ArtsWA news

August 2023

Contact: info@arts.wa.gov

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In this issue:

• Register: Poetry Out Loud
• Apply : TAT Lab Core Program
• Attend: WA Poet Laureate events
• Read: Public Artist Roster mid-term additions
• Read: 23-24 Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Pairs
• Explore: Back to School web exhibition
• and more

📣 Register now for Poetry Out Loud!

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition for high school students. Participating students develop public speaking skills. They build self-confidence and learn to connect with literature in new ways, often discovering a new outlet for creative expression.

Poetry Out Loud is supported by The National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation. ArtsWA coordinates and manages the program in Washington State.

Important dates

📆 September 18, 2023 - POL Virtual registration opens

📆 November 17, 2023 - Registration deadline

More opportunities

📣 Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab (TAT Lab) Core Program applications are now open. Explore learning plan design, learning frameworks, teaching methods, and resources designed to level up your teaching practice! 

📆 Friday, September 22, 2023 - Priority application deadline

Free virtual Q&A sessions 

📆 Thursday, September 14 at 11:00 a.m.

📆 Tuesday, September 19 at 6:00 p.m.

P.S. - Anyone can nominate an outstanding educator you know for a R.I.S.E. (Representation, Inclusion, Service, Education) Award. Recipients receive tuition-free registration to TAT Lab’s Core Program upon application and acceptance into the program.

👉🏽 Nominate an educator for R.I.S.E. by September 22, 2023

📣 The Wellness, Arts, and the Military (WAM) General Operating Support Grant provides up to $35,000 to organizations that offer arts programs to military connected individuals and communities.

📆 Friday, September 1, 2023 - Applications open

Free upcoming events with the Washington State Poet Laureate!

Reading during RevitalizeWA’s Opening Plenary

📆 Wednesday, October 4, 2023

⏰ 4:30 – 6:00 p.m.

🌎 Kiggins Theatre | 1011 Main St Vancouver, WA

RevitalizeWA’s Opening Plenary will focus on what it means to care about a place and how we can all act on that care. The Plenary is free and open to the public.

Indigenous Peoples Day Poetry Reading

📆 Monday, October 9, 2023

⏰ 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

🌎 ʔaʔkʷustəŋáw̕txʷ House of Learning, Peninsula College Longhouse | Port Angeles campus

The event features an open mic for Native poets followed by a reading from Arianne True. Light refreshments provided. The event is livestreamed on Zoom. Free and open to the public.

Gathering of Regional Poets

📆 Saturday, October 14, 2023

⏰ 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

🌎 BookTree Kirkland | 609 Market Street Kirkland, WA

In addition to Arianne’s reading, this event will feature a panel of regional poets who will discuss cooperation among Washington’s literary communities. Free and open to the public.

News and updates

Announcing the 2023-2024 Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Pairs

Franchesska Berry (left) is a master of West African and African diaspora dance and cultural herstory. Franchesska's apprentice is Nola Taylor. Photo by Jesse La Mora.

From West African dance to Mariachi music, Nooksack language preservation, canoe making, and more, The Center for Washington Cultural Traditions is excited to announce the new apprenticeship pairs for the 2023-2024 Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Program.  

Created to preserve traditional arts, crafts, or skills, the Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Program (HAAP) helps carry on cultural traditions important to Washington’s communities. A skilled master artist will mentor their apprentice for at least 100 hours of one-on-one time throughout the program year. Now entering its sixth year, over 100 people have participated in the program. 

Introducing the Midterm Additions to the Public Artist Roster

We’re excited to share the list of artists added to the Public Artist Roster. We use the roster to choose artists to create new artworks for the State Art Collection. Growing the number of artists on the roster helps us meet our goal to build and care for a dynamic contemporary art collection that is accessible and valued. 

We sought under-represented artists in the collection during our outreach for the mid-term call. This included:

• Female and non-binary artists
• Emerging/studio artists
• Artists based outside the Northwest region of the state.

Opening the application midterm also gave artists who were either ineligible, unsuccessful, or unaware of the 2021 roster call another chance to apply. A panel recommended 206 artists and artists teams for approval to the ArtsWA board in August.

The new roster reflects our ongoing efforts to increase representation and build equity for artists and communities across the state. The roster will reopen for applications in Spring 2025. Until then, we look forward to working with our roster artists. It is an exciting time for public art in Washington state!

In case you missed it

🖌️ Explore: Back to School

It’s back to school time! We’ve been busy adding public artworks to schools around Washington State.

With fantastic pieces like We Are Challenger by Nekoda Witsken (right) students statewide will be excited to head back to school this September.

Explore on My Public Art Portal.

We Are Challenger (2023) by Nekoda Witsken, located at Challenger High School, Spanaway, Pierce County, Western WA.