore consulting in our Learn Library to see our firm profile, art plans and related material, under the Print category. Read about our selection and management process in Best Practices.

Meet Our Staff

• 
• Cath Brunner
• email
• 206 296.8680

Cath Brunner, Director of Public Art 4Culture, brings over 20 years experience as a built environment innovator. Cath’s specialization in managing large-scale integrated public art projects includes expertise in construction project management, strategic art planning, advocacy through program development, creative process facilitation, and public policy development. In addition to leading Public Art 4Culture, Cath continues to act as a project manager for many projects including, SeaTac International Airport, Harborview Medical Center, Bellevue City Hall, and Brightwater. Cath enjoys helping government agencies, private developers and elected officials understand the economic, social and environmental benefits of incorporating public art into the built environment. She also lectures on the topics of place-making through public art development, integrating art and architecture in public and private construction, and public art best practices.

 

• 
• Tamar Benzikry-Stern
• email
• 206 296.8692

Tamar Benzikry-Stern is a member of our Public Art team, contributing as a project manager. Captivated by the power of artists to activate material and space, and prompt new ways of seeing, Tamar considers public art a powerful source of meaningful dialogue, collaboration and place-making. Tamar works together with artists and County partners that include the Road Services Division Bridge Unit, Metro Transit, and Harborview Medical Center on a wide range of projects. Prior to joining 4Culture, Tamar worked with the City of Bellevue's Public Art Program, developing a public art in neighborhoods program and coordinating the 2008 sculpture exhibition that explored the intersection of sculpture and sustainability. Tamar has been an active member of Arts Leadership Lab, a collaborative leadership-building project that explores how arts practitioners are valuable and effective partners in community development, and serves on the selection committee of the Seattle Jewish Film Festival. Tamar completed her undergraduate degree in Art History at the University of Washington, and specialized in Jewish Art and Visual Culture during her graduate work at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Columbia University and the Jewish Museum of New York. Her independent curatorial work examines our continuously evolving understandings of identity and ecology.

 

• 
• Anna Callahan
• email
• 206 296.8624

Anna Callahan works closely with Sean Stearns in maintaining the 4Culture website. She designs print and media projects for all program areas and developed Blog4Culture in collaboration with administrative staff. Anna created the Listen 4Culture map and its design and navigation conventions. In addition to her design skills, Anna brings an interest in digital and community storytelling to her work with 4Culture, themes she pursues in her studio art practice. Anna received her MA from the University of Illinois in 2003.

 

• 
• Willow Fox
• email: email
• 206 205.8024

Willow Fox facilitates the smooth operations of the public art program, the Public Art Advisory Committee, and maintains the extensive digital library. Willow also edits and distributes the Public Art Calls to Artists List, manages and presents application materials for all public art selection panels and provides technical support to the public art team. Outside of the office, she is co-chair of the Ver(a)rt Gallery, an all-ages art gallery within the Vera Project, an all-ages music venue run by youth. Willow also knows the other side of the desk from seven years of working as a free-lance artist in Oregon before relocating to Seattle in 2004. She graduated summa cum laude from Cornish in 2007 with a double major in sculpture and video, with an emphasis on environmental installations. Willow continues to produce and show her work in the area and abroad.

 

• 
• Tina Hoggatt
• email: email
• 206 205.5436

Tina Hoggatt coordinates Outreach and Education for Public Art 4Culture. In 2006, Public Art 4Culture began a comprehensive initiative to build strategic partnerships, seed pilot projects, facilitate events and develop multi-media web enrichment. Tina was hired to design and manage this important education initiative. Over the last several years she developed and expanded Listen 4Culture, an audio cell phone program, and, with Sean Stearns, designed and managed the recent Public Art website redesign. Tina's continued practice as a writer, studio and public artist informs her commitment to innovation through collaboration. Public Art 4Culture Outreach & Education seeks to enhance the King County Public Art Collection as a community resource, reveal the creative practice behind Collection artworks, foster community and collaboration, and inform about best practices within the field.

 

• 
• Jordan Howland
• email: email
• 206 296.4137

Jordan Howland believes in the power of art and its effect and place in community. A graduate of the Evergreen State College with a degree in Art History, Arts Administration and Community Development, she is dedicated to this region and to building strong coalitions between government agencies, arts organizations, community groups, and individual artists. At 4Culture Jordan manages projects for King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Department of Transportation, and Department of Executive Services. She also oversees the Artist Registry, a comprehensive source of pre-qualified artists prepared to realize both public and private art commissions.

For the past ten years she has worked as an independent curator and as an administrator with organizations including the Henry Art Gallery, Microsoft Art Collection, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. She is a member of ArtTable and currently serves on the advisory board for the Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. Jordan is also a founding member of Stronghold LLC which builds "fortresses" for the arts community through the acquisition of property.

 

• 
• Esther Luttikhuizen
• email: email
• 206 296.8674

Esther Luttikhuizen manages 4Culture’s Public Art Collection and oversees the operation of Gallery 4Culture. Esther brings considerable experience to 4Culture as a project manager for the Washington State Art Commission's public art program. She was director of the Kittredge Gallery at the University of Puget Sound for three years, and was an independent contractor for Sound Transit's Art Program (START). A trained studio artist, she also has first-hand experience "in the field" specializing in mixed media sculptures. Luttikhuizen is particularly well regarded for her regionally-focused commercial gallery Esther Claypool, which she ran from 1998 – 2003 in Seattle's Pioneer Square.

 

• 
• Sean Stearns
• email: email
• 206 296.8678

Sean Stearns manages and produces many of 4Culture's websites including Artist Registry Vol. VI, Touring Arts Roster, and the new Public Art portal. He works closely with cohort Anna Callahan on all things web-related and also manages the IT side of daily operations at 4Culture. Prior to arriving at 4Culture in 2001, Sean was the IT Director at the Henry Art Gallery.

