Current Calls and Funding

Arts in Parks 2024 Grant

Three Black people play drums while seated in a park.
Drumming in the Park; Photo by Jenny Crooks

The Office of Arts & Culture is partnering with Seattle Parks and Recreation (PARKS) to increase arts and community events in parks throughout the city. The Arts in Parks Program is an opportunity for the city to invest in the vibrant cultural work being done in and by diverse communities throughout Seattle.

This grant supports new and established festivals or events that promote arts and cultural participation, celebrate diversity, build community connections, and activate parks through arts and culture while connecting with communities most impacted by systemic oppression including low-income, people with disabilities, immigrant and refugee communities, and communities of color.

Grant Guidelines

We have interpreters who 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.

Eligibility

The Applicant must:

  • Be an individual artist, neighborhood arts council, or local community-based group
    • Organizations and individual artists representing communities most impacted by systemic oppression including low-income, people with disabilities, immigrant and refugee communities, and communities of color are encouraged to apply.
  • Have a Federal Tax ID number and be based in the city of Seattle.
    • Groups applying are not required to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit nor are they required to use a fiscal agent.

The Project must:

  • Have a significant arts and culture component,
  • Be free and open to the public,
  • Have insurance,
  • Provide a platform for under-resourced artists and communities,
  • Adhere to PARKS’ mission statement (to provide welcoming and safe opportunities to play, learn, contemplate, build community, and promote responsible stewardship of the land),
  • Take place in an eligible City of Seattle park between April 1 and November 30, 2024.
  • Events taking place in Downtown or City Center Parks or at Playfields and green spaces immediately adjacent to community centers are not eligible for this funding.

You may submit only one application per year to this program.

Funding

Applicants may apply for up to $7,800 in funding. Please review the guidelines for detailed information.

Due Date

Tuesday, November 7, 2023, 5:00 p.m. (Pacific). Please allow ample time to complete and submit your application; applications will not be accepted after the 5:00 p.m. Pacific deadline. 

Information and Drop-In Sessions

We offer virtual and in-person options for all workshops. Information sessions review the grant program and how to submit your best application. Drop-in sessions provide support with your application and the system.

Information Session 1 - VIRTUAL

Wednesday, October 4, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Watch recorded session here

Information Session 2 - IN-PERSON

Friday, October 13, 2023
12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Jefferson Community Center
3801 Beacon Avenue South Seattle, WA 98108

Drop-In Session 1 - VIRTUAL

Monday, October 23, 2023
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
RSVP here

Drop-In Session 2 - IN-PERSON

Saturday, November 4, 2023
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Garfield Community Center
2323 East Cherry Street Seattle, WA 98122
RSVP here

Application

Apply online through the City of Seattle's grant portalIf this is your first time using Fluxx, you will have to create a user profile before you start your application.

Info

For questions about the program or for help with the online application, please contact Ashraf Hasham, Project Manager, at (206) 514-1057 or Ahraf.Hasham@seattle.gov.

Ashraf Hasham

Ashraf Hasham

he/him

Bio + -

Partnerships, Education, and Grants Manager
ashraf.hasham@seattle.gov

(206) 514-1057

Ashraf oversees the City's youth investments in arts education, creative youth development, and career-connected learning. He comes to this role from The Vera Project, a homegrown, nationally-renowned, participatory, all-ages, volunteer-fueled music venue & DIY arts space at the Seattle Center, where he served as Executive Director. Prior to that, he spent time with Chicago's largest arts education provider, Urban Gateways, where he was Program Manager for Advocacy & Engagement, as well as Seattle's TeenTix, a revolutionary arts access & youth empowerment organization where he has played multiple roles over the years, most recently as Director of Partnerships & Programs.

Ashraf earned a bachelor's degree in Arts Administration from Wagner College in New York City, and gained his chops in the editorial department at Aperture magazine, the external relations department at the Henry Art Gallery (a contemporary art museum on the University of Washington campus), and as the front-of-house manager at On the Boards (Seattle's renowned contemporary performance mainstay).

Nationally, Ashraf serves on Americans for the Arts (AFTA)'s Arts Education Advisory Council, and locally serves on the Central Waterfront Oversight Commission. His writing has appeared on AFTA's ARTSblog, The Seattle Globalist, City Arts, The Stranger, and the Staten Island Advance. Ashraf can be seen in the wild on various dance floors as well as at arts events, thrift stores, and live music venues around town.

Ashraf also speaks Urdu.

A Call for Poems from the Seattle Civic Poet

Tree with a brown trunk and graceful curved branches, the canopy is rounded like a blue cloud with animals hidden in lighter ink.
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:

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.

Shin Yu Pai

Shin Yu Pai

(She/Her)
Seattle Civic Poet

Bio + -

The Creative Advantage Community Arts Partner Roster (Rolling Deadline)

Teaching artist Antonio Davidson-Gomez, courtesy of The Creative Advantage

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. 

Visit the Creative Advantage website for more information

Eligibility

Open to teaching artists, community arts organizations, and cultural institutions serving students, teachers, and schools in Seattle with three (3) or more years of teaching experience. Applicants must be over the age of 18.

The Roster application is open, and will stay open year-round for new artists, teaching artists, community arts organizations, and cultural institutions to apply. Applications will be vetted and approved by Creative Advantage Advisors, through a panel process three times annually (March, June, October). Roster Advisors are Seattle Public School teacher leaders and current Roster partners. 

Review Deadlines:

  • Applications submitted between 10/11/23 and by 5 PM (PST) 3/1/24 will be reviewed during the March review cycle
  • Applications submitted between 3/1/24 and by 5 PM (PST) 6/7/24 will be reviewed during the June review cycle
  • Applications submitted between 6/7/24 and by 5 PM (PST) 10/11/24 will be reviewed during the October review cycle

An applicant can apply to provide both student art residencies and/or professional development opportunities for teachers and will have the option to indicate that on the application.

Application

Apply on Submittable.

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

Tina LaPadula

she/her

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)

A woman smiling as she creates a diamond symbol with her hands.
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.  

Read the full guidelines.

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

Apply here.

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

Kristi Woo

she/her

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

10 dancers practicing dance routines in the Grand Rehearsal Hall

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.

Read the full guidelines.

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

Apply here.

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

Jahi Bouvier McGhee

(They/Them)
Faciltiies Rental Coordinator

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.


Sign up for updates to hear about future calls and grants, or visit our Other Opportunities page to view artist calls and job openings from other organizations.

Arts & Culture

Gülgün Kayim, Interim Director
Address: 303 S. Jackson Street, Top Floor, Seattle, WA , 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 94748, Seattle, WA , 98124-4748
Phone: (206) 684-7171
Fax: (206) 684-7172
arts.culture@seattle.gov

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The Office of Arts & Culture promotes the value of arts and culture in, and of, communities throughout Seattle. It strives to ensure that a wide range of high-quality artistic experiences are available to everyone, encourage artist-friendly arts and cultural policy.