County ‘indefinitely’ suspends arts grant program that helped over 7,300 kids

EVERETT — The county has indefinitely suspended an arts and culture grant program after staffers conceded it wasn’t legally vetted when it started in 2018, pulling the rug out from under the county arts commission.

The Snohomish County Arts Commission’s arts and culture grant was created to gift $2,000 grants to local nonprofits and public agencies to support the arts.

Each year, the commission used $20,000 to $30,000 of its budget for the grants. In 2023, the commission’s total budget was $100,000.

Over 7,300 kids benefited from the grants last year, according to an estimate from county arts commissioner Kate MacKenzie.

Earlier this month, county Parks Director Sharon Swan alerted the arts commission that it would have to indefinitely suspend the grant program, stating attorneys were concerned it violated state “gifts of public fund” law. State law prohibits using public funds for things that don’t carry out a “fundamental government function,” according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

Tom Teigen, the county’s natural resources director, said legal questions arose during a standard review of the program last year, especially since the grants are funded by tax dollars and sometimes go to private nonprofit organizations.

“Snohomish County recognizes that arts and culture are an important part of creating an inclusive and welcoming community,” Teigen said in a written statement on Thursday. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Arts Commission to finalise the 2024 Arts Program workplan for the existing $50,000 in the budget.”

Arts commission members expressed confusion over the sudden reversal, saying they remember a legal process in 2018.

Despite the commission’s recollections, Teigen said a legal review never happened. The oversight had gone unnoticed until now.

The grant program “really was never vetted by the prosecuting attorney’s office,” said county communications specialist Annique Bennett during a Cultural Arts Network meeting Thursday. “It was a mistake, an embarrassment… It’s one of those things that just happens.”

At Monday’s arts commission meeting, commissioners outlined County Executive Dave Somers’ suggestions for this year’s budget. He suggested using $38,000 of the budget on an art piece for the Evergreen State Fair Park, and $10,000 to revitalize a summer concert series at the county campus that was halted during the pandemic.

Teigen noted the fairgrounds is the county’s most popular park, stating this would be a way to expose the public to the mission of the arts commission. Also, county staff thought the summer performance could provide a platform for local artists.

Thursday’s meeting was well attended by arts representatives from across the state, county, as well as recipients of the grants. Some were worried these one-and-done events would take the majority of the money out of the hands of those in rural areas.

“If you use that $2,000 to put a sculpture in Everett, none of those kids will see it,” said Cat Olson, the executive director of the Stanwood-Camano Arts Advocacy Commission. “These opportunities need to come to the people that will be using them, not forcing them to go to something that the county or anyone else has decided they should go to see.”

The Stanwood-Camano commission received a county arts grant in 2022 and 2023. Last year, they used funds to bring art programs to summer school. Olson said the addition of the arts program led to a spike in attendance they hadn’t seen before. If it weren’t for this grant, classes in the area wouldn’t have had an arts program over the summer at all.

With the absence of the county grant program, Olson said the commission will look elsewhere for funding.

“We know grant funding is never guaranteed,” she said. “But we would have liked to use Snohomish County dollars in Snohomish County.”

County parks directors, who oversee the arts commission, told the commission they don’t have to go with Somers’ suggestions, and can chose what to do with their budget this year. Although the grant program is a no-go, the directors said it’s possible to keep supporting nonprofit art programs.

The arts commission is set to redraft its budget next month.

Ashley Nash: 425-339-3037; ashley.nash@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @ash_nash00.