Executive Director’s Message

Art In Public Places

Grants To Organizations

Arts In Education

Creative Districts

Wellness, Arts and the Military

Tribal Cultural Affairs

Washington State Poet Laureate

Center for Washington Cultural Traditions

Agency Initiatives and Outreach

ArtsWA Financial Report

Roberto Delgado installing LIFE, 2024. Washington State University, Vancouver campus. Photo by ArtsWA. 

The State Art Collection includes more than
5,000 artworks, located where people study, work, and live.

The public selects and owns the Collection.

“A lot of our students connect with [the artist’s] work. Just with how he was channeling his personal experiences […] and creating these bigger conversations on difficult issues. Students have really connected with them on thoughts around identity and finding belonging and a sense of place.” 

—Cozette Phillps, Fine Arts Instructor at Spokane Falls Community College, describing the impact of a State Art Collection work on students. 

AIPP is uniquely positioned to advance and support art and artists across Washington. Our goal is to build and care for a State Art Collection that is impactful, accessible, and valued. We seek lasting artworks that reflect Washington’s diverse communities. 

Celebrating 50 years 

To mark and celebrate AIPP’s 50th anniversary, we partnered with HistoryLink on a comprehensive article written about our program over the decades. ArtsWA’s Art in Public Places “percent for art” program was created by the state legislature in 1974. It was the second statewide program of its kind in the U.S. (following Hawaii). The legislation mandated one-half of one percent (0.5%) of capital appropriations for new construction at colleges and universities, state agencies, and public K-12 schools to be put toward the purchase or commissioning of visual art. 

Acquisitions

AIPP acquires artwork for Washington’s K-12 public schools, state agencies, universities, and the community and technical college system. AIPP’s project managers work with local committees in the communities that host state-funded artwork. 

Community through art 

Partnerships are at the core of Art in Public Places. From macro to micro relationships, we deeply value and depend on collaborations for our work. At the higher level, we work closely with our state partners at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), the university system, and other state agencies. Together, we manage capital artwork funds generated by their construction projects and enter into agreements that address how artworks are acquired and how they will be cared for after installation. 

At the local level, new artwork acquisitions are vetted and approved by partner-formed committees of staff, teachers, administrators, parents, students, artists, and other community members. These relationships are invaluable to the success of each project. They help ensure that the new artwork genuinely relates to their community. 

We are always seeking out new partnerships. We recently initiated a project in Tacoma for Maritime253, a new high school skills center for Tacoma Public Schools (TPS). The land on which it will stand is owned by the Port of Tacoma, but historically it is a profoundly important location for the Puyallup Tribe. We are excited to bring the Port, TPS, and the Tribe together to collaborate on a vibrant, culturally relevant artwork for this location. Stay tuned! 

Collections

The AIPP Collections team cares for the State Art Collection’s 5,000 artworks. We maintain and repair them, hire outside experts when needed, and track locations, conditions, and historic records. 

Partnerships pave the way  

Relationships are at the core of our work. Our conservation staff routinely collaborates to maintain and repair artworks. They combine expertise and contribute extra hands. They learn from and with each other. Our partner agencies—the K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and state agencies that host the State Art Collection—are also essential to this work. They make their campuses available, provide lifts, access to water, and even additional helping hands. Our work is immeasurably easier when our partnerships are strong. 

Since 2019, ArtsWA has grown our conservation staff from one position to five, including a temporarily funded position added in FY24. This effective team—supplemented by specialized contractors—fanned out across the state to repair or maintain nearly 350 artworks, an increase of 40% over the prior year.  

Three staff collaborated on the cleaning and hot waxing of five bronze sculptures in Clark County. They learned best practices from our conservation manager and applied what they learned to ensure the longevity of unique sculptures. 

Our conservation staff deepened collaboration with colleagues at sites hosting the State Art Collection. In a series of projects with Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC), three of our technicians maintained or repaired 29 artworks. The works ranged from small 2-dimensional prints to suspended, interior sculpture to large, outdoor sculpture. These projects are a part of the celebration of the Art in Public Places program’s 50th anniversary, which will also be highlighted by SFCC in an exhibition in the fall of 2024. 

