For Immediate Release
July 6, 2017
Information: Sarah Sidman | 206-788-3051 | sarahsidman@artsfund.org
ArtsFund, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Communications
ARTSFUND AWARDS $2.48 MILLION IN 2017 GRANTS
Seattle, WA – ArtsFund is pleased to announce the distribution of $2,489,294 in grants to 58 nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in King and Pierce Counties from its recently concluded annual fundraising campaign. With this allocation, ArtsFund’s grants surpassed $79.1 Million awarded since its founding in 1969.
ArtsFund is dedicated to strengthening the community by supporting arts and cultural groups throughout the Central Puget Sound region. Annual grant making is a core component of the organization’s mission, complemented by leadership and advocacy programs. Grants are distributed as general operating support, which recipients can use to provide programming and arts education, reduce barriers to arts participation, increase access and opportunity for underserved youth, and for staffing, capacity-building, professional development, and facilities. This unrestricted funding enables grant recipients to invest the funds where needed most to advance their mission.
Mari Horita, ArtsFund President & CEO, stated:
“A robust, diverse, and accessible arts and cultural sector is a critical contributor to our region’s health and vitality. ArtsFund is committed to advancing community priorities through the arts, and to contributing to the strength and community impact of arts organizations. Our annual grants are one key way in which we invest in expanding access to the arts, generating far-reaching multi-disciplinary cultural programming, and presenting outreach and education programs throughout the region and state.”
In 2016, ArtsFund’s grants helped 53 arts and cultural organizations mount over 10,150 exhibitions and productions, provide arts access and arts education to 833,768 students, offer 1,736,608 free or discounted tickets, and attract 7,250,491 visits.
Carol Powell, ArtsFund Board Chair, added:
“For nearly 50 years, ArtsFund has been a model of what can be accomplished through community investment for community impact. We believe arts and culture inspire, empower, and transform individuals and communities, and that the arts should reflect, represent, and engage the entire community. Towards this end, ArtsFund raises millions of dollars through our annual fundraising, and we are deeply grateful to the businesses, foundations, and individuals who contributed to this year’s campaign.”
Revenues from ArtsFund’s 46th annual drive, which ended on May 31st, support the 2017 grant allocations, as well as additional programs and services reaching more than 110 organizations throughout the Central Puget Sound region. For a complete list of ArtsFund’s cultural partners, visit https://www.artsfund.org/cultural-partners.
Thanks to a generous new $40,000 contribution from Casey Family Programs, ArtsFund was able to significantly increase grant awards to those organizations with programs supporting underserved youth through the arts.
The 2017 Allocations Committee was led by Co-Chairs Sue Coliton, Washington State Arts Commission, and Mark Dederer, Executive Director, Biller Family Foundation.
In complement to ArtsFund’s annual grant allocations, in January of 2017, ArtsFund awarded $60,000 in grants to twelve multicultural arts and cultural organizations as part of ArtsFund’s Multicultural Arts Project. This pilot grant making initiative was intended to generate support for ethnically and culturally diverse arts organizations and programs in support of the broader community. The MAP funds were distributed as matching incentive grants of $5,000 each, with the objective of empowering recipients to leverage these grants to raise greater support for their organizations.
For more information on ArtsFund’s current grant recipients, visit: https://www.artsfund.org/about-arts-fund/arts-groups-we-support
For more information about ArtsFund, visit: https://www.artsfund.org/about-arts-fund
2017 ArtsFund Grants
King County
5th Avenue Theatre $115,370
ACT Theatre $93,850
Artist Trust $20,370
Arts Corps $7,500
Auburn Symphony Orchestra $1,210
Bellevue Arts Museum $6,100
Book-It Repertory Theatre $25,600
Burke Museum $11,450
Coyote Central $5,000
Early Music Seattle $11,540
Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle $27,860
Frye Art Museum $13,890
Henry Art Gallery $116,990
Intiman Theatre $13,650
Jack Straw Productions $13,500
Jet City Improv $3,140
Meany Center for the Performing Arts $16,030
MoPOP $32,730
Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) $5,000
Nordic Heritage Museum $16,990
Northwest Film Forum $8,920
On the Boards $36,910
Pacific Northwest Ballet $224,750
Red Eagle Soaring $5,000
Richard Hugo House $21,810
Seattle Art Museum $212,640
Seattle Arts & Lectures $12,560
Seattle Chamber Music Society $19,590
Seattle Children’s Theatre $94,930
Seattle JazzEd 5,000
Seattle Men’s Chorus/Seattle Women’s Chorus $13,030
Seattle Music Partners $10,000
Seattle Opera $205,090
Seattle Pro Musica $7,130
Seattle Public Theater $3,000
Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra $25,330
Seattle Repertory Theatre $132,720
Seattle Shakespeare Company $62,630
Seattle Symphony $199,030
Seattle Theatre Group $78,050
SIFF $17,280
Spectrum Dance Theater $27,150
Taproot Theatre Company $8,680
Three Dollar Bill Cinema $5,640
Town Hall Association $32,170
Vashon Center for the Arts $5,710
Velocity Dance Center $13,710
The Vera Project $10,640
Village Theatre $93,800
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience $42,900
Youth In Focus $5,000
King County Total $2,198,570
Pierce County
Broadway Center for the Performing Arts$69,170
Museum of Glass $6,620
Northwest Sinfonietta $3,210
Symphony Tacoma $19,110
Tacoma Art Museum $55,240
Tacoma Musical Playhouse $9,470
Tacoma Opera $7,460
Pierce County Total $170,280
Special Grants
ArtsFund Plestcheeff Design and Decorative Arts Grants
Burke Museum $10,000
Seattle Art Museum $10,000
Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience $10,000
Subtotal $30,000
Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation Grants $60,500
Designated Workplace Giving Funds $29,944
Grand Total 2017 ArtsFund Grants $2,489,294
2017 Allocations Committee
Sue Coliton, Co-Chair, Commissioner
Washington State Arts Commission
Mark Dederer, Co-Chair, Executive Director
Biller Family Foundation
Gemma Aronchick, Corporate Citizenship & Public Affairs
Microsoft Corporation
Michael Brown, Vice President, Community Programs
Seattle Foundation
Jane Broom Davidson, Community Affairs Manager
Microsoft Corporation
C’Ardiss Gardner Gleser, Program Officer
Satterberg Foundation
Holly Hinton, Director of Music and Entertainment
Starbucks Coffee Company
Mari Horita, President & CEO
ArtsFund
Erika Nesholm, Executive Director
Nesholm Family Foundation
Tim Otani, Vice President, External Affairs Manager – NW
MUFG Union Bank
Kim Vu, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Business and Community Engagement
Bank of America
Christopher Wiggins, Program Manager
Safeco Insurance Foundation
About ArtsFund:
ArtsFund’s Mission: ArtsFund strengthens the community by supporting the arts through leadership, advocacy and grant making.
ArtsFund’s Vision: A community with a dynamic and world-class arts and cultural sector where the arts are accessible to all and valued as central and critical to a healthy society.
# # #
Photo credits: (L-R): Photos (L-R): Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, SRJO with Special Guest Terell Stafford, photo by Jim Levitt; Spectrum Dance Theater, Rambunctious 2.0, photo by Tino Tran; Seattle Opera, Frost Fest community event at Cornish Playhouse, Photo courtesy of Seattle Opera; The 5th Avenue Theatre, Rising Star Project performance of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” photo by Jeff Carpenter; Seattle Art Museum, Graphic Masters: Dürer, Rembrandt, Hogarth, Goya, Picasso, R. Crumb, photo by Natali Wiseman.