4Culture Staff

At 4Culture

Heather Dwyer manages Art Projects for individuals, a competitive funding program for projects in all artistic disciplines; e4c, 4Culture's storefront media gallery and co-manges Open 4Culture (with Deb Twersky), a funding resource for art, heritage and preservation projects by or for underserved communities.

Professional

Heather is committed to supporting artists and has been fortunate enough to work with them at non-profit organizations, private corporations and government agencies for the past 25 years. Prior to joining 4Culture in 2003, Heather worked for Jack Straw Productions, Washington Lawyers for the Arts, Artist Trust, Bank of America Art Programs, Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles Unified School District. She holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts and a MFA from California Institute of Arts (CalArts).

Personal

Heather enjoys the classic long walks along the beach, pitching junk at the dump, scavenging for treasures at salvage yards, and hanging out with her very entertaining friends and family.

 

At 4Culture

Bret Fetzer manages the On-Site Review program and supports Charlie Rathbun with the Sustained Support program.

Professional

Bret also writes plays and short stories, directs theater, and occasionally performs. He is a former Artistic Director of Annex Theatre, a former Theater Editor for the Stranger, a former film critic for Seattle Weekly, and a former facilities manager for Richard Hugo House. His collections of original fairy tales, Petals & Thorns and Tooth & Tongue, are available through Pistil Books. His short film A Children's Book of Revelations can be found on You Tube. Bret is also occasionally an auctioneer, usually for non-profit theater events.

Personal

Bret moved to Seattle in 1987 and has lived here ever since, except for a brief, ill-advised, and swiftly recanted move to Los Angeles in 1996.

 

At 4Culture

Flo Lentz is lead staff for 4Culture's historic preservation program. She manages funding programs that support the rehabilitation of landmark properties, partners for advocacy on local preservation issues, and promotes heritage tourism. Flo facilitates 4Culture's Maritime Heritage Initiative, administers the Destination Heritage guide series, and manages the annual Golden Rain Globe Award.

Professional

Before joining 4Culture in 2003, Flo worked in the preservation field at the national, state, and local levels. Between 1988 and 2003, she was the prinicipal in a cultural resources management consulting firm based in largely in Ellensburg, during which time she taught graduate level courses in preservation at CWU. Flo holds an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

Personal

Flo balances out work with bi-coastal travel, film-going, patio gardening, and living by water.

 

At 4Culture

Brandi Link provides administrative support for both the Heritage and Preservation programs at 4Culture. She also supplies technical assistance for the online application process, media management, and development of web-related content for both programs.

Professional

Prior to working full time at 4Culture, Brandi was a project consultant for King County's Historic and Scenic Corridors project. Surveying over 170 roads in unincorporated King County, she helped document their scenic and cultural significance and co-authored the context statement for the history of local county road development. In 2008, she also served as the Landmark Preservation Consultant for the City of Bothell. Prior to that, she worked as a researcher on the interactive travel guide "Revisiting Washington: A Guide to the Evergreen State," developed by the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation in partnership with Artifacts Consulting Inc.

Personal

Brandi enjoys spending time with her family, getting lost in a good book, and exploring the countryside with her 3yr old Brittany.

 

At 4Culture

Doreen manages the annual Group Arts Project program, the Touring Arts Roster and produces 4CTV, documentaries about 4Culture supported arts and cultural organizations in King County broadcast on KCTV channel 22.

Professional

She has served on advisory committees such as the Langston Hughes African-American Film Festival and the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas and currently serves on King County’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration committee and the Washington State Arts Alliance Cultural Congress planning committee. Doreen received her BA from The Ohio State University, an MFA in Film Production from Howard University in Washington D.C. and previously taught at Seattle Central Community College.

Personal

On her own time she enjoys Latin and North African dance, theatre and film festivals and suffers character-building critiques from her speculative fiction writing group.

 

At 4Culture

Charlie Rathbun manages the Arts Program for 4Culture where he coordinates the work of the Arts Advisory Committee, the Local Arts Agency Network, the Sustained Support Program and the Site Specific Program.

Professional

Charlie has worked with 4Culture since 1993 after working with both the Seattle Arts Commission and the NEA Theater Fellowship program. He first joined the King County Arts Commission in 1987 to help coordinate the Performa '87 Festival of New Works. He moved to Seattle from the east coast in 1982 to co-found the New City Theater. In New York City Charlie worked as an artist assistant for site specific installations and as an actor and production assistant for several theater organizations.

