Seattle Arts Commission (1971-2002)

In 1971, a city ordinance established the Seattle Arts Commission to promote development of and public interest in the arts, as well as to advise the city on cultural and artistic development. The Commission was given cabinet-level status in the city government in 1976. In 2002, the department's name was changed to the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs (OACA), and it was brought into the Executive Dept. There continues to be a fifteen-member advisory group called the Seattle Arts Commission. The office supports arts groups, community festivals, and neighborhood arts councils; funds and promotes public art, and promotes Seattle as a cultural destination. It also oversees the One Percent for Art program (one of the nation's first), where one percent of Seattle's capital improvement project funds are reserved for public art. Since the program began in 1973, it has acquired nearly 3,000 artworks. In 1991, the office sponsored "In Public: Seattle 1991," an international public art project that brought local and international artists to Seattle to create new artworks in sites around the city, including neighborhoods, schools, media, and the new Seattle Art Museum. Related public programs included a symposium, educational events, performances, and an exhibition in the Security Pacific Bank gallery.

Municipal Art Commission created in 1955 to advise city government regarding the artistic and cultural development of the city; reorganized 1957 and its advisory responsibility was extended to recommendations regarding the design of new physical structures to be constructed in the city; 1961 responsibilities were broadened to include historic preservation recommendations; abolished 1971 and replaced by the Seattle Arts Commission.