Tag: Americans for the Arts

Office of Arts & Culture’s Public Art Project Receives National Recognition

A public art exhibition from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) received national recognition from Americans for the Arts Public Art Network’s 2017 Year in Review. Year in Review highlights the most successful, innovative, and exciting public art projects and programs in the United States. The award-winning project was Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk: A Quantum Leap, Starting From The Top…!!! an immersive installation by artist Xenobia Bailey.

This year the Public Art Network received 325 entries from public art programs and artists. A total of 49 projects were selected for recognition. ARTS has received recognition for previous projects in past years. The art works selected for the Public Art Network Year in Review can be seen here. The Year in Review selections were presented at the national conference in San Francisco, CA in June. In addition local artist Buster Simpson and Cath Brunner, Director of 4Culture’s Public Art program also received recognition from the Public Art Network.

“These selected works reflect the incredible diversity of public art projects, including temporary to permanent, sculpture to performance art,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “The innovation of work demonstrated in the Public Art Network Year in Review shows the breadth of talent from artists around the country. I congratulate them and their commissioning groups for these community treasures.”

Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk: A Quantum Leap, Starting From The Top…!!! was an installation in the Seattle Presents Gallery. It was part of Dialogues in Art: Exhibitions on Racial Injustice, a year-long series exploring artists’ and curators’ interpretations of racial injustice, both systemic and institutional, impacting Black-identifying people throughout America. In her installation Bailey created an immersive installation featuring African-American homemakers and caregivers that honored and celebrated their innovative, soulful lifestyle. The installation referenced connections to the African-American community and Seattle’s history. The life-sized figures play an important role in cultivating and rebuilding homes and communities, while providing nurturing and guidance for African-American youth. According to Bailey the installation was created as “an exploration for a future of designing and engineering a humane material culture and cyber cottage industry that will address community needs relating to wellness and social and economic development.”

The Public Art Network is a program of Americans for the Arts, designed to provide services to the diverse field of public art and to develop strategies and tools to improve communities through public art. The network’s constituents are public art professionals, visual artists, design professionals, and communities and organizations planning public art projects and programs.

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, DC and New York City, it has a record of more than 40 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in, and appreciate all forms of the Arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

News Release: Two Seattle Public Art Projects Receive National Recognition

Two public art projects of the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS) received national recognition from Americans for the Arts Public Art Network’s 2016 Year in Review. Year in Review highlights the most successful, innovative, and exciting public art projects and programs in the United States. The two award-winning projects are Public Art Boot Camp, a training program for emerging public artists; and ALL RISE, an 18 month-long temporary art program.

“Being recognized nationally for our innovative programming and temporary art is exciting and it expands the boundaries of what we think of as public art,” says Ruri Yampolsky, Public Art Program Director. “Among our other work, we create programs that nurture emerging artists and address the barriers to entry in our field.”

This year the Public Art Network received 260 applications from public art programs and artists. A total of 38 projects were selected for recognition. ARTS has received recognition for previous projects in past years.

“These Public Art Network Year in Review selections illustrate that public art has the power to enhance our lives on a scale that little else can. Whether subtly beautiful or vibrantly jolting, a public art work has the singular ability to make citizens going about everyday business stop, think, and through the power of art appreciate a moment, no matter how brief,” said Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “I congratulate the artists and commissioning groups for these community treasures, and I look forward to honoring more great works in the years to come.”

Public Art Boot Camp is a hands-on training program intended to expand the next generation of public artists, including emerging artists and artists from historically under-represented communities such as communities of color. In the inaugural year of Public Art Boot Camp, participants engaged in a free two-day intensive basic training, learning to translate their studio or gallery experience into the public realm. Through a competitive process, 30 artists were selected to participate. They attended workshops that provided an overview of the field with topics such as finding opportunities, selection processes, contracts, working with design professionals, approvals, fabrication, installation and more. Participants were included in an invitational opportunity to create temporary artworks for “Art Interruptions: Central Area Neighborhood Greenway” and “Seattle Center Sculpture Walk.” Following the Boot Camp, 14 of the 30 participating artists received their first public project commissions through ARTS or other organizations.

ALL RISE, a collaborative art series curated by Meagan Atiyeh and Elizabeth Spavento, featured a year and a half of performances, events and temporary art installations organized for and presented at an entire vacant city block at the location of Seattle City Light’s future Denny Substation in the Cascade neighborhood. The curators were commissioned to engage and transform the entire 90,000 sq. Ft. empty lot into a dynamic and evolving art exhibition space from May 2014 through September 2015. ALL RISE encompassed more than 50 artists who engaged with the residents and workers of the Cascade neighborhood, exploring the transient potentials of land as residential, agricultural, urban, and political. Artists from Seattle to London, ranging in disciplines from sculptors, photographers, choreographers, dancers, composers, musicians, poets and community activists, created work for and around the site. Full documentation can be found at www.allriseseattle.org.

The Public Art Network (PAN), a program of Americans for the Arts, is designed to provide services to the diverse field of public art and to develop strategies and tools to improve communities through public art. The network’s constituents are public art professionals, visual artists, design professionals, and communities and organizations planning public art projects and programs.

The Year in Review selections were presented at the national conference “The Present & Presence of Public Art” in Boston, MA in June. The 38 public art works selected for the PAN Year in Review can be seen on this page. The presentation, which includes photos and descriptions of these works, are available for purchase through Americans for the Arts’ store.

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With offices in Washington, DC and New York City, it has a record of more than 40 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in, and appreciate all forms of the Arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

Images: Public art boot camp and Robert Montgomery.

