Monday, June 19 is Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States on June 19, 1865. Black communities have celebrated Juneteenth as a day of food, parades, and family activities long before it finally became a federal holiday last year. At 4Culture, we celebrate this holiday as an expression of our mission, vision, and values. As we work continuously to examine and eliminate race-based inequities in our work, Juneteenth gives us an opportunity to uplift Black history and culture in an authentic way.

This year, we have commissioned work by artist Moses Sun. 21 Chambers Illuminated: Carnival of Black Joy is now displayed in our storefront window and will be shared digitally across our social media channels. We are thrilled to have this exuberant work of art gracing our space! Sun’s artistic practice fuses hip-hop, jazz, afro-futurism, and the Black southern diaspora of his childhood into a mix of visuals that blurs the lines between digital and analog art. His interdisciplinary practice comes from the hip-hop ethos of grinding in the studio, creating multiple tracks that he remixes into afro-abstractions expressed on various surfaces, screens, assemblage, prints, plywood, and large-scale murals.

Last year, in honor of Juneteenth, our Public Art team purchased photography by artist Mia McNeal for the King County Public Art Collection. This year, these works inaugurate the Spotlight Gallery at King County’s new Customer Service Center at King Street Center. Stop by to see them!

Lastly, to help you celebrate, we’ve pulled together of Juneteenth activities happening throughout King County:

Juneteenth at NAAM
June 17–19, check schedule for times
Northwest African American Museum, Seattle

Renton City Concert Band Juneteenth Celebration
June 11, 2:00 pm
IKEA Performing Arts Center, Renton

Second Annual Juneteenth Royal Ball
June 16, 7:00–11:00 pm
Renton Pavilion Events Center

Africatown Summer of Soul
June 19, 12:00–8:00 pm
Jimi Hendrix Park, Seattle

Atlantic Street Center 22nd Annual Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday, June 17, 11:00 am–3:00 pm
Rainier Beach Community Center, Seattle

It Takes a Village Juneteenth Community Fest
June 24, 11:00 am–6:00 pm
Othello Park, Seattle

Songs of Black Folk 2023: Music of Resistance and Hope
June 18, 7:00 pm
Paramount Theatre, Seattle

Linda Sweezer Memorial Juneteenth Celebration and Festival
June 17, 10:00 am–5:00 pm
Morrill Meadows Park YMCA, Kent

City of Auburn Juneteenth Celebration: Celebrating Black Fathers
June 18, 10:00 am–5:00 pm
Les Gove Park, Auburn

Shorelake Arts Concerts in the Park: P.I E.Pruitt and Maureese Itson Band
June 19, 6:00 pm
Shoreline City Hall Plaza

Reclaiming Our Greatness: Juneteenth Celebration
June 25, 12:00–5:00 pm
Liberty Park, Renton

Celebrate Juneteenth
June 10, 2:00–5:00 pm
KCLS Federal Way Branch

SilverKite Community Arts: Celebrating Juneteenth
June 21, 1:00–2:30 pm
Online event

Juneteenth in Tukwila
June 17, 2:00–4:00 pm
Sullivan Center, Tukwila

Federal Way Black Collective: Annual Juneteenth Cookout
June 11, 1:00–5:00 pm
Town Square Park, Renton

Juneteenth Emancipation Day: Celebrate Freedom
June 19, 10:00–11:00 am
ILWU Local 19 Hall to Terminal 46 main truck entrance, Seattle

Juneteenth Celebration at Global Grub and Groove
June 16, 6:00–8:00 pm
Village Green Park, Issaquah

We are delighted to announce that artists Timothy White Eagle and Laura C. Wright were selected to create artwork, which stimulates curiosity and raises awareness of the largely invisible Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system. The artwork will connect to the King County Wastewater Treatment Division’s West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility located in West Seattle.

Timothy White Eagle, visual and performance artist, has worked extensively in the past two decades exploring Native American, Pagan, and other earth-based Spiritual practices. He is a mixed-race Indigenous American, born in Tucson, AZ. He graduated from University of Utah with a BFA in Theater, worked in Seattle, made art, and operated a performance art/coffee house performance venue, “the Coffee Messiah” in the late 1990s. He spent his 20s exploring performance-based art and began a mentor/protege relationship with a Shoshone-Metis teacher, Clyde Hall in 1995. Around that same time, he began helping to craft personal and community rituals within his Spiritual circles.

In 2006 he began collaborating with photographer Adrain Chesser. Their work together has been displayed and published nationally and internationally. In 2014 he and Adrain released their book, “The Return”. Timothy collaborated and toured with Mac Arthur Genius award winner, Taylor Mac on his Pulitzer Prize-nominated work, “A 24 Decade History of Music”.

