We are happy to announce UrbanRock Design as the artist team selected to work with 4Culture and our partners at the King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD). Based in Los Angeles, California, UrbanRock Design is the collaborative partnership of Jeanine Centuori and Russell Rock who have experience working on a range of public projects in a breadth of materials. The artist team will create a site-specific public artwork as part of the new Jameson building in the Interbay Industrial Area of Seattle, Washington.
On September 1, the King County Council approved an additional $2 million in CARES Act funding to 4Culture’s ongoing COVID-19 response efforts. We thank King County Executive Constantine and the Council for this critical support. This amounts to $4 million to 4Culture in 2020 to distribute to the cultural sector in this time of persistent crisis.
COVID-19 continues to impact every aspect of our lives and work. Each day presents new challenges, and as we move forward, our top priority is keeping our community informed and feeling supported as best we can.
Rewind to December 2019: artist team Johnson | Ramirez rolled up their sleeves and began laying out a cohesive art master plan for King County Metro’s RapidRide Expansion program, connecting the entire network of lines.
The Salaam Cultural Museum (SCM) exists to raise awareness about Arab American cultures and support refugees and immigrants both locally and internationally. Here, they share with us how they’re fulfilling that mission in Beirut:
Even as we face great uncertainty, many of King County’s capital projects are moving forward as planned, and although the ways we commission and create work must shift, we’re thrilled to celebrate some recent triumphs!
On April 1, we launched our COVID-19 relief fund for cultural workers, offering both emergency support for essentials like rent, groceries, and healthcare as well as grants for artists who had ideas for creative projects that could help King County residents through the pandemic.
Our commitment to racial equity demands that we say this clearly: the status quo is intolerable. The violence perpetrated against George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Charleena Lyles here in King County, and countless others by law enforcement and the white supremacist systems that disregard Black life cannot stand. As an agency that exists to support creativity in King County, we’re ready to play our role in imagining and building a new reality.
Gallery 4Culture has exhibited innovative and underrepresented artists and art forms for over forty years. Our seasons typically run from September – July with ten, month-long solo or small-group shows. We are dark in December and August.
Like you, we are closely monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In this evolving situation, we see and are inspired by all the artists, organizations, and individuals finding new ways to be responsive. We thank Seattle and King County Public Health for their diligent work to keep us informed, and encourage you to check their webpage often. We’ve also compiled a resource list for cultural organizations and practitioners in our region, which we’ll continue to update regularly.
The Washington Museum Association (WaMA) was established to represent and serve museums of all types and sizes throughout Washington State. WaMA offers an annual conference for peer-to-peer learning, networking, and idea exchange. The 2020 Washington Museum Association Conference will take place June 17 – 19, 2020 in Olympia, WA. This year’s theme is Museums and Democracy: Advocate, Educate, Participate.
We are thrilled to announce that Tommy Segundo and Toka Valu have been awarded a unique commission at the King County International Airport/ Boeing Field (KCIA). They will create a 2-dimensional artwork for permanent installation along a fence adjacent to the planned public access road to the Georgetown Steam Plant Museum (GSPM). It will be influenced by the rich history and contextual narrative of the surrounding neighborhoods, communities, industry, and Duwamish River basin. Over the coming months Tommy and Toka will work closely with 4Culture and KCIA to research the history of the area and identify important aspects of the built and cultural environment; this will help them develop concepts for the artwork.