In FY24 our staff worked at 61 public facilities across 16 counties. Their efforts make Washington’s public facilities more humane places to learn, work, and interact with state government.  

My Public Art Portal

The entirety of Washington’s State Art Collection has lived online at My Public Art Portal since 2019. It enhances our engagement with public art and presents our geographically widespread collection in one place. 

Our web exhibitions showcase different segments of the State Art Collection of more than 5,000 artworks in a fun way, often with pop culture references. Every year, we also have a variety of Washingtonians as guest curators who share their perspectives of the Collection. This year’s web exhibitions included: 

• Beyond the Canvas: The Science Within Art curated by Bellevue High School student Kayli Wong explores where art and science intersect. “Many people feel conflicted about whether they are a ‘math’ person or an ‘art’ person, but these artworks serve as examples of the mix of both topics!” Kayli Wong is a junior at Bellevue High School and part of the 2024 ArtsWA Washington Youth Arts Leadership (WAYAL) team. 

• Year One, artworks that were acquired in 1975 during the State Art Collection’s first year. 

My Public Art Portal is also a useful reference tool for field workers and partner sites when conducting maintenance, inventory, or other tasks. The Portal makes the Collection real and tangible for elected representatives and constituents, who can easily explore it online. It has improved relationships with partner sites across the state and grown engagement with K-12 public schools, who host 60% of the Collection. 

Yun Theater: The Endlings, Lisa Zhang, Zoe Ding, Van Liu, Jen Lee, Iveliz Martel.

Grants to Organizations (GTO) grants advance cultural equity, cultivate an inclusive creative economy, and increase arts participation statewide.

FY24 saw another year of increased applications for support in the Grants to Organizations program. Organizations are continuing to rebuild programs and further their recovery from the lingering effects of the pandemic. Of note was the high degree of grant funds that were used to pay increases in rent and insurance resulting from the new post-pandemic economy.  

Our team made difficult decisions with regards to funding amounts in effort to support as many organizations as possible. The primary result was smaller grants, distributed through a lens of equity, as we work to meet both state and agency mandates on equity, while supporting both established and new organizations. Applications for support from new organizations saw an astonishing 385% increase.  

Throughout the FY24 funding cycle, Grants to Organizations program staff worked faithfully to build strong and enduring relationships and partnerships with the community and with the funders that make our grant programs possible. Looking forward to the next funding cycle, we will work tirelessly to increase available funding, while instituting priorities-based funding to ensure that we meet the goals of our agency strategic plan around equity. 

Spokane’s Taiwanese Fan Dancers at The Family Guide’s Lunar New Year Celebration, February 24, 2024. Photo by Linny Dee.

The Arts in Education (AIE) program supports accessible and culturally relevant arts learning as a fundamental part of basic education for every student in Washington State.

Our team worked towards program goals through programs such as:  

• AIE Project Grants (PreK-12)  
• Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab (TAT Lab)  
• Creative Start and Washington State Wolf Trap Program  
• Poetry Out Loud Program  
• Washington Youth Arts Leadership (WAYAL) Program  
• Arts for All (A4A) Coalition 

FY24 AIE Program impacts included:  

• AIE grants supported 90 arts learning projects increasing access to arts learning in schools and communities across the state.  
• 17 youth from across the state completed the WAYAL Program. 
• 11 arts integration residencies implemented in multilingual preschools in Eastern Washington.   
• Career Connected resources developed in partnership with educators and artists in North Central Washington. 
• WA Arts Education Data Dashboard and related statewide research efforts launched in coordination with the Arts for All (A4A) Coalition. 

Creative Start

Creative Start supports and expands arts integration efforts in early learning (preschool through 3rd grade) communities. It aims to bridge the opportunity gap for Washington’s youngest learners. Creative Start programming includes grants, professional learning opportunities, and resource development to support students, teachers, and their families. 