Timothy White Eagle crafts objects, photographs, performances, and spaces, and has presented his art and performances on three continents. He was the recipient of the Western Arts Alliance/Advancing Indigenous Performance Launch Pad award in 2019, as well as a Seattle City Artist award in 2020. His recent work in Seattle includes Songs for the Standing Still People, an immersive installation at King Street Station commissioned for the yəhaw̓ exhibition at King Street Station in 2019, an Artist Residency at Town Hall Seattle in 2021, and Revival, an immersive theater and installation work in collaboration with The Violet Triangle at On The Boards in 2022.

Laura C. Wright is an artist and educator exploring communication through the intersections of fiber arts, digital technology, visual media, and participatory practices to amplify stories and histories that go unrecognized in our landscape. This work manifests as site-specific installations, interactive projects, and community-based programming responding to issues relevant to the people and locations in which she works. Her artistic practice is defined by a desire to develop new pedagogical models for supporting creativity and empowerment on a grassroots level.

She is the founder of community-based filmmaking project, the Georgetown Super 8 Festival and has worked with numerous communities throughout the Duwamish River Valley over the past 20+ years. With decades of experience facilitating community art projects, she has passion and sensitivity for inclusiveness and acknowledgement of specific community needs.

Since 2015, Laura has rowed with the Duwamish Rowing Club, allowing her to experience the valley with a different perspective and appreciation. Her interest in evolving landscapes has led to a curiosity for exploring healing plants as a source of dye for textiles, as well as use of these textiles for exploring aspects of healing.

Laura received her BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA in Fiber Arts from the University of Washington, and a second MFA from the UCSC Digital Arts and New Media program. The combination of these studies has led to a greater range of understanding from traditional tools to the language of communication in the digital age.

Each artist will consider the theme “End of the Line” to create temporary artwork with community in the Duwamish Valley. Considering the West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage Facility, the selected artists will be asked to take into account the theme, inspired by the place the built system meets bodies of water, and guided by the CSO Art Master Plan developed by artist team Sans façon (Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees). In the coming months, artists from the CSO Cohort 1 (Susan Robb, Erik Carlson – Area C, and Don Wilkison) will share work with the public, so stay tuned!

Artworks by some of our region’s most renowned artists give meaning and character to public spaces all around the county. George Tsutakawa’s Sandworm, an undulating steel sculpture inspired by a burrowing marine animal, anchors the 5^th Avenue entrance to the King County Administration Building. An abstract painting by William Ivey—once a student of Mark Rothko—exudes shades of blue in a district courtroom. The Palace of Darius by Mary Henry conveys feeling through meticulously distilled forms at the Maleng Regional Justice Center. Inside the Dexter Horton Building, the complex honeycomb of Cris Bruch’s Mantle appears to glow.

These exceptional works all belong to the Honors Program, a select group of pieces from the King County Public Art Collection acquired over the last five decades. The King County Arts Commission, now 4Culture, started the program in 1976 as a way to lift up the region’s established and mid-career artists and showcase their work in accessible settings. Today, this special collection includes dozens of pieces, offering windows into local interests and histories, and encompassing a variety of art movements as well as our enduring fascination with nature, mythology, geometry, and more.

In some cases, the works themselves have made history. For instance, Robert Sperry—an artist known for pushing the edges of possibility with ceramics—created his largest-ever work for the Honors Program over the course of two years; Untitled #635 is a feat of ingenuity with clay, made using the traditional Japanese kiln firing techniques and dark glazes that were Sperry’s signature. Nine Pentagons: Concave/Convex, an Honors Program commission by Robert Maki, belongs to a significant series of the artist’s metalworks and drawings that explores somatic and perceptual experiences of shape.

Just as much of local art history passes through the halls of the art department at the University of Washington, so did the artists behind many of the works in the Honors Program. Tsutakawa, Sperry, Patti Warashina, Jacob Lawrence, and Alden Mason—whose three-panel mural Lunar Promenade hangs at the King County Administration Building—all taught at UW for many years, leaving indelible impressions on their students, quite a few of whom went on to become accomplished artists in their own right. Beyond the university, Tsutakawa was also a member of the Northwest School, a group of area artists who rose to prominence in the mid-20th century. Oil painter Guy Anderson—one of four artists at the core of the school, along with Kenneth Callahan, Morris Graves, and Mark Tobey—also contributed an Honors piece: Sisyphus, which currently hangs at the Seattle Convention Center.

