Cultural Space Resources and Reports
The Office of Arts & Culture's Cultural Space program has commissioned and collected a number of resources and reports to help navigate city rules and expand cultural space in the community.
Build Art Space Equitably (BASE)
Build Art Space Equitably (BASE)
In 2018 we launched the BASE: Build Art Space Equitably certification cohort. This cohort is a (roughly) 20-person all-BIPOC group of leaders from the worlds of commercial real estate, arts & culture, philanthropy, finance, and government. The group spends a year working through a curriculum centered on the intersection of cultural development, community development, and commercial real estate development. At the end of the year's collaboration the group receives a City Certification in the creation of equitable cultural real estate. This is the report, generated by Framework Creative Placemaking, that follows the development of that first year's cohort.
CAP Report
In November 2013, the Office of Arts & Culture hosted an event focused on cultural space issues, called Square Feet Seattle.
The event drew over 200 people, including artists, developers, City staff and elected officials, arts leaders, and more. At the end of the day-long event, the audience was invited, through a series of exercises and interactivities, to identify an issue related to cultural space that the City should address. Nearly four years later, the idea has expanded significantly, and following extensive research, outreach, and community input, we present the result of that exploration, The CAP Report: 30 Ideas for the Creation, Activation, and Preservation of Cultural Space.
Structure for Stability
Structure for Stability
Following up on one of the ideas from the CAP Report, this new study explores the creation of an independent real estate entity to hold cultural space in partnership with the cultural community.
Structure for Stability is a deep-dive into the proposal that the City create a new Public Development Authority, a property-holding, property-owning, and property-developing organization that acts as an intermediary between the cultural development community and the commercial property development community. This new Cultural Space Agency would fight cultural displacement, would build ownership in the cultural community, and would stabilize properties that anchor cultural communities in some of our fastest-growing neighborhoods.
Resources
Technical Assistance
Finding space, negotiating for space, permitting space, renovating space, and maintaining space can be daunting and confusing even for professional developers. As artists and arts administrators this new terrain can be nearly impossible to navigate. Contact us at the number or email listed at the upper right of this page for assistance.
Navigating the City
The alphabet soup of city departments can, at first, seem impossible to decode, and once decoded, navigating those departments as a newcomer can be intimidating and frustrating. If you are an artist or an arts organization working through a cultural space issue with another city department, we might be able to assist. Contact us at the phone number or email listed at the upper right of this page for more information.
We have also compiled links to resources in other departments that you might find useful below.
Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI)
- Artists' Live / Work spaces in existing buildings
- Buying or Leasing Artspace
- Home Occupations
- Variances from Noise Control Code
Seattle Fire Department (SFD)
Finance and Administrative Services / Real Estate Services (FAS/RES)
Washington State Department of Revenue (WADOR)
Reports
Square Feet Seattle 2017
Square Feet Seattle 2017: Buy, Buy, Buy!
Square Feet 2017: Buy, Buy, Buy! addressed cultural space ownership as a strategy to combat the growing affordability crisis in Seattle. Models were explored, and new ideas presented. The event featured keynote speaker Moy Eng, executive director of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) in San Francisco.
Square Feet Seattle
The Square Feet convenings are a chance to explore cultural space issues with the community, to present recent work, and to hear feedback about new directions for the office. In November 2013 we hosted a day-long event exploring the idea of Cultural Districts in Seattle. Anne Gadwa Nicodemus from Metris Consulting presented the keynote address, available below.
Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee
In 2009, Seattle City Council adopted a resolution accepting a set of recommendations to preserve and foster cultural space in Seattle's neighborhoods, which was proposed by the Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee (CODAC). The CODAC is a volunteer citizen group convened by the Council in 2008 in response to the rapid loss of arts-related spaces and activities in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
Cultural Space Seattle
The Office of Arts & Culture and Seattle Arts Commission hosted Cultural Space Seattle, a two-day event (Dec. 6 and 7, 2011) to help shape policies to keep and create affordable space for artists and arts organizations to work, rehearse and perform in Seattle. National and local cultural space leaders discussed policy, funding and program models and current cultural space projects.
Nearly 150 people attended a public forum at Town Hall on Dec. 6, where artist and cultural planner Theaster Gates delivered the keynote address followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A.The panel discussion, moderated by former Seattle Arts Commission Chair Randy Engstrom, featured Theaster; Jacqueline Gijssen, senior cultural planner, city of Vancouver, B.C.; Cathryn Vandenbrink, regional director, ArtSpace; and Susan Seifert, director, Social Impact of the Arts Project, University of Pennsylvania.
Following the evening forum, participants in workshops on Dec. 7 rolled up their sleeves and worked together toward a plan to advance an agenda for cultural space initiatives. The working sessions involved artists, government leaders, arts administrators, investors, real estate developers and brokers and interested citizens.
Cultural Space Seattle Final Report
Cultural Space Seattle Update Brown-Bag
Several months after the Cultural Space Seattle event, the convening's Final Report was published, and presented at a brown-bag session at City Hall. Updates on the city's arts and cultural space initiatives were presented, and work-sessions were conducted in support of the city's Artists' Space Assistance Program (ASAP).
Artist Space Assistance Program
The Office of Arts & Culture launched the Artist Space Assistance Program (ASAP) in January 2012 to provide relocation and placement services for artists and arts organizations. Administered by Shunpike with support from 4Culture, the pilot program ran through March 1, 2012.
ASAP is for artists working in all genres and arts groups seeking long-term affordable arts space. Shunpike assessed artist needs and space opportunities and offered direct services to a pilot group of artists and arts groups. The pilot program focused on the Pioneer Square and Chinatown-International District neighborhoods. The goal is to develop a model for expanding the program to other Seattle neighborhoods.