Legislative news
By ArtsWA Executive Director Karen Hanan 

With the 2017 Legislative Session scheduled to adjourn on Sunday, April 23, I want to update you on ArtsWA budget priorities, and where we stand in the 2017-19 Operating Budget. The Senate released its operating budget on March 21 and the House budget was released on March 27. Both chambers have since passed their budget bills off the Floor.
 
As expected, the Senate budget was lean but was not unkind to ArtsWA. Our grants budget of $350,000 was restored. (As you may recall the Governor's operating budget proposed a cut of $350,000--which would have cut the grant funds in our community investment programs. This proposed cut was the result of an error made by the Governor's budget office. A letter from the Governor's budget director explaining the error was very helpful in our efforts to restore the funds.) Also in the Senate budget, the "My Public Art Portal" project was funded in the amount of $305,000. 
 
The House budget was quite a bit kinder, with the grants budget also restored, the Portal funded at $570,000, Creative Districts* at $156,000, and thanks to an amendment on March 28, $60,000 was also added for folk arts apprenticeships (money that supports a match to an anticipated grant from the National Endowment for the Arts).  Also of note, the House added $73,000 to the Secretary of State's budget for the Speakers Bureau program it hosts in collaboration with Humanities Washington.
 
However, with only a few days before this legislative session ends, the Senate and House have yet to agree on how to fully fund K-12 education as required by the State Supreme Court's McCleary Decision. Therefore, the Legislature will adjourn without completing the necessary budget work. The Governor intends to call them back into Special Session early next week and we are hopeful that our budget priorities will remain intact and ultimately be reconciled during the Special Session budget negotiations.
 
*The Creative District policy legislation, which names ArtsWA as the state agency responsible for administering the program, passed the House and Senate with bi-partisan support. The House concurred with Senate amendments on April 17 and SHB 1183 by Rep. Joan McBride is now on the way to the Governor for his signature. The bill has a fiscal note of $156,000 for 2017-19, which is in the House Operating Budget. No funds have been designated for Creative Districts in the Senate Operating Budget but again, we're hopeful the money will make it through budget negotiations during the Special Session.
 
We are very much encouraged and invigorated by the support we received from the Governor, members of the Legislature, our partners in the arts, and arts advocates across the state. On behalf of the ArtsWA staff and board, thank you!
Photo courtesy of Eva Blanchard Photography.
Seeking nominations for 2017 Governor's Arts & Heritage Awards

ArtsWA is once again seeking nominations for the Governor's Arts & Heritage Awards (GAHA). Nominations will be accepted May 1 to June 26, 2017. The 2017 GAHA recipients will be announced in September.

"Receiving the Governor's Award for Arts Education in 2015 was an honor and career highlight," said Heidi Arbogast of Spokane. "When effort is acknowledged publicly, and by the state of Washington, it sends a message loud and clear that bringing art into the lives of young people matters!" 

Arts Education is among four Governor's Arts Award categories. These include: Individual Artist, Arts Organization, Arts Education, and Young Arts Leader. There are two categories for the Governor's Heritage Awards: Heritage Individual and Heritage Organization.

The Awards were established in 1966 to recognize individuals and artists for their significant contributions to the creative vitality of Washington State. Since inception of the program, 153 individuals and organizations have received Arts Awards, and 53 individuals and organizations have been honored with a Heritage Award. To be eligible for either Arts or Heritage Awards, individuals or organizations must be current Washington residents or have resided in the state during the time the contributions were made, and not be a previous recipient of a Governor's Arts Award or Heritage Award. 

Here's more information about the awards and how to submit a nomination.
Makah Bay, by Mary Randlett, is one of the artworks selected by State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall for his Portal Exhibition celebrating National Poetry Month.

Web exhibitions created through My Public Art Portal

The Art in Public Places team working on My Public Art Portal ----Heide Fernandez-Llamazares, Val Peterman, Jennifer Myers, and Evergreen student employee Tim Schilling ----have made huge strides in adding to the digital web catalogue of the State Art Collection. More than a third of the 4,500 artworks in the State Art Collection is now online. 

Before  an artwork is published on the Portal, Art in Public Places staff perform condition assessments, research and confirm artwork information, write interpretive descriptions, and capture quality photography of the artwork at its site. This rich and meaningful content can be used to create an educational curriculum, add value to local marketing or tourism efforts, or simply as a tool to enjoy the artists and artworks. One way to use My Public Art Portal is to create an online exhibition. With a little bit of notice, staff can help create a web exhibition. Visit My Public Art Portal to select artworks to be included in a proposed exhibition, and contact [email protected]  to get started.

Check out the latest web exhibitions featured on My Public Art Portal:
 
Woven to Place: Earth Day 2017
 These sixteen artworks investigates man's relationship to, and impact on, the environment.

I Dwell in Possibility: Artworks Selected by State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall for April - National Poetry Month
 The artworks are wide ranging---- "...some emphasize song-like movement of color or line; some have political resonance; some ask us to see nature in a different way; some tell us stories about the creators (or ourselves)."
 
Story House: Select Works by Women Artists of Color
 The March 2017 exhibition was curated for Women's History Month. The exhibition features fifteen women artists of color representing diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and creative processes.
Congratulations to the 2016-2017 Cohort of the Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab (TAT Lab), pictured above.
Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab

Twenty-five teaching artists recently completed this year's 8-month program, which we are very proud to run in collaboration with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Seattle Children's Theatre, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, and with significant support from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

If you are a teaching artist, or a classroom teacher who teaches in and through the arts, or an arts education director who hires teaching artists: we are gearing up for next year's program now. The application process will open next month, with a deadline in mid-July. 

Full TAT Lab program information is available online
Questions? Contact Arts in Education Manager, Lisa Jaret 
The WA129 launch party and poetry reading at the State Capitol featured readings from many of the contributing poets. Thanks to Sage Hill Press and the Bushwick Book Club of Seattle for their participation. Photo courtesy of Humanities Washington. 
State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall launches WA129

State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall officially launched WA129 at a standing-room-only reception and poetry reading April 13th at the State Capitol. The event was in conjunction with National Poetry Month in Washington State as proclaimed by Governor Jay Inslee. Thirty-five of the 129 anthology contributors were on hand to celebrate and read their poems. 

"I did my best to choose a wide range of voices, subjects, and poetics," Marshall wrote in the book's introduction. Contributors include award-winning writers and poets "finding print for the first time."

WA 129 is available at various bookstores, online at Amazon.com, and through Sage Hill Press Publishing, Spokane. Proceeds from the sale of the book help to pay the publishing costs. The State Poet Laureate Program is sponsored jointly by the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA) and Humanities Washington.

The Washington State Arts Commission is committed to values of inclusion, diversity, equity, and creative expression. We believe in diverse forms of artistic expression, and we believe in access to arts and arts education for all individuals in our state. The arts can and should play a role in addressing inequities, modeling inclusion, and teaching empathy.
For more information contact:
Glenda Carino | W. 360.586.8093 | C: 360.259.7862 | g [email protected]
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