The first Honors Program artworks were initially acquired for the Kingdome, the erstwhile Seattle stadium that opened in 1976 and was home to the Seattle Seahawks, Mariners, SuperSonics, and Sounders. Games by Lawrence—one of the most renowned Black American painters of the 20^th century—vividly depicts athletes and spectators in a large mural. Michael Spafford’s 70-foot-tall Tumbling Figures originally lined an external wall of a Kingdome elevator shaft, and a riot of color in Harold Balazs’ Rhododendrons brought life to the stadium. When the Kingdome was demolished in 2000, these works began journeys to new locations, carefully re-sited by 4Culture’s public art team. Today, you can find Games inside the Seattle Convention Center, Tumbling Figures on the façade of a downtown parking structure, and Rhododendrons outside the 4^th Avenue entrance to the King County Administration Building.

“It was important to keep these remarkable artworks visible in places where people could experience them every day,” says Jordan Howland, 4Culture’s Senior Public Art Project Manager. “Though it’s not particularly common for us to move large, site-specific work like the pieces from the Kingdome, our team regularly rotates smaller portable works through county buildings. From re-siting to major maintenance and restoration, we do whatever is needed to make sure the art can be seen and appreciated.”

Sometimes the best way to keep an artwork accessible is to loan it to another organization with a public location—that’s how Games and Sisyphus landed at the Convention Center. In other circumstances, artists create work specifically to suit a particular location, like Warashina’s Mercurial Miss, a large sculpture depicting a female version of Mercury, the Roman God of commerce, which found its place in the lobby at Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center. (Mercurial Miss was made in 1994; since then, Warashina’s career has continued to flourish. Her most recent public art piece is the human figure Dreamer, installed in 2022 at the corner of Seattle’s Westlake Avenue and Republican Street, and commissioned by Vulcan Real Estate.)

The Honors Program collection is still growing. When resources allow, 4Culture’s public art team assembles a panel of art professionals to review Honors nominations and recommend artists for consideration. Once selected, the artists either contribute an existing work to the collection or create something new—with the artwork’s scale, materials, and subject matter entirely up to them.

We’ve already profiled a dozen of the remarkable works in the Honors Program—not only sharing the inspirations and processes behind them, but also offering a glimpse into the importance of the artists themselves. Later this year, we’ll publish more stories about Honors pieces, including Dale Chihuly’s Puget Sound Forms, which you may have seen at the Seattle Aquarium, and works by Paul Horiuchi, Margaret Thompson, Boyer Gonzales, James Washington Jr., and Gaylen Hansen.

We hope you’ll visit these works in person when you have a chance. Until then, please enjoy learning more about the Honors Program and what makes theses artworks so valuable to our community.

May is Preservation Month and Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month! In celebration of both, we’re thrilled to highlight news that the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) has honored 4Culture grant recipient Dr. Dorothy Laigo Cordova with the 2023 SHPO Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement.

The SHPO Awards are an opportunity to celebrate outstanding people and places throughout the state, and to highlight the significant contributions that archaeology, historic preservation, and cultural resources make to the people of Washington. Award recipients will also be recognized throughout National Historic Preservation Month in May on DAHP’s social media accounts.

Dr. Cordova, or “Auntie Dorothy” as she is affectionately known, is the 91-year-old Founder and Executive Director of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), which is a 4Culture Community Partner and recipient of Heritage Project Grants and a Building for Equity Capacity Building Grant. Born in Seattle in 1932, Cordova grew up feeling unaccepted as American and saw her Filipino heritage being systematically erased, even in immigrant communities. She has dedicated her life to the recognition of Filipino Americans’ rich history and contributions to the country.

Frustrated by the dearth of information about Filipino American history and angered by the inaccurate portrayals in available information, Dorothy founded FANHS around her kitchen table in 1982; it was chartered as a nonprofit organization in 1985, with Dorothy serving as unsalaried Executive Director for the past 41 years. Under her leadership, and with her late husband Dr. Fred Cordova as Founding President, FANHS established its National Pinoy Archives (NPA) housed with its National Office in the historic Immaculate School Building in the Central District of Seattle and designated the nationwide observance of October as Filipino American History Month in 1991 with congressional legislation in 2009. The FANHS National Office and Archives holds one of the largest collections of Filipino American historical photographs, oral histories, exhibits, papers, posters, and material artifacts in the world. In 2016, the FANHS National Museum opened in Stockton, California. Since 1987, FANHS sponsors biennial national conferences in different cities, gathering hundreds of scholars, students, artists, activists, and community folks of all ages for an intergenerational gathering that furthers the FANHS Mission “to promote understanding, education, enlightenment, appreciation and enrichment through the identification, gathering, preservation and dissemination of the history and culture of Filipino Americans in the United States.” Today there are 42 Chapters of FANHS across the country, with governance by an elected board of 27 Trustees. Dorothy has done all of this with no paid staff, and on what she calls a shoe-string budget, often selling t-shirts, books, and lumpia eggrolls as fundraisers.

