Annual reports from 2003 and 2004 summarize artistic and cultural endeavors throughout the city, including educational outreach and brief budget summaries. Reports from 2005-2013 include mayor's awards and artistic partnerships in addition to summaries of cultural endeavors, educational outreach and budget summaries. All reports include multiple photographs.
In 1971, a city ordinance established the Seattle Arts Commission (SAC) to promote development of and public interest in the arts, as well as to advise the city on cultural and artistic development. The fifteen-member body replaced a predecessor agency, the Municipal Arts Commission, and staff support was originally provided by the Seattle Center. The Commission was given cabinet-level status in the city government in 1976.
In 2002, a reorganization abolished the existing SAC, created a new Seattle Arts Commission made up of volunteers and a new city Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs (OACA), and divided the functions of the old SAC between the two new organizations. The current commission is comprised of 16 citizen volunteers appointed by the Mayor and City Council. OACA was brought into the Executive Department in 2013 and its name was changed to the Office of Arts and Culture.
The department 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.
Records are open to the public.
[Item and date], Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs Annual Reports, Record Series 7401-01. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.