Personal

Charlie likes baseball, theater, playing music, tennis, home remodeling and is a proud and active member of Seattle's oldest and most venerable all male book club.

 

At 4Culture

Craig Sinclair joined 4Culture in 2011 to assist Charlie Rathbun with Arts Programs, concentrating on Site-Specific. He provides support for other programs as needed and works extensively with Salesforce.

Professional

A King County native, Craig splits his workdays between 4Culture and the City of Redmond Arts Program, where he works with Redmond's Public Art. Prior to working in the arts, Craig spent several years in politics, working with campaigns and agency offices on the national, state, and local level. Craig holds a BA from Linfield College.

Personal

In his free time, Craig plays scrumhalf for the Eastside Axemen Rugby Club, creates an occasional mixed media work, and fancies himself something of a cultural critic. If a genie granted Craig one wish, it would be to get in a fistfight with Ernest Hemingway.

 

At 4Culture

Eric Taylor serves as lead staff for Heritage 4Culture, managing five funding programs, and coordinating department initiatives, partnerships, and field services.

Professional

Eric began his museum career in Montana in 1975, moving to Washington four years later, when he joined the staff of the Whatcom Museum of History and Art. Relocating to Seattle in 1983, he opened a museum consulting firm, Taylor'd Exhibits, serving a clientele of primarily community-based heritage organizations in King County and statewide. Prior to joining 4Culture in 2007, Eric directed the Museum of Snohomish County History in Everett. He currently sits on the Washington Museum Association board and actively participates with heritage groups nationally, regionally and locally. Eric holds a degree in Museum Exhibit Design from Western Washington University.

Personal

In pursuit of his pastime, Eric earned a Certificate in Genealogy and Family History from the University of Washington.

 

At 4Culture

Debra Twersky is the Arts Cultural Facilities program manager for 4Culture. She oversees Funding Program budgets and initiatives, and manages the Arts Capital and Equipment programs, providing technical assistance to organizations and suburban cities developing cultural spaces throughout King County.

Professional

Deb has thirty years experience in non-profit management, special event fundraising and capital projects planning for heritage and arts facilities and working with neighborhood planning. She directed Kirkland Arts Center, and served as Associate and Executive Director of the San Diego Historical Society. She was a fine arts major at Arizona State University and the University of California at San Diego.

Personal

Deb enjoys every minute spent in the garden with plants and pets and watching the Sounders with her family. She draws when she can and shares her husband's passion for collecting wine, quilts, and outsider art.

 

  • Tamar Benzikry-Stern Arthur Schwab
  • Tamar Benzikry-Stern
  • email
  • 206 296.8692
  •  
  • Project Manager
  • Experiential Art
  • Temporary Artwork
At 4Culture

Tamar Benzikry-Stern manages Public Art projects for King County partners that include the Road Services Division, Metro Transit and Harborview Medical Center. Recent projects include Re:Cycle, a billboard campaign and interactive website in honor of Earth Day; Trails Project, a series of experience-based artworks on and about the Regional Trails System; and A Line Soundscape, a sonic portrait of King County's first bus rapid transit corridor. Tamar promotes innovation and collaboration in her projects, and is committed to providing opportunities for artists to enrich the meaning of public art.

Professional

Prior to 4Culture, Tamar developed a neighborhood-based public art program and coordinated a biennial sculpture exhibition with the City of Bellevue. Tamar continues to work with museums, galleries and educational groups engaging with Jewish art and visual culture.

Personal

When away from a desk, Tamar thrives on engaging conversation, preferably on a kayak or in her kitchen, where she is currently cooking her way through the Moroccan culinary traditions of her family.

 

At 4Culture

Cath Brunner directs the Public Art program, bringing over 20 years experience as a built environment innovator. Cath specializes in managing large-scale integrated public art projects, acting as a project manager for 4Culture projects including Harborview Medical Center and Brightwater. In our consulting practice, Cath works with government agencies, private developers and elected officials to create art plans, scope artwork, select artists and successfully implement public art projects throughout the region. SeaTac International Airport and Bellevue City Hall are recent consulting service projects.

Professional

A strong advocate for the economic, social and environmental benefits of public art incorporated into the built environment, Cath lectures on integrating art in infrastructure, place-making and best practices in the field.

Personal

Cath is a frequent traveler, bringing an artist's eye and an open mind to new experiences of place throughout the world. With her husband she stewards a filbert orchard in the Skagit Valley.