Although she announced her intention to retire from FANHS in 2024, to transition to “Resident Researcher”, Auntie Dorothy can still be found at the FANHS National Office every day, answering phone calls and email inquiries, giving interviews, hosting students, sharing photographs, talking story, and documenting the layered history of Filipino Americans.

We are thrilled to announce that Laura Da’ has been selected as the next Poet Planner for the 2023-2025 4Culture poetry program. Laura will work with 4Culture, King County Metro, and communities across King County to shine a light on diverse poetic traditions and empower people of all ages to write poems—whether they consider themselves to be a poet or are writing a poem for the first time.

A poet and a public school teacher, Laura Da’ studied creative writing at the University of Washington and the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is the author of the collections Instruments of the True Measure (University of Arizona Press, 2018), winner of the Washington State Book Award, and Tributaries (University of Arizona Press, 2015), winner of the 2016 American Book Award and the chapbook The Tecumseh Motel. Her work has appeared in the anthologies New Poets of Native Nations (Graywolf Press, 2018) and Effigies II (Salt Publishing, 2014). Da’ is the current Poet Laureate of Redmond and a recent writer in residence at Hugo House.

A member of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, she received a Native American Arts and Cultures Fellowship. Da’ has also been a Made at Hugo House fellow and a Jack Straw fellow. She is a lifetime resident of the Pacific Northwest and lives in Newcastle, Washington, with her husband and son.

The 4Culture poetry program began as Poetry on Buses, a partnership with King County Metro in 1992. Poems by local writers replaced advertising placards above bus seats on a biennial basis through 2007. In 2014-2015, the program was rebooted and explored the theme “Writing Home” in five languages: English, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The 2016-2018 Poetry on Buses explored the theme “Your Body of Water” with a focus on African American, Chinese, Ethiopian, Punjabi, Spanish-speaking, and Urban Native communities in King County.

4Culture is launching a new version of the program for 2023-2025, reflecting the program’s expansion beyond buses to different forms of transit and places accessed by King County Metro including transit stops and public open spaces.

We’ll announce more details about the program and how you can get involved soon—stay tuned!

Earthworks and oil paintings. Bronzes and mosaic murals. Artist-designed bridges and transit experiences. Today the King County Public Art Collection contains nearly 2,500 works of art in a vast array of forms and materials. Whether made by an emerging artist or an established expert, each of these works has a story. How was it created? What inspired it? What does it say about our cultural history?

Over the past few years, 4Culture has been crafting hundreds of these stories about artworks in the collection, revealing details about the origins of individual pieces and the artists and artisans who made them. In the months ahead, we’ll be spotlighting the collection’s works, themes, processes, and locations, including new acquisitions and commissions.

“The collection really speaks to shifts and trends in culture,” says Kelly Pajek, 4Culture’s public art program director. “It helps us better understand our communities and our collective identity— and it belongs to all of us. That’s the beauty of public art.”

In 1973, King County became one of the first governments in the nation—and the first in Washington—to pass a 1% for Art ordinance establishing a dedicated source of funding for the acquisition of artwork. In the 50 years since, 4Culture, formerly the King County Arts Commission, has built an impressive collection that you can readily access in all sorts of public spaces, from airports to parks, bridges to water treatment centers, buses to courthouses.

Along the way, we also became one of the country’s most innovative public art programs by taking strategic risks and centering artists and their ideas. We created, and continue to create, opportunities for artists and arts professionals to influence public policy, stimulate dialogue, and shape the world we live in. Working together, we are always seeking out and finding ways for art to add meaning to the day-to-day lives of our families, friends, and neighbors.

The King County Public Art Collection reflects many significant aspects of our region, not only through objects but through experiences like interactive performances and audio installations. It features works from the Studio Glass movement and paintings by the internationally celebrated Northwest School. It highlights the traditions of the area’s Indigenous peoples as well as traditions brought here by immigrants from around the world. It celebrates the trees, mountains, and water that define our home.

We look forward to sharing stories about all of these topics and more in the months ahead. In the meantime, we encourage you to begin exploring our ever-growing online trove of artwork profiles!

4Culture and King County Metro are thrilled to announce the release of a series of limited edition ORCA cards in celebration of the RapidRide Expansion Program.

Three exceptional emerging artists, Jovita Mercado, Yasiman Ahsani, and Rey Daoed, supported by mentors Angelina Villalobos and Jesse Brown, have created distinctive imagery tied to the contexts, histories, peoples, and cultures that define the new RapidRide H Line as well as the forthcoming G and I Lines.

RapidRide represents Metro’s highest level of investment in service, amenities, reliability, and innovation in the form of bus rapid transit. These lines look, feel, and operate more like trains with permanent stops and shelters, real-time arrival information, off-board fare payment, branded red and yellow buses, and more.

