Monday–Friday, December 17–21, 2018
9:00 am–5:00 pm

The Tolt Historical Society is settling into a beautiful new home just in time for the holiday season! After relocating from Carnation Farms in July, the Society and its collection now occupy the historic Hjertoos House, just south of Carnation. The Hjertoos House is a large, late-Victorian farmhouse with a prominent dairy barn, and a King County Historical Landmark. It is situated on the Carnation Tree Farm, which is on the National Register of Historic places.

4Culture is a public agency. It’s our job to make sure that all King County residents can access our resources and see themselves in the work we do. Deep inequities—especially related to race and geography—persist in our county and world. Too often, they prevent us from reaching all the people and communities we need to serve.

We’re thrilled to share exciting news from our Public Art department! Please join us in welcoming Selina Hunstiger and Andy Le.

As support for the Beyond Integrity working group, 4Culture has offered three Equity in Preservation internships that researched sites associated with underrepresented communities to understand inequities and find new ways to identify, protect and share the significance of properties with high social and cultural importance. University of Washington graduate student, Stefanie Barrera Aguila was 4Culture’s 2018 intern. She worked on identifying ways to strengthen preservation practices to address stories that had not yet been told.

As rapid development continues to affect every corner of King County, most public discussions focus on our future: where will newcomers live? Who will be able to afford to stay here? But as we plan for our future, we also need to consider how development affects our past. The historic buildings, spaces, and artifacts that have shaped our region are at risk of getting swept up and lost. We checked in with some of the experts—our friends at Seattle’s many neighborhood-based historical societies—for an on-the-ground look at how they’re responding to all this change.

Michelle Gehlman-Teeter from the Greater Kent Historical Society shares a sneak peek of what you can expect from this much-loved, month-long annual event! We’re proud to help fund Experience Historical Kent through our Heritage Projects grant program.

King County residents: what’s working and what’s not as you engage with culture? As part of a year-long study, we’re hosting Listening Sessions in each of King County’s 39 cities and unincorporated areas to help us better understand the cultural health of our region and how we can support you. We’d love to hear from you!

What was once a two-mile stretch of industrial buildings is transforming into an urban art gallery of incredible murals, created by artists from King County and around the world. As we finish our third and final year of painting, celebrate with us! Enjoy drinks and bites, shop a SODO Track artist print show, catch a walking tour of the Track, and meet some of the artists:

Since announcing our longtime Executive Director Jim Kelly’s retirement in December 2017, our Board, Advisory Committees, and staff have been hard at work filling this essential role. It’s a daunting task, especially as we’ve contended with other big changes and new initiatives this year. 2018 has not been boring! As we get closer to selecting and announcing our new Executive Director, we’re taking a moment to put a spotlight on the person largely responsible for holding it all together: Deb Twersky.