Current Calls and Funding
A Call for Poems from the Seattle Civic Poet
Blue, Critter, Tree by Fay Jones
Submissions will be administered and selected by Shin Yu Pai.
Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai invites you to send her a short poem on place, as it relates to sustainability. What might it look like to imagine a Seattle where all communities thrive, where we care for our environment and non-human species? How might we connect Seattle’s past and present to a more enduring future? What places and people do we cherish and want to protect?
Poems should focus on places and images specific to Seattle, our natural environment and the living things particular to this region (i.e. Western red cedar trees, orcas, salmon), Seattle-specific communities of people, and more. Here are some poems to give you inspiration:
- Tanya Holtland on Golden Gardens
- Samar Abulhassan on a Black beauty shop in the Central District
- Rasheena Fountain on Piper’s Creek
Of the poems selected for this public poetry campaign, poems (or excerpts from poems) may be printed as postcards, posters and/or other visual material.
Eligibility
- Poet must reside or work in Seattle, WA
- Poems must be submitted in English language
- Poems must be unpublished
- Poems must be your original work and 100 words or fewer
- No AI- or LLM-generated content
- Authors retain copyright for poems but grant the Civic Poet and The City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture the right to display and distribute the selected poems or excerpts of the poems
- Only one poem per Seattle resident/worker will be considered or selected
Due Date
All eligible poems received by October 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. PDT will be reviewed.
How to Submit Your Poem
- Compose a poem related to the theme “sustainability and place” in 100 words or fewer.
- Cut and paste your submission into the body of an email with a short bio confirming that you live or work in Seattle to seattle.civic.poet.2023@gmail.com.
- For privacy reasons, NO street addresses should be provided in the email.
Information sent to this email address is considered a public record and may be subject to public disclosure. For more information, see the Public Records Act, RCW Chapter 42.56.
All poets will be notified about the results of the selection process by early 2024.
Info
For questions about this call, please contact Seattle Civic Poet Shin Yu Pai: seattle.civic.poet.2023@gmail.com.
The Creative Advantage Community Arts Partner Roster (Rolling Deadline)
The Creative Advantage is a city-wide initiative to establish equitable access to arts learning for every student in Seattle Public Schools. The Creative Advantage is made possible through a public-private partnership with Seattle Public Schools, the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Seattle Foundation, and over 100 community arts partners.
The Community Arts Partner Roster consists of individual teaching artists and community arts and culture organizations approved to work in Seattle Public Schools through The Creative Advantage. Community Arts Partners collaborate with schools to provide:
- Student Art Residencies
- Teacher Professional Development
Please Note: An applicant can apply to lead student arts residencies and/or teacher professional development.
Eligibility
Open to teaching artists, community arts organizations, and cultural institutions serving students in Seattle.
Due Date
The application opens on January 10, 2023, and will stay open.
Applications will be vetted and approved by Creative Advantage Advisors, three times annually in March, June, and October.
Virtual Application Info Sessions
Session 1: Friday, January 20, 10 a.m. (Pacific)
Session 2: Friday, April 28, 10 a.m. (Pacific)
Session 3: Friday, Sept 29, 10 a.m. (Pacific)
Register for Sessions 1, 2, or 3 here.
Application
If you have trouble with Submittable, check their FAQ which offers step-by-step guides. For further assistance with the Submittable online application, please contact Submittable tech support at support@submittable.com.
Info
For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Project Manager, Tina LaPadula.
We can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.