The custom cards will be distributed at community events and made available at the King Street Center Pass Sales Office throughout 2023 (while supplies last), beginning with Jovita Mercado’s H Line design.

“My design commemorates the people who proudly display their identities and cultures. For they’re the foundation of Burien, White Center, and Delridge. These cards immortalize the diversity that people bring to create such vibrant communities.”
Jovita Mercado, RapidRide H Line (Delridge, White Center, Burien) – launched in March 2023

“My design was heavily inspired by my heritage, but most importantly, I focused on how living in the city has reconnected me to my roots as an Iranian-American. For all of my middle eastern sisters: زن. زندگی‌. آزادی. (Women. Life. Freedom.)”
Yasiman Ahsani, RapidRide G Line (Madison, Downtown, West Seattle) – launching in 2024

“Pictures and sketches of passengers made while riding the bus informed my design. I was influenced by the distinctive RapidRide color scheme too. By flipping the image vertically, it became unexpected and special – a perfect way to celebrate this new route.”
Rey Daoed, RapidRide I Line (Renton, Kent, Auburn) – launching in 2025

This project was guided by the recommendation for artist-designed ORCA cards included in the RapidRide Art Plan, commissioned by 4Culture and penned by artists Elisheba Johnson and Kristen Ramirez in 2020.

About the Artists

Yasiman Ahsani
Currently based in Seattle, WA, Yasiman Ahsani is an Iranian-American artist and game designer whose paintings, digital illustrations, and traditional prints feature bold colors, shapes, and patterns inspired by her Middle-Eastern culture. She commemorates her family’s roots and brings to life visions of the communities and organizations she has worked with here in the United States.

Rey Daoed
Born in Seattle and now residing in Sammamish, WA, Fareyza Daoed—often called Rey by his family and friends—is diagnosed with autism and apraxia of speech. Typing, handwriting, and text-to-speech apps are his preferred methods of communication. He began painting in 2015 and the medium has since become an important secondary means of connection. Rey’s artwork has been included in group exhibitions both locally and abroad and featured in public venues throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Jovita Mercado
Jovita Mercado, originally from Yakima and now based in Vancouver, WA, is a Chicana living on the hyphen of the term Mexican-American. Her practice is driven by questions about history, gender, ethnicity, identity, colonization, and exploitation. Through her acts of making, she attempts to humanize and memorialize her culture’s accomplishments and resiliency in order to inspire others.

After a pause in programming, Gallery 4Culture launched its first call for artists since January 2020 to continue a 43-year history of exhibiting innovative, underrepresented artists and art forms in solo and small-group shows. Panelists Amelia Ketzel, Francisco Guerrero, Ashraf Hasham, and Tyna Ontko reviewed applications submitted through the process and selected 10 King County-based artists for the 2023-2024 season.

Stefan Gonzales
September 7–28, 2023
Opening: First Thursday, September 7, 6:00–8:00 pm

Stefan Gonzales’ sculptures, objects, performances, and place-based photographs grapple with notions of land use, earthworks/land art, colonialism, the environment, family dynamics, and Indigenous identity.

Eunsun Choi
October 5–26, 2023
Opening: First Thursday, October 5, 6:00–8:00 pm

Eunsun Choi’s cacophonous installation of cuckoo clocks represents the economic disparity in Korean society and reveals her personal experience of discomfort and anxiety resulting from the timepieces.

Allyce Wood
November 2–December 7, 2023
Opening: First Thursday, November 2, 6:00–8:00 pm
Closing: First Thursday, December 7, 6:00–8:00 pm

Allyce Wood explores concepts of legacy and information sharing, systems and breakable rules, and expansion and growth with the flexible medium of tapestry, both digital and handmade.

Sofya Belinskaya
January 4–25, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, January 4, 6:00–8:00 pm

Sofya Belinskaya’s paintings portray the faces and stories of Ukrainian refugees now living in the Puget Sound region as a consequence of the ongoing war.

Colleen RJC Bratton
February 1–29, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, February 1, 6:00–8:00 pm

With photographs, videos and ephemeral drawings made from natural materials, Colleen RJC Bratton seeks to associate the decay of our own bodies with that of the composting flower, dissolving seaweed, rotting log, and melting snow–all returning to the earth.

Jo Cosme
March 7–28, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, March 7, 6:00–8:00 pm

Jo Cosme’s immersive multimedia installation contrasts widespread perceptions of Puerto Rico as a Caribbean Paradise with the capitalist and neocolonialist realities endured by Native Boricuas over generations.

Cameron Day O’Connell
April 4–25, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, April 4, 6:00–8:00 pm

Cameron Day O’Connell’s photographs and multimedia prints capture fleeting moments of intimacy, grief, and transformation in queer community and the natural world.