 

At 4Culture

Willow Fox coordinates operations for our Public Art Program and Public Art Advisory Committee. She maintains our extensive digital library and project archives, provides technical expertise to the PA team, and curates the Public Art Calls to Artists List. Willow's prodigious selection panel skills play a central role in our consulting practice.

Professional

Willow's own multi-media arts practice has taken her from the West to East Coast and across the Atlantic. Primarily a textiles artist, her work also includes murals, new media and immersive installations. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cornish College of the Arts with a double major in sculpture and video. Recently she completed her first 360* interactive set design for Sapience Dance Collective.

Personal

Away from the computer you can find Willow brewing herbal tonics, tending her fuzzy menagerie, and dancing to syncopated 12 beat rhythms.

 

  • Jordan Howland
  • Jordan Howland
  • email
  • 206 296.4137
  •  
  • Project Manager
  • Social Practice
  • Online Systems
At 4Culture

Jordan Howland manages both temporary and permanent Public Art projects for King County's Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Department of Transportation, and Department of Executive Services. Recent projects include The Long Walk, a four day, 45 mile pedestrian adventure on the Regional Trails System; The Blue Trees, a socially-driven art action to enhance awareness about global deforestation; and two permanent, site-specific artworks, Reverb and willowcloudwavescape, in the lobby of the King County Correctional Facility. In addition to her expertise in project management, community development, curatorial and collections care, Jordan brings strong skills of online asset management to our consulting practice.

Professional

Jordan believes in the power of art and its effect and place in community. She has been working as a professional arts administrator and curator for nonprofit, private, and government organizations in the Northwest for fifteen years. Her experience encompasses a wide range of community-based arts programming with organizations including the Henry Art Gallery, Microsoft Art Collection, and Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

Personal

When she isn't playing in one of our regional parks, finger painting, or reading stories with her daughter, Jordan likes to get her hands dirty collaborating on remodeling projects with her partners in Stronghold LLC, a live/work property development collective.

 

At 4Culture

Esther Luttikhuizen is curator for and oversees the maintenance of King County's Public Art collection. She also coordinates the Gallery4Culture exhibitions program. In addition to being available for curatorial projects Esther consults on collections care, as well as serving on numerous juries and selection panels.

Professional

Esther joined 4Culture after working as a project manager for Washington State's Arts In Public Places program. She was co-founder of Seattle's Esther Claypool Gallery, 1998 - 2003, representing a select group of Northwest emerging/midcareer artists. The gallery earned a strong reputation for its progressive exhibitions. Between 2004 and 2007, Luttikhuizen was director of University of Puget Sound's Kittredge Gallery.

Personal

Outside work, gardening, reading, and tending two British Shorthair cats are her greatest pleasures.

 

  • Bill Whipple
  • Bill Whipple
  • email
  • 206 296.8609
  •  
  • Collection Maintenance
  • Artwork Installation
At 4Culture

Bill Whipple maintains the King County Public Art Collection. That means installing, repairing, surveying, delivering, storing - anything involving tools other than a computer. You will see Bill in the halls and lobbies of Harborview Medical Center and County buildings that have shared public space, making sure that the King County Public Art collection looks its best.

Professional

Bill has worked at all the major Seattle art museums, starting back in 1970, and was a member of the founding Artech crew.

Personal

When he's not dealing with other people's art, or occasionally stumbling upon his own art in the public collection, he makes sculpture, usually viewer-activated, mechanical constructions. His work has been shown at various galleries, art festivals, and museums in the region, and he's completed several site-specific public art pieces, which, like most other public art projects, occasionally need maintenance.

 

At 4Culture

Anna Callahan works closely with Sean Stearns in designing, developing, and maintaining the 4Culture website. She designs print and media projects for all program areas and developed Blog4Culture in collaboration with administrative staff.

Professional

In addition to her design skills, Anna brings an interest in community storytelling to her work with 4Culture, themes she pursues in her studio art practice. Anna received her MFA from the University of Illinois in 2003.

Personal

Among Anna's favorite activities are reading and checking out books at the library with her son. She has attended artist residencies in Berlin and Dublin with her wife and looks forward to continuing that in the future.

 

  • Tina Hoggatt
  • Tina Hoggatt
  • email
  • 206 205.5436
  •  
  • Press Contact
  • Social Media
  • Online Content
At 4Culture

Tina Hoggatt is the main press contact for 4Culture and works with staff in developing online content and mobile initiatives. Tina also oversees social media for 4Culture. She works with program staff to tell the story of the work we do and the achievements of our cultural community.