Tina LaPadula
Bio + -
Arts Education Project Manager
tina.lapadula@seattle.gov
(206) 518-4205
Tina LaPadula is an East coast transplant and warrior for equitable art-making and learning opportunities. For more than 15 years she poured most of her creative energy into Arts Corps, the award-winning arts and social justice nonprofit she helped found. She has collaborated with The Frye Museum, The Museum of History and Industry, and Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival to curate exhibitions and events that elevate the art and perspectives of young people. As a teaching artist, Tina has taught for Centrum Arts, Seattle Children's Theatre, The University of Washington, and in a multitude of schools and afterschool programs. She has served as a consultant to many cultural organizations facilitating workshops on racial justice and the arts. Tina supports the growth and development of teaching artists locally and nationally, most notably as the founder of the Seattle Teaching Artist Network, as a faculty member for the WA State Teaching Artist Training Lab, as the former chair of the Association of Teaching Artists, and on the national advisory team for the Teaching Artist Guild. Her writing and opinions have been featured by Americans for the Arts and The National Guild for Community Arts Education.
smART Ventures Grant (Rolling Due Date)
Black Arts Love by Jenny Crooks
smART Ventures is flexible, inclusive, simple, and encourages innovation by individuals, organizations, and communities that may not qualify for other funding programs. smART Ventures provides support ranging from $500 to $1,000, proving that small investments can have big impacts.
Eligibility
- Individuals or groups of people – including youth and older adults – seeking support for a unique project, opportunity, or event involving arts and culture and not currently funded by our office
- Organizations – arts and culture and others – organizations do NOT have to have 501(c)(3) non-profit status
- emerging (less than 3 years old), OR
- not currently funded by our office, OR
- grassroots or business organizations
- Practicing artists not currently funded by our office and who have never received a CityArtist grant before
Due Date
The application is open and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Application
Info
For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Project Manager, Kristi Woo.
We can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.
Kristi Woo
Bio + -
Creative Youth Development Project Manager
kristi.woo@seattle.gov
(206) 727-8671
Kristi serves as ARTS' Creative Youth Development Project Manager and has a passion for cultural preservation, youth empowerment, and community advocacy. Kristi is a former Arts Education Manager of the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and Education Manager for the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. Her innovation in bridge-building amongst schools, families, and artists along with advocacy in underserved communities around arts education is well respected. She has worked and volunteered with pluralistic communities in Seattle's Rainier Valley, Chinatown International District, and Central Area neighborhoods for more than 20 years.
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI) Facility Grant
The LHPAI Facility Grant aims to create community impact by broadening arts and culture participation at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, a historic landmark cultural facility in the heart of the Central Area neighborhood of Seattle. The LHPAI Facility Grant seeks to celebrate, nurture, present and preserve African American and Diaspora performing arts and cultural legacies.
The LHPAI Facility Grant provides in-kind support for public projects, opportunities, or events presented by individuals, groups, organizations, or communities. The grant takes the form of up to 40 hours of staffed building use for a public arts or cultural event at LHPAI. The LHPAI Facility Grant consists solely of facility use and staff time.
There is no monetary investment associated with this grant.
Eligibility
- Individuals, organizations, communities, or groups of people - including youth and older adults - seeking support for a unique public project, opportunity, or event involving African American and Diaspora arts and culture may apply.
- Only events open to the public may receive the LHPAI Facility Grant. Private events are ineligible. Public events may still charge an entrance fee for their events.
- Organizations — arts and culture and others — are NOT required to have 501(c)(3) non-profit status
Due Date
The application is open and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Application
Info
For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Sandra Boas-DuPree.
We can speak to you in your language, including American Sign Language. Just call us and tell us what language you speak. Expect a short pause while we find an interpreter to join the call.
Jahi Bouvier McGhee
Bio + -
jahi.mcghee@seattle.gov
206-684-4758
Jahi Bouvier, born and raised in Seattle with family ties to the Central District, is a visual artist and activist. While pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications at Eastern Washington University, Jahi ran D1 track & field and joined the first African American fraternity, the highly esteemed Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity Inc.
With a background in digital photography Jahi combines their technical skills with their passion for activism to create thought-provoking pieces that are both aesthetically pleasing and socially relevant and has exhibited their work in various locations including Caffe Zingaro, Boston Consulting Group, Belltown Artwalk, and Seattle Credit Union to name a few.
When Jahi isn't creating art, they can often be found volunteering in their community, working behind the scenes of various esports productions as an assistant broadcast engineer, advocating for social/economic/environmental change, and performing as a legacy member of the kickball organization BaseGods.
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