EVERETT — Snohomish County doubled funding for public art projects last week when the County Council bolstered its 1 percent for the arts program.
The council voted to remove a hurdle that required private donations to unlock more county arts money.
Now the county’s pot of $112,000 jumps to $224,000.
The move makes a lot of sense, County Councilman Dave Gossett said.
“Arts are very important to the community and are an important part of your economic base,” Gossett said. “A vibrant arts community helps bring jobs and innovation and business to town.”
In 2006, the county adopted a “1.5 percent for the arts” program. When the county builds some projects, it sets aside 1 percent of the total cost for artwork. Some projects such as roadwork are exempt. But only a half-percent of the money was made available. The other half was released from an account only if it was matched by private donations.
After a year and a half of trying, boosters raised only $4,400 — mostly from members of the county’s arts commission, said Barbara Cothern Hawksford, commission vice-chairwoman and former County Council member.
“I thought we could maybe do it,” she said. “As we got into it, we spent some of our personal money to match to do some mailings. It just wasn’t happening. I just think people were not wanting to give money to government right now.”
Similar 1 percent art programs are thriving in Everett, Arlington, Seattle and King County.
Seven sculpture projects valued at $222,000 are in the works at county parks and are paid for using the county’s 1 percent program.
The projects are:
Paine Field Community Park: $50,000 for “Landing Zone” by Peter Reiquam, a futuristic plaza and shelter.
Lake Stevens Community Park: $47,000 to Glen Anderson for two projects including a plaza using tiles of vintage baseball card images and inspirational quotes.
Martha Lake Community Park: $65,000 for “Simple Arrow” by Peter Reiquam for five paper airplane sculptures; $30,000 for “Winging It” by Rocinante Studio for a mechanical set of Da Vinci-style wings; $25,000 for “Nose Grab” by Michael Whiting for a pixilated skateboarder performing a nose grab aerial maneuver.
River Meadows Community Park: $5,000 for 10 freestanding yurt sculptures by Glen Anderson.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
More online
To learn more about Snohomish County arts, go to www.snohomishcountyarts.org.
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