 

• 
• Bill Whipple
• email
• 206 205.5435 ext.4

Bill Whipple maintains the King County Public Art Collection. That means installing, repairing, surveying, delivering, storing – anything involving tools other than a computer. He has worked at all the major Seattle art museums, starting back in 1970, and was a member of the founding Artech crew. When he's not dealing with other people's art, or occasionally stumbling upon his own art in the public collection, he makes sculpture, usually viewer-activated, mechanical constructions. His work has been shown at various galleries, art festivals, and museums in the region, and he's completed several site-specific public art pieces, which, like most other public art projects, occasionally need maintenance.

 

Public Art Advisory Committee

The Public Art Advisory Committee is a volunteer committee of art and design professionals that guides policy development and advises on issues affecting King County public art and artists.

 

• 
• Uwe Bergk
  (Seattle)

With an extensive background in architecture and commercial design both in Germany and the United States, Uwe Bergk's career has been focused on commercial and specialty retail design. He has developed design solutions for clients that include REI, DKNY, Crate & Barrel, Mithun, and the Port of Seattle. He has worked in the academic field as Instructor and Academic Director of the interior design program at the Art Institute of Seattle. Mr. Bergk recently returned to the professional design field as an Interior Designer with SRG Partnership. A LEED™ accredited professional, Mr. Bergk believes in integrated design solutions where space is shaped by the seamless integration of architecture, interior design, lighting design and sustainable practices.

 

• 
• Kevin Carl
  (Seattle)

Kevin is a real estate developer, architect and urban designer with a deep interest in community enhancement and sustainability. He is principal of Urban Innovations Group LLC and UIG Applied Energetics, a strategic planning and development firm, focused on green energy systems infrastructure, policy development and planning. Among his signature projects is the Sleeping Lady Retreat and Conference Center in Leavenworth, WA, for which he served as architectural designer and project manager. A more recent project was the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue, WA, which brings children ages 9-12 hands-on experiences of fresh water ecologies, biology and sustainable living systems. He is a former Board Chair of the Pioneer Square Community Association's Public Spaces Committee; Vice-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission; and Chair of the SAC Public Art Committee. He brings urban planning and real estate development experience as well as public art expertise to the 4Culture Board and is a liaison to the Public Art Advisory Committee.

 

• 
• Nora Daley-Peng
  (Seattle)

Nora Daley-Peng is an urban designer and registered landscape architect experienced in multi-modal transportation planning, streetscape design, and the development of community gathering spaces. An active member of Action: Better City, Nora's professional and personal focus is on creating memorable and thought provoking public spaces. She has extensive experience collaborating with public artists to express the unique nature of a place. Nora is a Sustainable Design Consultant with O'Brien and Company and is a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor and LEED™ Accredited Professional.

 

• 
• Jennifer Dixon
  (Seattle)

Jennifer Dixon is a cross-disciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited locally and nationally. In most recent years, her work has expressed an interest in the processes of nature, involved questions of permanence and temporality, and has been site-specific in nature. She completed her first permanent public art installation, The Witness Trees, at Bergen Place Park in Ballard in 2004. Jennifer received an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington and a BFA in Painting and Drawing from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She has received a number of awards including Seattle Art Museum's Betty Bowen Memorial Special Recognition Award in 1999.

 

• 
• Claudia Fitch
  (Seattle)

Claudia Fitch's work in public art playfully re-invents selected icons familiar in popular culture and art history. The social, architectural, and functional realities of each specific site guide her in developing noteworthy imagery, as well as in choosing the material construction, scale, and placement of each piece. In recent years, Claudia has created work for Qwest Stadium in Seattle, Washington; the Eastgate Park and Ride in Bellevue, Washington; and the Lynnwood Regional Express Transit Center in Lynnwood, Washington. Claudia is also the recipient of numerous art fellowships and awards. Her work can be seen in frequent exhibitions across the United States, as well as in several private collections in Washington State.
Claudia Fitch on the Artist Registry

 

• 
• Robert Hutchison
  (Seattle)

Robert Hutchison is a principal at Hutchison & Maul LLC, a small architecture firm located in the Fremont/Wallingford area of Seattle. He has experience as both an Architect and Structural Engineer; he teaches architecture design studios as the University of Washington and Washington State University; he is a contributing author for numerous publications; he serves on the Board of the non-profit architectural organization Space.City; and he has implemented several conceptual art installations. Mr. Hutchison is especially interested in the overlap and relationships between Architecture and Art.

 

• 
• Kay Kirkpatrick
  (Seattle)

Kay Kirkpatrick's interest in public art originates from her background in ceramics, mixed media sculpture, and installation art. In her studio and public work, Kay explores intersecting patterns of the manmade and natural worlds. Her public art projects include the City of Wenatchee Washington Convention Center, the City of Seattle Southwest Police Precinct Building, and the International Arrivals Corridor at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Her work has also been displayed in exhibitions and collections throughout the Pacific Northwest. Kay's formal training includes a BFA in ceramics, as well as a Master's degree in Library Science, inspired by her interest in the research aspect of public art projects.

 

• 
• Mary Ann Peters
  (Seattle)

Mary Ann Peters is a visual artist and art activist. As a painter, her awards include the prestigious Neddy fellowship from the Behnke Foundation, a residency from the Northwest Institute of Architecture & Urban Studies in Italy, a master's residency from the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts and an Artist Trust Leadership Award. Her works have been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and are in many public and private collections. She is also an accomplished public and installation artist. For seven years she served as the Northwest representative and President of the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression. She also served as a founding member of Seattle's Center on Contemporary Art and as an Artist Advisor to Artists Unlimited. She holds a BA from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle. maryannpeters.com