During the 2023-2024 school year, Creative Start Grants supported arts integration projects that reached 3849 early learners, involved 1712 early learning educators, and worked with 92 different teaching artists. Projects helped students grow creatively, academically, and social-emotionally, with a strong emphasis on providing equitable access to arts education. 

Creative Start partnered with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s (OSPI) Migrant Ed and Arts Ed programs to present the Art of Belonging conference. This collaboration provided attendees an opportunity to reimagine how they serve migratory students and their families, anchoring arts and culture at the center of belonging. 

ArtsWA became an affiliate of Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, a nationally recognized leader in early childhood arts-based learning. Launched in the 2023-24 school year, Washington State Wolf Trap trained 4 teaching artists in the Tri-Cities area, who provided 11 classroom residencies in Pasco and Walla Walla. During a residency, educators learn effective ways to engage students in active learning so that performing arts (music, dance, theatre, puppetry, or storytelling) remain a strong part of their lessons after the residency ends.  

Poetry Out Loud

Poetry Out Loud (POL), is a national poetry recitation contest for high school students sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation and produced in this state by the Washington State Arts Commission. POL elevates and celebrates the literary arts as an essential part of Art Learning inside and outside the school day.   

POL is open to any school in Washington State for grades 9-12. Individual students may register for Washington POL Virtual if they are home schooled or attend a school that does not register in the program. 

POL provides: 

• a suite of curricular and media materials to support the program. 
• an online anthology of over 1200 classic and contemporary poems for students to choose from.  
• alignment with NCTE and Common Core learning standards for Arts.  

POL begins in the classroom as students engage with the literature and compete in spelling bee-style competitions, rising through classroom, school, and regional competitions to reach the state final. Blaze Rowan, a senior at Olympia High School in Thurston County, is the 2024 Poetry Out Loud Washington State Champion.  Rowan was among the 9 high school students—all regional Poetry Out Loud champions—who competed in the State Final. Watch the state finalists recite on the ArtsWA You Tube Channel. 

An adjacent original poetry competition was held for students achieving the level of school champion. This was the second year for this program feature. First Place: Luca Artz of Mount Si High School (Snoqualmie) with “The Recipe.” 

Honorable mentions: Leki Albright of Liberty Bell High School (Winthrop) with “In Betweens” and Nascha Martinez (Kingston) with “A Generation’s Soliloquy.” Listen to the winning poems on the ArtsWA website. 

Teaching Artist Training Lab (TAT Lab)

Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab (TAT Lab) is a statewide community of teaching artists, arts specialists, youth arts providers, and certified classroom teachers committed to teaching and learning through the arts. ArtWA partners with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), the Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), and a faculty team to provide workshops, resources, and mentorship to arts educators across Washington State.  

In 2023-2024, our program saw 25 participants complete TAT Lab’s Core Program, a 6-month professional development course with an in-person weekend at the Seattle Opera Center. More than 75 teaching artists participated in TAT Lab events and workshops, including networking opportunities, workshops focused on culturally responsive teaching, and collaboration with Tacoma Creates. 59% of FY24 TAT Lab applicants were from outside King County.  

We also hosted 3 applicant information sessions and collaborated with the Art of Belonging Conference in Yakima. 

 FY24 TAT Lab participants: 

• Explored several learning frameworks including national and state arts learning standards, Universal Design for Learning, Social Emotional Standards, and John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial curriculum. 
• Drafted and refined learning plans that integrate elements of instructional design and culturally responsive teaching.  
• Learned about the teaching artist profession. 
• Built statewide community through in-person sessions.  

Washington Youth Arts Leadership (WAYAL)

The Washington Youth Arts Leadership (WAYAL) program aims to grow the next generation of arts leaders and creative workers by providing career-connected learning opportunities and mentorship. WAYAL convenes a yearly cohort of youth and young adults (ages 16-19) from across Washington State to explore the arts and cultural field, creative careers, and related policy. 

