Art in Public Places (AIPP) has worked for years to grow and care for Washington’s State Art Collection. Today, you can find nearly 5,000 artworks where people live, work, and learn.

The number of artworks in Washington schools will soon grow, thanks to an exciting new funding approach and a partnership with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The plan: to bring more artwork into more Washington schools.

AIPP works with OSPI to combine artwork funding for K-12 schools into one pool. In recent years, we invited districts to apply for public art projects for their newly constructed schools.

The percentage of eligible districts applying steadily increased from 28% in the first year of statewide pooling to 70% in the most recent cycle.

As a result, the application process has become competitive. We’ve had to say “no” to some schools. With equity in mind, AIPP strategized to accommodate all districts who wanted original artwork.

AIPP created new acquisition types: installations (AIPP’s more typical process), painted murals, and purchased collections of existing works. The costs for the latter two categories are lower than commissioned installations, allowing AIPP to manage more projects. Using this approach, AIPP will partner with 25 districts to bring original artwork into 47 schools across Washington.

While AIPP has occasionally purchased existing artwork and commissioned murals in the past, an increased focus on these categories has an important outcome: AIPP can now give more opportunities to artists who are underrepresented in the State Art Collection or new to public art.

A significant portion of these artists are BIPOC, from Eastern Washington, or both. This in turn allows for the acquisition of more artworks by more artists, while bringing in new and diverse perspectives to communities statewide—a win for everyone.

Top: Don Rimx, La Vision Guiada, 2021. Ridgeline High School, Liberty Lake. | Right: June Sekiguchi, Glacial Crystals, 2022. Glacier Middle School, Buckley. | Bottom: Melissa Singh Cole, Tapteal Journey, 2021. Tapteal Elementary, West Richland. All photos courtesy of the artists,

Poetry and Civic Life features Rena Priest, Washington State Poet Laureate; Tod Marshall, Spokane poet and Washington State Poet Laureate (2016-2018); Jourdan Imani Keith, Seattle Civic Poet; and Zinnia Hansen, Seattle Youth Poet Laureate.

The afternoon event is a reading and conversation featuring the four poets listed above. It will be emceed by Marcie Sillman, co-host of the doubleXposure podcast and former KUOW arts reporter. 

In partnership with Shunpike, ArtsWA is offering ReNew Washington grants. These grants fund groups wishing to start new organizations, or to strengthen organizations created in the last three years.

Applicants can apply for fiscal sponsorship and funding in one application. If you have considered formalizing your group’s work for funding opportunities through fiscal sponsorship, but have questions about what that means, join us on the following dates:

• April 20, 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. | ReNew Washington-specific FS101 info session

• June 22, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | Cohort-specific onboarding session for ReNew grantees

AIE Partnership Grant funds support community partnerships that increase youth access to arts learning through pandemic recovery efforts and beyond.

The Creative Start Grant is a one-year grant. It is designed to expand professional learning opportunities for early learning educators in arts integration teaching methods.

Funding amounts are $5,000 – $10,000 for single-site projects and $10,000 – $25,000 for multi-site projects. No matching funds are required.

Adrienne Kerrigan is ArtsWA's new Community Relations Program Assistant. She previously worked in roles that included website and marketing development, systems management, and graphic design. She is passionate about the written word and loves working at the intersection of communication and arts culture.

March is Women's History Month. We’ve been featuring Pacific Northwest women artists at work on social media throughout March.

On March 12, nine regional finalists participated in the 2022 Washington State Poetry Out Loud (POL) Final. Lucy Shainin of Anacortes High School was named the Champion.

On March 1, ArtsWA hosted a webinar about the Building for the Arts (BFA) program. BFA is a program that awards state grants to nonprofits to buy, build, or renovate arts & cultural facilities.

Pictured (top): TNUUN (2018-2020) by HollyAnna CougarTracks DeCoteau Littlebull; located at Simcoe Elementary in Wapato, Washington.