Maria Phillips
May 2–30, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, May 2, 6:00–8:00 pm

Always on alert for the inconspicuous beauty that awaits in random encounters and habitual rhythms of her daily landscape, Maria Phillips comingles discarded and overlooked materials, producing constructions that question their purpose, necessity, and possible futures.

John Feodorov
June 6–27, 2024
Opening: 1st Thursday, June 6, 6:00–8:00 pm

In his ongoing series of paintings, Assimilations, John Feodorov reflects upon the complexities of identity through a critical exploration of his own childhood, growing up as a half Diné (Navajo)/half white child in the suburbs of Southern California.

Hanako O’Leary
July 5–August 1, 2024
Opening: First Thursday, July 11, 6:00–8:00 pm
Closing: First Thursday, August 1, 6:00–8:00 pm

Hanako O’Leary celebrates the female body through the feminization of the landscape and explores the intercultural and intergenerational relationships within her mixed Japanese-American heritage.

Congratulations to our 2023-2024 artists!

We’d like to thank all 99 gallery applicants for their interest in exhibiting with us and the panel for their diligence in making these selections. Artists who were not awarded shows are encouraged to reapply next year. The 2024-2025 Gallery 4Culture season application cycle will open in early November 2023 with a deadline of December 14, 2023.

Maria Frank Abrams (1924-2013) came to Seattle in 1948 as a survivor of the Holocaust, then built an illustrious career as one of the most celebrated artists in the region. Her body of work includes paintings, works on paper, public art, set and costume design, and mosaics, reflecting influences from the University of Washington’s School of Art where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Art summa cum laude in 1951. Later she also earned her Master of Library Science.

After graduating with her BFA, Abrams benefitted from the advice and critique of Northwest School luminary Mark Tobey, expanding her use of materials and stylistic abstraction. Tobey introduced her to his gallerist, Otto Seligman, who then represented Abrams until his death. At the same time, Abrams began showing extensively in solo and group exhibitions at regional venues such as the Seattle Art Museum, the Henry Art Gallery, and the Frye Art Museum. She gained broad national and international attention in subsequent years. In 2022, the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, WA mounted a solo retrospective of her work, the third of her career.

In 1976, Abrams was one of the first artists commissioned to create a site-specific artwork for the King County Public Art Collection (KCPAC) through the King County Arts Commission’s New Proposal Fund, which invited artists to submit proposals for new work in public spaces. Abrams selected her neighborhood library on Mercer Island, where her mural The Four Seasons is still on display.

This year, in honor of the 10th anniversary of Abrams’ death, we are beginning the process of providing needed cleaning, conservation, and restoration work for The Four Seasons, as well as her other pieces in the KCPAC: Divided Sky, 1977 and Wintry Sky, 1985.

With increasing anti-Semitism across the globe, we are proud to invest in the preservation of these important artworks by an exceptional regional Jewish artist. In the words of Maria Frank Abrams, “Practically everyone in the Western world has a responsibility for what happened to us Jews during those years…one of the things which is very important to me is to talk about my family who perished, to make a note, a mark, for them.”

By preserving the testimonies, stories, artworks, writing, and other creative achievements of Holocaust survivors, we can remember the power of humans to heal and what is at stake if we chose to forget.

“During a special meeting on Tuesday, January 30, the King County Council presented a proclamation of the Council’s condemnation of antisemitism in recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day… King County is committed to showing support and pursuing justice for the Jewish community, especially during a time where xenophobia and white nationalism have become increasingly pervasive throughout the country.” – Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles

For more information:
Maria Frank Abrams website
Burning Forest: The Art of Maria Frank Abrams by Matthew Kangas (2010)
Discover a Legend by Tim Appelo, City Art Magazine (2010)

How well do you know Josh Heim?
Last month the 4Culture staff said goodbye to Joshua Heim, who started a new and exciting chapter as Executive Director at the Western Arts Alliance, a membership association supporting performing arts throughout the Western states.

We can’t thank Josh enough for his service to 4Culture! He started his tenure just a few months before the pandemic hit, coming on board exactly three years ago. He played an instrumental role in providing stability, vision, and a way forward during crisis, as we created a new structure and practice to manage federal dollars through a significant Relief and Recovery program.

Many of you know Josh as a dedicated arts leader and advocate, either from his time with us, or with the City of Bellevue and Redmond. But how well do you really know him? Take the quiz we took at his going away party. We’ll let you know how well you scored.

We are going to miss you Josh! Thanks for all your dedication to 4Culture and wishing you the best as you start this new chapter in your career.

(Answers: 1-C, three years; 2-B, Avocado Toast; 3-B, OEFA; 4-C, Manages an Air BnB; 5-C, Michelle Obama; 6 Office of Economic and Financial Analysis)

Danele Alampay, the 2022 Equity in Historic Preservation Intern, writes about her interest in historic preservation and reflects on her internship project, providing data analysis and research support to the Beyond Integrity Initiative. 

