so how did Art + Culture Week come to be?

At the beginning of 2022 a small group of arts leaders got together informally to discuss what a post-pandemic creative economy was looking like. 

Seattle has been known as a cutting edge, vibrant and diverse cultural mecca, home to a vast community of creators whose art and music have influenced global trends for years. Despite large-scale challenges in the city, it was evident that the creative culture of Seattle will always find ways to thrive against incredible odds. And with the City of Seattle’s downtown revitalization plan leaning heavily on art and culture, efforts began to envision ways to shine a light on all the creative and cultural assets that Seattle has to offer.

A. McLean Emenegger of AMcE Creative Arts, Phen Huang of Foster/White Gallery, Elisheba Johnson of WaNaWari, Judith Rinehart of J. Rinehart Gallery, and Laura Zeck of Zinc Contemporary got to work - mapping out ideas, speaking with other industry leaders about their needs, hosting a number of discussions and info sessions - to make sure the event created would serve a collective purpose.

In late 2022, Art + Culture Week was formed as a non-profit that became fiscally sponsored by Shunpike. Plans went into motion and a fundraising campaign was launched. 

The mission to create a week-long, event-driven celebration of Seattle’s visual arts, performing arts, and cultural communities came to fruition as support from 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Economic Development came through. 

In May 2024, Tanya Miller was brought on as the Director of Art + Culture Week and planning for September 2024 went into full swing!

The planning committee for Art + Culture Week—from its inception to the event's launch—is confident that this cross-industry collaboration and celebration will highlight Seattle’s standing as a diverse and culturally rich beacon of the arts.

And with consistent, thoughtful reinvestment in Seattle’s arts and culture community, this city-wide event will continue to push innovation, connect more people to art, and cultivate a stronger sense of shared fate in the art economy of Seattle for years to come.

Art + Culture Week