Every day, our Storefront Media Gallery screens showcase dynamic media art from all over the United States to the thousands of commuters who pass by our Pioneer Square offices on Prefontaine Place South. We’re excited to continue a long-running partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to bring this urban art experience to another Seattle neighborhood! Pass by their media screen, located at 500 Fifth Avenue North, to encounter these works, selected from applicants to the Storefront Media Gallery program:
To the artists and community members who have spoken out in recent days regarding 4Culture’s involvement with the Children and Family Justice Center: thank you. We—and, much more importantly, King County’s youth—need your voices. I write today, as Executive Director of 4Culture, to share some of the history and intent of our involvement with this project.
As development continues throughout King County, more and more of our surfaces are impervious. When rain hits pavement and asphalt, it collects pollutants as it travels into Puget Sound’s streams, lakes, rivers, and bays—this is stormwater.
Interested in being a part of the grant-making process? On-Site Reviewers go to events presented by arts and heritage organizations funded by or applying for our Sustained Support grants—orchestras, theaters, dance groups, galleries, choruses, festivals, museums, and more. They then write up short reviews of their experience, which are given to the panels that determine funding, providing a patron’s-eye-view of each organization.
The Washington Museum Association represents museums of all types and sizes throughout Washington state and offers an annual conference for peer-to-peer learning, networking, and idea exchange. This year’s conference is happening June 19 to 21 at Spokane’s Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. The theme is “All Stories Are Told Here,” and we’re excited to offer $500 stipends!
Our Sustained Support grant program offers unrestricted funding every two years—it helps culture thrive in our region by keeping the lights on at King County cultural organizations, and it’s growing! For the 2019-2020 cycle, we’re proud to be awarding more than $2.5 million to 447 organizations, and especially excited that 88 applicants were brand new to the program.
In 2015, we partnered with Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council to invest a historic $28 million in our region’s cultural infrastructure. Now, almost four years later, we continue to see the results of that investment as more and more of these major renovations and building projects are completed. The latest is the Sunset Garage in North Bend!
After more than 30 years as a historical society without a permanent physical location, the Highline Heritage Museum is opening its very own doors this summer! We’re proud to support the project through several grants, and excited to offer this sneak peek from the museum’s Executive Director Nancy Salguero McKay:
Just like history itself, our Heritage department has been in a state of flux this past year! Brian Carter became our Executive Director in August, leaving his former position of Heritage Lead open. We were thrilled to have Chieko Phillips, formerly the Heritage Support Specialist, head up the department in the fall. Now, we welcome Megumi Nagata into Chieko’s vacated position!