Professional

Before her current work in communications, Tina worked for Public Art 4Culture as Education and Outreach manager, developing a number of online and interactive initiatives. Coming to 4Culture from a public art practice, Tina also spent many years as an arts educator in K-12 classrooms.

Personal

In her writing practice, Tina is working on Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction. Current studio work includes illustration and porcelain enamel on steel projects. Her public and studio artwork and a link to her blog may be found on www.tinahoggatt.com. Tina is on the Advisory Committee for the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Washington.

 

  • Sean Stearns
  • Sean Stearns
  • email
  • 206 296.8678
  •  
  • 4Culture Website
  • IT/Communications
At 4Culture

Sean Stearns is the Information Technologies (IT) Director here at 4Culture. He designs and co-produces web and graphic design projects large and small and works closely with the Communications Team (and all program staff) to deliver content to our cultural community. He also manages daily IT operations and policy, fixes the stray computer or server gone awry and embraces the constant change and challenges that are an everyday part of IT.

Professional

Prior to joining 4Culture in 2001, Sean worked with the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington as their Web and IT Manager for several years.

Personal

Outside of 4Culture, Sean is either traveling or planning to travel somewhere in the world or looking up at the stars.

 

  • Riza Almanza
  • Riza Almanza
  • email
  • 206 296.8575
  •  
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Contracts
  • Payroll
At 4Culture

Riza Almanza is the Business and Finance Officer. She provides administrative services such as personnel, budget and administration functions, and fiscal services that include analysis of budget requests and projects in support of management and policy decisions. She is the liaison for Payroll, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Personnel for the organization.

Professional

Riza has been with the organization since 1994, during the time when 4Culture was Office of Cultural Resources under King County. She came to OCR from the Department of Adult Detention and has been with King County since 1989. Riza received her BA in Art from the University of Washington.

Personal

Her greatest pleasure would be to see her two sons, ages 9 and 12, grow up to be responsible and caring adults. She also enjoys creating her own greeting cards.

 

At 4Culture

Jim Kelly serves as the Executive Director of 4Culture. Jim's first responsibility with the King County Arts Commission was managing its Cultural Facilities Program, which supports capital construction projects. Jim was promoted to the position of Arts Commission Associate Director in 1995, and then Manager of the Office of Cultural Resources in 1998, before becoming Executive Director in 2003.

Professional

Jim Kelly moved to Seattle from New York City in 1991, where for the five previous years he served first as the Assistant Director of the Community Arts Development Program and later as Director of Real Estate Services for the City's Department of Cultural Affairs.

Personal

Jim is a former actor and the proud parent of two musicians.

 

  • Noy Kitnikone
  • Noy Kitnikone
  • email
  • 206 296.4858
  •  
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Contracts
  • Payroll
At 4Culture

Noy Kitnikone is a key financial officer provides management and lead staff coordination for 4Culture's Business and Finance section, including accounting policy and procedure analysis, banking, contracting, finance, payroll and personnel; overseeing and coordinating the development, implementation and monitoring of budget systems; administering financial programs and systems; managing revenue and expenditures for multiple fund sources, and applying financial analysis to operational and policy decisions.

Professional

Noy has long worked for the public sector. She joined King County Office of Cultural Resources in 1991 until 2002 and 4Culture since 2003. Noy received a BA from the University of Washington.

Personal

Noy enjoys ethnic dance, outdoor activities, traveling and reading world history.

 

  • Phung Lam
  • Phung Lam
  • email
  • 206 296.0285
  •  
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Contracts
  • Payroll
At 4Culture

Phung Lam provides administrative and technical support for the business and finance section. She is responsible for performing technical, specialized financial, accounting, and fiscal services in the processing contracts, budgets, payroll and financial documents.

Professional

Phung joined 4Culture after earning her Bachelor of Science degree at University of Washington of Bothell in 2003.

Personal

Phung loves to play with her 2 sons, Phillip and Perry, and loves to read bedtime stories to them. She also likes to travel with her family.

 

At 4Culture

Melissa Newbill joined 4Culture in February 2008 as support to Executive Director Jim Kelly and the Board of Directors as well as funding programs, Advisory Committees and administration.

Professional

Previously, she was the Business Manager at Canlis Glass, worked in sales at Chihuly Studio and visitor services at the Henry Art Gallery. Melissa received a BA in Art History from the University of Washington, where her studies focused on the old (Roman sculpture) and the new (contemporary painting).

Personal

Melissa is passionate about the arts and culture in our area and can often be found out enjoying the local music scene, visiting the bust of Claudius at the SAM or at home experimenting in the kitchen.