By Danele Alampay, 2022 Equity in Historic Preservation Intern
I became interested in historic preservation through architecture. I was, and still am, interested in how existing buildings could be rehabilitated. Returning to school to learn more about historic preservation last year expanded my understanding of how it affects other aspects of the built environment, and I wanted to find out more on how it is applied to policy and planning. I was excited to get the opportunity to do so through the Beyond Integrity internship, especially as it meant that I got to see how it is at work close to my home in Western Washington.

My internship came in two parts. The first weeks were dedicated to continuing the work done by the 2016 and 2017 interns, which was looking at how properties, non-designated and designated as landmarks, in Seattle and King County reflect underrepresented communities. For someone who had studied architecture, it was very enlightening to shift the focus on the significance of a place to not just the apparent beauty and craftsmanship of the past, but also to the stories that are told by the place. From what I found, I believe we are moving towards better acknowledging the context of the neighborhood, especially when there are or had been minority groups who contributed to what we see today. Of course, the findings also show there is more that can be done in how landmark applications are written and in what properties are brought to nomination and designation. I’ve always been impressed with great architecture, but as I’ve moved on in school and in work, I began to appreciate what it is that make places great to be in and what about them draws people. For historic preservation, sites can also reflect a part of our own personal histories and experiences, and seeing work dedicated to pushing for more diverse stories told through the places we protect has been fulfilling.

The second part of my internship was researching the design review process for sites designated for their cultural significance. I was daunted at first by the task because I didn’t know what to expect. It is a more recent direction that people working in historic preservation are taking, so I wasn’t sure if there were many designated examples out there yet that have gone through this process. And where does one even begin? Could there even be a standard to approaching the management of these places on a local government level? There are many questions, and honestly, by the end, I feel like I had more questions to ask. Despite that, it doesn’t feel like I got to nowhere, but rather that I’ve taken a step in trying to understand the issue better. One main takeaway is that it is important to listen to the community members and the owners of these culturally significant sites because they can give insight into how to care for these places. They can also point to how a place’s significance is presented, like in physical elements of the building or the types of activities held in its spaces.

A major part of the work was reaching out and interviewing people in city or county historic preservation offices. Through talking with seven offices (Seattle, King County, Spokane, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami-Dade), I learned so much about experiences they have had with culturally significant landmarks and the kinds of questions or challenges they anticipate when faced with these types of properties. It was also inspiring to hear other people excited about this subject and where field of historic preservation is headed. There is still much that can be done with this research, and I hope research and conversations continue past this internship.

Dig into Danele’s Equity in Preservation report, also located on our Beyond Integrity page.

About Danele
Danele Alampay was selected as the 2022 Equity in Historic Preservation Intern for 4Culture and Beyond Integrity. Originally from the Philippines and University Place/Tacoma, Washington, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Architectural Design with Honors from the University of Washington in 2017. She served as an Undergraduate Research Assistant for the UW College of Built Environments, and was awarded the 2016 Rolland A. Simpson Endowed Scholarship in Architecture. From 2017-2019, she was a Designer for Northwest Studio, an architecture and urban design firm in Seattle. In Fall 2019, she was a Research Assistant at the University of the Philippines. In the beginning of 2020, she worked briefly as a Designer for Robert Hutchison Architecture in Seattle. Danele is currently a Master of Science in Historic Preservation Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and will graduate in 2023.

In July and August, Danele gave two presentations based on 10 weeks of her research, building upon previous interns’ reports on how historic properties associated with underrepresented communities have fared in local landmark designation processes.

In 2021, Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day, proclaiming that “For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society.” ¹

This October 10th, King County and 4Culture also observe Indigenous Peoples’ Day by acknowledging and talking about the violent history of colonization in the Western hemisphere.

With gratitude, we work on the ancestral and unceded lands and waters of Lushootseed-speaking peoples, especially of the Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Suquamish, and Tulalip tribes, as well as those whose names we do not know. Today, many Indigenous peoples live and thrive here. We commit to repairing the harmful historic relationship between 4Culture and Native peoples in King County through cultural funding and commissioning opportunities that prioritize Indigenous communities.

As an extension of this charge, we’ve acquired original beadwork by Denise Emerson for the King County Public Art Collection. People of the River, 2016, is made of seed beads, bone, shell, and suede.

Denise was born in Shelton, WA and currently resides in Burien, WA. She is the eldest daughter of Bertha Allen who was an enrolled Twana (Skokomish) Tribal Member and Danny Emerson, Sr. who was an enrolled Diné (Navajo) Tribal Member. The imagery in her work is based on familial relationships and, by extension, these dual cultural influences. Trained as a graphic designer, she also merges contemporary practices with traditional methodologies.

