ArtsWA news

October 2023

Contact: info@arts.wa.gov

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In this issue:

📣 Now accepting applications: the COVID Impacts Recovery Grant will provide one-time grants up to $5,000 to eligible Washington businesses and nonprofits in the arts, heritage, and science sectors to provide funding for recovery from pandemic economic impacts.


💻 Webinar: You can watch a free Webinar about the COVID Impacts Recovery Grant and application on ArtsWA's YouTube channel.


📆 Application deadline: Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 5 p.m. (PST)

🔔 Notifications sent: January 8 – 12, 2023

📆 Funds dispersal: January 22 – 26, 2023

Learn more and apply
Watch the Webinar

Other ArtsWA grants


📣 Wellness, Arts, and the Military is now accepting applications for the Self-Directed Arts Practice (SAP) Grant. The SAP grant provides one-time grants of up to $3,000. These grants pay for costs associated with taking time to practice art throughout the grant period.

📆 Application deadline: November 27, 2023, 5:00 p.m. (PST)

More opportunities

📣 Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) Conference: Take aways & looking ahead! During this 1-hour event, you will hear from arts and cultural staff and administrators from our region about their key take aways from the 2023 Boston LEAD Conference.

📆 Wednesday, November 1 | 4:00 p.m.


📣 Change Leader Institute is now accepting applications for the upcoming cohort! Join this professional development program designed for artists, culture bearers, arts professionals and community leaders connected to the arts.

🌐 Online Wednesdays 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. | January 24, 2024 – March 13, 2024

📆 Application deadline: November 8, 2023


📣 Poetry Out Loud (POL) is open for registration for both schools (teachers and their classes) and individuals (POL Virtual). POL is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students supported by The National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation

📆 Registration closes: Friday, November 17, 2023


📣 Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True is accepting submissions for a Queer Poetry Anthology. Arianne invites poets of all skill levels to submit entries!

💻 Monday, November 13 | 7:00 p.m. - free writing workshop

📆 Submissions close: Friday, December 15, 2023


📣 Opening soon: apply to be a Community Investments panelist! Community Investments includes Arts in Education, Center for Washington Cultural Traditions, Creative Start, Grants to Organizations, and Wellness, Arts, & the Military. ArtsWA seeks panelists with a diversity of experiences, geographic locations, and expertise in varying artistic fields.

📆 Applications open: November 1, 2023

📆 Applications close: November 30, 2023

Free events with Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True

Free upcoming events with the Washington State Poet Laureate!


Open Book: A Festival for Readers

📆 Sunday, November 5, 2023

⏰ 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

🌎 Ferndale Events Center | 5715 Barrett Rd., Ferndale


Poets Laureate Reading

📆 Tuesday, November 7, 2023

⏰ 7p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

🌎 The Rabbit Box | 94 Pike Street, Seattle


Queer Anthology: Writing workshop

📆 Monday, November 13, 2023

⏰ 7:00 p.m.

Join Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True for a free 75-minute queer writing workshop! This is for writers of all levels, including first-time poetry-curious folks!

Learn more about the Washington State Poet Laureate

News & Updates

ArtsWA and Wolf Trap team up for

Washington State Wolf Trap

A Wolf Trap Teaching Artist residency in action in Pasco, Washington. Photo courtesy ESD 123.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and ArtsWA recently announced a partnership that will bring Wolf Trap’s customizable arts-based teaching and learning programs to early childhood classrooms in Washington State. The partnership creates Washington State Wolf Trap, Wolf Trap’s newest addition to a growing network of 26 affiliates across the United States and Singapore.

Learn more about the Washington State Wolf Trap
Read the announcement

Meet our new staff

Sa Faumuina, Vet Corps Member


Sa joined ArtsWA in September 2023 as the Wellness, Arts, and the Military (WAM) Vet Corps member. Sa also currently serves in the Washington Air National Guard as a First Sergeant for the 194th Medical Group on Camp Murray, WA. Her diverse background working with military members, their families, and communities has deepened her appreciation for the unique strengths and skills that everyone possesses. Sa is passionate about bringing people together through engagement with arts and wellness organizations while inspiring them to tell their story through the arts.

Gabriella Smith, Administrative Assistant, Wellness, Arts, and the Military


Gabriella Smith joined the Arts Commission in October 2023. With a strong passion for the arts, coupled with a military upbringing, Gabriella brings a deep appreciation for veterans and military-connected individuals. She is a dedicated administrative professional with experience in government agencies and non-profits, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Music Business with Summa Cum Laude honors, and currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Music Industry.

Looking ahead

Explore: Celebrating Native American Heritage Month in November

“Clay Moccasins” (1985, clay) by Karita Coffey (Comanche).

Clay Moccasins (1985, clay) by Karita Coffey (Comanche).

Since its beginning in the 1970s, Washington's State Art Collection has included artists who are Native American, Alaska Native, First Nations, and Indigenous Mexican. They represent over one hundred artists, more than twenty Washington State Tribes, and more than fifty tribes and cultures in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and more. The history and cultures represented through these artworks are an important part of the fabric of our communities and identities across Washington State. 

Explore the exhibition

Right: Along The Umatilla (2019, painting) by Ric Gendron (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Arrow Lakes Band, 1954-2023), located at Virginia Grainger Elementary, Okanogan, Northeastern WA. Photo by J. Ferguson.

“Along The Umatilla” (2019, painting) by Ric Gendron (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Arrow Lakes Band, 1954-2023), located at Virginia Grainger Elementary, Okanogan, Northeastern WA. Photo by J. Ferguson.
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