ArtsWA news

February 2024

Contact: info@arts.wa.gov

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In this issue:

• Announced: Ellensburg now a Creative District
• Apply: Call for Art | Western State Hospital
• Apply: Vet Corps Rural Service Project grant
• Attend: Billy Frank Jr. Day 2024
• Register: Building for the Arts Webinars
• Register: Creative Districts Tri-State Webinar
• Attend: WA Poet Laureate events
• Announced: Poetry Out Loud Regional Finalists
• Meet: New ArtsWA staff
• Survey: Trauma-informed care workshops
• Explore: Billy Frank Jr. virtual display & lesson plan
• Explore: Black Past/Present

Ellensburg Music Festival (Jazz in the Valley), Laughing Horse Arts Foundation. Photo credit: Ellensburg Music Festival

Washington Welcomes Ellensburg as

State’s Newest Certified Creative District

Following a unanimous vote by the ArtsWA Board of Commissioners on February 8, Ellensburg is now Washington’s newest Certified Creative District. It becomes the seventeenth city statewide to earn this coveted designation, which spotlights and supports Washington’s hubs of innovation and creativity.



The new Creative District will reach from Ellensburg's historic downtown to the Central Washington University campus. The new Creative District will reach from Ellensburg's historic downtown to the Central Washington University campus.

“This prestigious designation is a testament to our community’s vibrant arts scene and its potential to shape our future," said Ellensburg Mayor Rich Elliot. "We look forward to leveraging this certification to support our arts, enrich our cultural programs, and showcase Ellensburg’s creative spirit.”

Opportunities

⚠️ Closing today - Call for Art: Western State Hospital

Western State Hospital seeks artists or artist teams who have lived experience with mental illness to design and create artwork for the patient courtyards at Western State Hospital’s new forensic hospital.

📆Deadline to apply: Thursday, February 29, 2024, 4:00 p.m. Pacific

💵 Budget: $200,000 – $1,000,000 ($200,000 per courtyard, apply for 1-5 courtyards)

Vet Corps Rural Service Project Grant

The Vet Corps Rural Service Project Grant will provide a one-time grant for Vet Corps Members to provide arts-based service projects through their host sites and communities. For the purposes of this grant, an eligible “Vet Corps Member” is defined as an AmeriCorps Member serving through the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs at different rural sites throughout Washington State.

📆Deadline to apply: Friday, March 15, 2024, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

💵 Grant award: up to $3,000

Coming up

Billy Frank Jr. Day Celebration

Join Nisqually Indian Tribe and North Thurston Public Schools for a celebration of the life and legacy of Billy Frank Jr. This event will also commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boldt decision. ArtsWA will be present to share statue project updates.

📆 Wednesday, March 6, 2024

⏰ 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Creative Districts: Tri-State Webinars

Join Creative District program managers from Washington, Idaho, and Nebraska for a free two-Webinar series:

Webinar 1: Community Engagement | Topics include: how to develop a successful community engagement process, how to build relationships and ensure all voices in your community are heard, and more.

📆 Recorded February 15, 2024

Webinar 2: Organizational Structure | Topics include: how to set up your organizational structure for success, how to plan for long-term sustainability, and more.

📆 Thursday, March 28, 2024

⏰ 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. PST

Building for the Arts: 2024 Webinars

Building for the Arts (BFA) is a program managed by Commerce that awards state grants to nonprofit community-based organizations to buy, build, or renovate arts and cultural facilities. Join ArtsWA for a series of free Webinars in March - register below:

• Session 1: Building for the Arts 101 | March 11, 1:00 p.m.
• Session 2: Building a Good Plan | March 18, 1:00 p.m.
• Session 3: Building a Strong Application | March 25, 1:00 p.m.

Reading: A Celebration of Poetry

A free public event honoring Artstra and C-Tran’s ‘Poetry Moves’ poets as well as Clark County and Washington State poets laureate.

📆Sunday, March 10, 2024 | 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.

🌎Magenta Theater| 1108 Main Street, Vancouver

Reading: Whatcom READS presents the Chuckanut Radio Hour

Join us for an evening of music, comedy, poetry, and a conversation with Sasha LaPointe and Arianne True.

📆Thursday, March 14, 2024 | 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

🌎The Hotel Leo Crystal Ballroom | 1224 Cornwall Avenue, Bellingham

Workshop: Neurodivergence and Poetry: a FREE all-levels community workshop

Neurodivergent folks (and support people they’d like to bring) are invited to a workshop with Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True to explore how neurodivergence can make for very cool poems. (Neurodivergence includes autism, ADHD, Tourette’s, dyslexia, and more.)

➡️ Visit the website for workshop dates and locations

News & Updates

Students answer questions from the audience at the Southwest Washington Regional Final at South Puget Sound Community College

Poetry Out Loud Regional Finalists

🎉 Congratulations to our 9 Washington State Poetry Out Loud Regional Champions! These students will advance to the State Final competition:

• Kate Gemmell – Kamiakin High School
• Kaylin Warner – Selah High School
• Leki Albright – Liberty Bell High School
• Sydney Frost – Mt Spokane High School
• Selah Burrowes – Lincoln High School
• Gregory Chvany – Mercer Island High School
• Elizabeth McAleer – Battle Ground High School
• Blaze Rowan – Olympia High School
• Nascha Martinez – Kingston

The Washington State Poetry Out Loud Final will take place on Saturday, March 9 at 1:00 p.m. at Tacoma Little Theatre. You can also watch the livestream online.

Washington School Champions and students participating in POL Virtual also have the option to participate in Poetry Ourselves, an original poetry contest that began in 2023. The winning poems will be announced and recognized at the 2024 Washington State Poetry Out Loud Final Competition on March 9 at 1:00 p.m. in Tacoma. You can listen to recordings of the 2023 Poetry Ourselves finalists online.

Poetry Out Loud is supported by The National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. ArtsWA coordinates and manages the program in Washington State.

Meet our new staff

Todd Clark, Program Coordinator, Tribal Cultural Affairs

Todd joined ArtsWA in February 2024 as the Tribal Cultural Affairs Program Coordinator. Prior to joining ArtsWA, Todd served as the program manager for the University of Washington’s Center for American Indian & Indigenous Studies. Before UW, he worked in the museum field for several years and as an independent curator with a focus on contemporary Native arts. Todd is an enrolled member of the Wailacki Indian Tribe (Round Valley Indian Tribes) and is a dedicated and passionate advocate for Native art and artists.

More from ArtsWA

Survey: Trainings in trauma-informed care

ArtsWA and Path with Art are launching a pilot program to train arts practitioners and organizations in trauma-informed care.

We will use this survey information to plan two free trainings facilitated by Path with Art. The trainings will be open to all arts practitioners and organizations in Washington State.

Image © Adobe.

Billy Frank Jr. Statue Project: virtual display and lesson plan

The Billy Frank Jr. statue maquette is now on display in the Lieutenant Governor’s office, accompanied by a series of poster boards that tell the story of Billy Frank Jr.

You can explore a virtual version of the display on our website. Educators can also download a free lesson plan to engage students in grades 5-10.

Explore: Black Past/Present

As we end Black History Month, explore artworks by Black artists in Washington's State Art Collection. These artists are painters, abstract artists, printmakers, sculptors, photographers, and more.

These artists explore personal and community histories—as well as race and social justice—through their art. There is also often a strong connection to storytelling.

21 Chambers: Bloom & Flow (2023, archival inkjet print) by Moses Sun, located at Ferndale High School, Ferndale, NW WA