Connecting Youth Across the State to Career-Connected Learning 

WAYAL convenes monthly virtual seminars, where cohort members: 

• Explore career pathways in the arts and cultural sector. 
• Refine multimedia communication skills. 
• Engage with communities as an artist and critical thinker. 
• Gain understanding of the creative economy, arts funding, and related policy. 
• Build community among artist peers and with arts leaders statewide. 
• Build leadership skills. 

 In 2024, WAYAL cohort members contributed their insights and talents by working with our partners: TeenTix, Arts 4 All Coalition, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). They collaborated on a video, released by ArtsWA and TeenTix during Arts Education Month in May, stressing the importance of seeking out and including youth perspectives when policymakers address arts education and access. 

As WAYAL welcomes its third cohort for 2024-2025, our program remains committed to nurturing young artists as critical thinkers and creative workers. All cohort members–and the very first WAYAL alumni intern–receive stipends for their engagement. In the coming year, they will also have the opportunity to gain job experience through paid practice gigs in graphic design, curation, performance, and communications. 

Through funding from Career Connect Washington, we also built connections with Tribes, educators, creative professionals, and culture bearers    in North Central Washington. Together, through the Explore Creative Careers NCW project, we are developing career pathways to the arts and culture sector for rural, Native, and Latinx youth. We are producing curricula and other resources for local educators to guide young people interested in creative careers. 

Members of the FY24 Washington Youth Arts Leadership (WAYAL) cohort designed stickers for distribution at agency events. Participating cohort members collaborated with the ArtsWA Communications Team to learn about the design process and preparing files for print. ArtsWA logo design above by Yolanda Jiang. 

Washington’s Creative Districts are distributed across the state, representing both urban and rural populations.

Creative Districts help communities turn arts and culture into economic opportunities and experiences for residents and visitors.

Growing local economies through arts and culture

FY24 was a milestone year for Washington’s Creative Districts program. The first three state creative districts – Edmonds, Chewelah, and Olympia – all reached their five-year anniversary and were recertified.  

All the districts worked diligently to bring new opportunities and activities to their communities. In Chewelah, the district worked with the city to bring a sculpture park to the main city park, unveiling a David Govedare Wild Horses sculpture as the inaugural artwork. Thousands of people attended the unveiling. In Burien, they worked with jurisdictional partners to ensure that the arts and culture economy is a focus of economic development activities. The district successfully secured $350,000 in funding from the city for various arts and culture initiatives, including a match for its signature capital project.  

The program continues to see strong interest year over year. Five communities became certified districts this year: Anacortes, Newport, Bremerton, Ellensburg and CoWalla. CoWalla is a multi-jurisdictional district that includes Walla Walla and College Place. This district is the first of its kind in Washington.  Additionally, several communities including Soap Lake, Coupeville, Woodinville, Shelton, Raymond/South Bend, Yelm, and Pioneer Square (Seattle), worked on moving their communities closer to certification. Several of these communities are likely to be certified in FY25. 

The program held its annual conference in June. Representatives from the districts gathered in Chewelah for three days of networking, learning and strategic planning activities. As in the past, representatives from districts in the active planning process joined the conference. In all, more than 50 representatives from twenty-two communities across the state attended.  

Participants at a forging seminar at the 2023 Veterans Day Workshops, hosted by Pratt Fine Arts Center.

By offering grants, workshops, and cohort programs, WAM fosters creativity, healing, and community within Washington’s military population.

Photo courtesy of Tulalip Tribes of Washington.

 Arts and culture are fundamental for the health and wellbeing of Tribal communities and a thriving Tribal community benefits all Washingtonians. 

The Tribal Cultural Affairs program is designed to be flexible and responsive to Tribal Needs. Grant applications and reporting is online with in-person and virtual technical assistance available.   