AFTAmath

Americans for the Arts (AFTA) 2015 Annual Convention
June 12-14, Chicago, IL

Americans for the Arts serves, advances, and leads the network of organizations and individuals who cultivate, promote, sustain, and support the arts in America. Their convention, AFTACON, is a blend of cultural advocates leading the changes we are seeing in the arts field and advancing the arts as central to the future of our communities.

During my frenetic and amazing week in Chicago I steeped myself in the arts, culture and architecture of the city, and spent hours meeting, discussing and connecting with some of the most engaged and passionate arts advocates in the country. Throughout all the panels, discussions, debates, workshops and events, two themes emerged: racial equity and rapid change. These two issues have been central to the office for years and it was gratifying to see that the initiatives we are doing locally are an integral part of the national conversation.

  • Racial Equity: Equity, diversity and inclusion was center stage at this year’s conference. There is no question that civil rights and equity dominates today’s social landscape. Our history doesn’t have to define us, but what we do now, and how we mitigate the impacts of structural racism and inequality built by our past will define our future. The challenge of creating equity is one everyone is exploring, through policy, programs and best practices; we examined how cultural equity can lead to livable cities and stronger communities.

In particular the United States Urban Arts Federation (USUAF), an organization of which I am a member of the leadership team, is working on developing policy to address cultural equity and how we can break down barriers using arts and cultural organizations as the nexus for education, redevelopment and affordable housing.

During the conference ARTS staff (Jason Huff, Kathy Hsieh, Liz Johnson, Lara Davis, and myself) led a free-form conversation about Racial Equity and the Arts, putting our race and social justice efforts at the center of a national conversation.

NOW is a change moment: We are at a point of rapid change. U.S. cities are experiencing a rebirth where creative industries are contributing to our economies at a faster pace than ever before. Cities are becoming innovative incubators and we are at the crest of this wave. Arts and culture can be a driving force for our cities; we can lead urban growth, and be the connector/glue/backbone for solving problems in education, livability, and equity.

Now is the time to take action and begin implementation. Bringing arts education back to our schools improves students’ performance and more importantly prepares them to enter a broad spectrum of creative industries, including public and private, tech, design and science.

There is a powerful convergence of equity, arts education and cultural placemaking and Seattle is a nexus where it is all working together. Each program and initiative is strengthened by community, government and business ties. We are stronger as a whole when we all work together, when arts focused education results in an educated youth that can meet the demands of economic industry drivers. When cultural placemaking can influence the city’s development and planning goals we create a city that not only welcomes, but provides opportunities for immigrants and refugees, artists, low-income communities and sustainable growth.

I always enjoy the amazing whirlwind that is AFTACON and come back to Seattle inspired by what the arts can achieve. In the coming months our office will continue the important initiatives that we have undertaken and we hope to make this city a model of  how to bring ideas from the drawing board to the street.

 

By Randy Engstrom, director Office of Arts & Culture

Photo: Chicago architecture taken by Randy Engstrom

American’s for the Arts recognizes our very own, Lara Davis with the American Express Emerging Leaders Award

Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America, announced that Lara Davis, ARTS very own, Arts Education Manager will be honored by Americans for the Arts with the American Express Emerging Leaders Award. Davis is one of six recipients of the 2015 Americans for the Arts Annual Leadership Awards. Presented each year, these awards recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations committed to enriching their communities through the arts.

“We are thrilled and honored that American’s for the Arts is recognizing the amazing work that Lara is doing for the Creative Advantage initiative,” says Randy Engstrom, director, Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture. “Lara’s drive and tireless energy inspires everyone she meets and is a large part of the Creative Advantage’s success.”

The Creative Advantage is a partnership between City of Seattle, Seattle Public Schools, The Seattle Foundation, and local community arts organizations. The goal of the Creative Advantage is to address the systemic barriers to student access to arts and ensure that every student has arts integrated into their education, starting in kindergarten. The long term goal is that by 2020, all Seattle students will have access to a continuum of arts learning opportunities.

“Our Leadership Awards honorees have distinguished themselves as tremendous leaders and passionate advocates for the arts and arts education,” said Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “These leaders have implemented innovative and transformative programs to strengthen the communities they serve, and their unwavering commitment to local, state, and national support for the arts is deserving of this recognition.”

Given annually since 2006 and sponsored by American Express since 2011, the American Express Emerging Leaders Award recognizes an exceptional new and/or young arts professional for their exemplary leadership, deep engagement with community, and strong commitment to advancing the arts. Lara Davis has been active in youth development and community arts education for more than a decade. She has served as a Seattle arts commissioner and as program director for Arts Corps, an award-winning, Seattle-based youth arts organization. In her current role as Arts Education Manager for the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture, Davis manages Creative Advantage, a public/private partnership that pairs teaching artists and cultural organizations with underserved public schools to ensure that all Seattle youth in every neighborhood have equal access to arts learning. Davis serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Teaching Artists Guild, and facilitates equity and racial justice trainings for teaching artists, educators, and organizations, presenting locally and at national conferences.

Honorees will be presented their awards at the Americans for the Arts 2015 Annual Convention in Chicago during the Opening Plenary session, Friday, June 12, 2015 from 12 to 2:15 p.m.

The five other recipients are:

  • Association for Public Art, Pennsylvania: Public Art Network Award
  • Eric Booth, New York: Arts Education Award
  • Jeff Hawthorne, Oregon: Michael Newton Award
  • Richard E. Huff, Texas: Selina Roberts Ottum Award
  • Ann Marie Miller, New Jersey: Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

 Photo credit: Fedora El Morrow