You can see more of Denise’s work at etsy.com.

¹ What is Indigenous Peoples’ Day? – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

“The bus stop is the place that the bus rider begins and ends their journey. Their experience there should invite them back, over and over again, not just out of utility but out of joy.” –Johnson|Ramirez, RapidRide Expansion Art Plan

Artist Ryan! Feddersen has been selected to develop a series of small sculptures and related retaining wall treatments for the new RapidRide I Line corridor, which will connect the historically underserved King County, WA cities of Renton, Kent, and Auburn via bus rapid transit.

4Culture, in partnership with King County Metro Transit, conducted a national open call for this opportunity dubbed SMALL BUT MIGHTY and announced with the prompt: How might little artworks add BIG moments of surprise and joy to these otherwise utilitarian places?

98 artists and artist teams submitted their qualifications for consideration. A committee comprised of regional artists and arts professionals, community representatives, and Metro staff reviewed all materials, conducted interviews with finalists, and ultimately awarded the commission to Feddersen.

Unified by concept, scale, and durable media, the work she develops will be permanently installed at up to a dozen bus stations and adjacent points of interest along the 17-mile alignment. Serving a huge diversity of people and places and encompassing at least thirteen different language groups in its ridership, Feddersen hopes to elevate I Line histories and cultures. She says, “I am excited by the concept of stories which unfold over space and time and have long been interested in creating a series of artworks for sites where there is a special opportunity to work iteratively or where viewers experience multiple artworks in sequence that have interesting, surprising relationships to one another. I find it captivating to make artwork for public settings where people experience the same artwork frequently and can continue to find new elements in the work.”

About the Artist
RYAN! Feddersen specializes in creating compelling site-specific installations and public artworks which invite people to consider their relationships to the environment, technology, society and culture. She completed a BFA at Cornish College of the Arts in 2009. Feddersen is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, from the Okanogan and Arrow Lakes bands, and of mixed European decent. Recently, she completed public artworks Inhabitance for the Portland International Airport, Schema for CitizenM Pioneer Square, and Antecedents for the University of Washington. She has created large-scale site-specific pieces and interactive installations throughout North America, working with Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, 4Culture, Regional Arts and Culture Council, ArtsWa, Museum of Art & History Santa Cruz, Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, City of Tacoma, University of Washington, Wellin Museum, College of New Jersey, and Northeastern University. Learn more about her practice at ryanfeddersen.com.

We are excited to announce that Rosten Woo was selected to work collaboratively with our partners at King County Parks to develop an art plan for King County Parks’ extensive network of parks, regional and backcountry trails, and open space in collaboration with the communities they touch. Rosten will consider the existing King County Regional Trails System Art Plan developed by Brian Borrello in 2011 as a jumping-off point for a new plan that looks holistically at regional trails, parks, and open space.

Rosten will create a conceptual framework for system-wide and community-specific art integration and intervention that prioritizes working with BIPOC communities while acknowledging that each community faces different systemic barriers to accessing these spaces. The plan will be informed by communities in urban to rural areas, provide a range of artistic opportunities throughout Parks’ public spaces and provide an opportunity for Rosten to propose his own project for future development.

Over the coming months, Rosten will work closely with 4Culture and KC Parks to conduct research on the natural, social, and cultural history of the area, gain a deeper understanding of the variety of landscapes and uses of Parks’ public assets, and engage with communities to identify key themes or concepts for the art plan.

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Rosten currently resides in Los Angeles. In naming Rosten a recipient of its 2021 Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities, Americans for the Arts said the following: “He produces artworks that respond to civic concerns, which emerge from long-term collaborations between grassroots organizations, cultural and community nonprofits, and local governments. His projects aim to help people understand complex systems, orient themselves to places, and make group decisions. Since 2010, Woo has centered his community work largely in Los Angeles, producing temporary and permanent installations that illuminate complicated histories and present-day issues in the physical and socioeconomic environment.”

The selection panel was impressed by his thoughtful approach to engaging and collaborating with communities. His work grapples with complex, layered issues such as gentrification and homelessness. Rosten has the incredible ability to take intricate issues and distill them to their essence and in turn, create something new that explains the complexity in a way that is simple and clear to everyone.

Rosten says, “My work is collaborative and process-oriented. It is abstract, but also warm and inviting. I use quantitative and computational methods to arrive at forms but I also try to call those methods into question and highlight their inadequacy. I frequently work in extended dialog with specific communities (as defined by geography or common interest (for instance, a tenant organizing group, members of a worker’s center, or a car club). My ultimate goal is to re-orient people to the places they live.”

We look forward to working with Rosten and supporting his process in the development of the Regional Parks and Trails Art Plan.