Our initial goals included outreach to Tribal communities, Indigenous artists, Indigenous art organizations, Tribal museums, Tribal schools (including higher education), and designing a program that is accessible, flexible, and respectful. Every part of the program has been thoughtfully put in place with input received from Tribes and Indigenous community members. TCA established a Tribal Consultation Policy, Indian Nation Agreement, held the first consultation, conducted listening sessions, and continues to adapt the program to increase access to Tribes and Indigenous artists. The first year of the program, grants were available to Tribes and issued to all Tribes who applied for funding. The program reallocated unspent or unobligated funding to provide additional funding to Tribes in support of Tribal culture and art.  

Twenty of the twenty-nine federally recognized Tribes in Washington State applied for funding. More than $552,000 was utilized by Tribes to support multiple projects.   

Every Tribe that applied for the TCA grant individualized their grant application to ensure the funding supported their Tribe’s specific cultural projects. Projects included:  

• Language revitalization (including dictionary creation, children’s books, and language camps)  
• Youth center art featuring Tribal members’ art  
• Sweat lodge structure and art  
• Health center art  
• Cultural teachings (regalia making, weaving, carving, and other projects)  

Going forward, we expect the program to continue to grow and expand. Supporting Tribal culture and art is long overdue and we have expansive goals. With additional funding from the legislature, we will support Tribal museums, create an Indigenous artist directory, support Tribal schools including higher education, partner with Wellness, Arts, and the Military to engage and expand access for Tribal military and Veterans, and create additional partnerships with other state agencies and Indigenous organizations. 

2023-2025 Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True. Photo by ArtsWA. 

The Washington State Poet Laureate builds awareness and appreciation of poetry through public readings, workshops, lectures, and presentations. Laureates perform this work in culturally and geographically diverse communities throughout the state.

Master Korean masked dancer Kevin Okcheon Shim (unmasked) fixes the dance mask to apprentice Che Sehyun.  Seattle. May 2024.  Photo by Thomas Grant Richardson. 

As the designated NEA Traditional Arts partner, CWCT serves as the state folklife program, conducting fieldwork, supporting a master-apprentice program, and maintaining archives of the state traditional arts and cultural traditions. 

Strategic Plan

In June 2022, ArtsWA published its 2022-2027 Strategic Plan. The plan took effect on July 1, 2022. ArtsWA staff and managers identified a suite of goals to serve as Year One priorities and developed new metrics to track progress and performance. ArtsWA completed the first year of its 2022-2027 Strategic Plan at the end FY23, and identified new and continuing goals to serve as Year Two priorities. 

The five-year plan reflects the needs and ambitions of ArtsWA and its constituents. It builds on the spirit of the last strategic plan while recognizing changes in both the agency and Washington State. 

Billy Frank Jr. National Statuary Hall Committee 

Representative Debra Lekanoff (D-40th) introduced House Bill 1372 to replace the statue of Marcus Whitman in National Statuary Hall with Billy Frank Jr. The legislation notes that “Billy Frank Jr. dedicated his life to advocating for equality, justice, and environmental protections. He fought to protect tribal treaty rights, native cultures and traditions, and the natural resources they are based upon.” 

ArtsWA was named in the legislation to manage the process of artist selection, design development, and final installation. In FY23, the Committee selected artist Haiying Wu to design the statue. ArtsWA began working closely with the Nisqually Indian Tribe in FY23 to conduct outreach and education around the statue and its development. 

In FY24, ArtsWA and Nisqually partnered with South Puget Sound Community College to host the development of the full-scale clay model. Members of the public could access Haiying Wu’s workspace during the week to observe the artist at work. ArtsWA and Nisqually also collaborated to take the maquette (a roughly half-scale model) to communities around the state.  

Wu is expected to complete the clay model in FY25, which will be followed by casting the model into two identical bronze statues. The statues will be installed in FY26. 

Governor Jay Inslee visits Haiying Wu’s workspace at South Puget Sound Community College to view the development of the clay model. Photo by Nisqually Communications & Media Services. 

Funding Sources

Agency Expenses