Inside Olympia -- Exit Interview with Arts Commission Director Karen Hanan

and we'll talk about what you were able to accomplish over your dozen years in this role, but why public art? Why the passion for public art? Which, as you said, we've got a creative economy in this state.

People are aware of public art in the sense that they encounter it in public spaces, but I don't think that there's deep knowledge of sort of how this works or the history of why we have an arts commission and why we, for instance, put one half of one percent of state project dollars into public art, which would be why you might see an installation associated with a state project.

But what is it about public art that you find

inspiring

and kind of ignites your passion?

Yeah, so public art is just part of what we do.

That happens to be our largest program.

But there's something about the arts in general that enliven spaces.

Public art, when we're talking things like sculptures, you know, 3D pieces, paintings, whatever it might be, they bring a space to life in a way that almost nothing else does, I think.

So I think the half of 1% is a very smart move by the state to take, for example, a K-12 school or maybe the University of Washington or the University up in Bellingham, and to help them build a collection of art that not only is beautiful and stimulating and encouraging for the student body, but is also part of what defines a university or a school sometimes.

because it makes it a place that is just a bit more special to go to and be in.

So we've been doing public art at the agency for just slightly more than 60 years, so a long time.

We're the second oldest state art collection.

We are second to Hawaii, but only by a little bit.

We have more than 5,000 pieces now in the state art collection.

and more join it every year.

We and we have to maintain all those pieces.

It's a huge job, you know, so it's the largest team in the agency and they are running from dawn to dusk to keep it up.

Whether it's, you know, acquiring new works and really working with communities to make sure that they choose the artist, they choose the space, they choose the medium they want to work in.

So we are the guiding lights, you know, we're the facilitators, the experts, if you will.

But we don't make the decisions for the communities because we want in the end for this to be their public art that fills and enlivens the spaces they've identified.

And, you know, the end results can be seen on our public art portal at the arts.wa website.

You can see all 5,000 pieces and look at them, you know, based on searching by an artist or by a location or by a county or whatever you like, but you can see the art and it's well worth a look.

Help us understand, and I do want to talk about the other elements of the Arts Commission and its role, but how much money is the one half of one percent kicking off annually? Or just give us a sense of, in a given year, how this public art piece might manifest itself.

and we'll talk about what you were able to accomplish over your dozen years in this role, but why public art? Why the passion for public art? Which, as you said, we've got a creative economy in this state.

People are aware of public art in the sense that they encounter it in public spaces, but I don't think that there's deep knowledge of sort of how this works or the history of why we have an arts commission and why we, for instance, put one half of one percent of state project dollars into public art, which would be why you might see an installation associated with a state project.

But what is it about public art that you find

inspiring

and kind of ignites your passion?

Yeah, so public art is just part of what we do.

That happens to be our largest program.

But there's something about the arts in general that enliven spaces.

Public art, when we're talking things like sculptures, you know, 3D pieces, paintings, whatever it might be, they bring a space to life in a way that almost nothing else does, I think.

So I think the half of 1% is a very smart move by the state to take, for example, a K-12 school or maybe the University of Washington or the University up in Bellingham, and to help them build a collection of art that not only is beautiful and stimulating and encouraging for the student body, but is also part of what defines a university or a school sometimes.

because it makes it a place that is just a bit more special to go to and be in.

So we've been doing public art at the agency for just slightly more than 60 years, so a long time.

We're the second oldest state art collection.

We are second to Hawaii, but only by a little bit.

We have more than 5,000 pieces now in the state art collection.

and more join it every year.

We and we have to maintain all those pieces.

It's a huge job, you know, so it's the largest team in the agency and they are running from dawn to dusk to keep it up.

Whether it's, you know, acquiring new works and really working with communities to make sure that they choose the artist, they choose the space, they choose the medium they want to work in.

So we are the guiding lights, you know, we're the facilitators, the experts, if you will.

But we don't make the decisions for the communities because we want in the end for this to be their public art that fills and enlivens the spaces they've identified.

And, you know, the end results can be seen on our public art portal at the arts.wa website.

You can see all 5,000 pieces and look at them, you know, based on searching by an artist or by a location or by a county or whatever you like, but you can see the art and it's well worth a look.

Help us understand, and I do want to talk about the other elements of the Arts Commission and its role, but how much money is the one half of one percent kicking off annually? Or just give us a sense of, in a given year, how this public art piece might manifest itself.