Arts Commission

Above, left to right: Councilmember Owen Rowe, Council Liaison to the Arts Commission Ben Thomas, 2024 Patron of the Arts Tracy Grisman, and Mayor David Faber at the 2024 Angel and Patron of the Arts Awards.

CELEBRATING and supporting LOCAL ARTS SINCE 2001

The Port Townsend Arts Commission invites you to join us in celebrating this incredible arts community. Arts Commission meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., are open to the public and public comment is welcome. Grant funding is available to artists and organizations to support their with PTAC funding over $20,000 in microgrants each year. Learn more about the Arts Commission and get involved! Positions on the Commission are available as vacancies occur. Find details and an application link below. 

About the Port Townsend Arts Commission

Mission:
The Arts Commission facilitates public arts programs that enhance the cultural life of community residents.
 

Members

• Lindsey Wayland, Chair
• Alexis Arrabito, Vice Chair
• Joe Gillard  
• Dan Groussman
• Anna Quinn
• Cristina Silva
• Heidi Tullmann
• VACANT
• VACANT (Apply using the link at the bottom of this page)

Council Liaison

• Ben Thomas

Meetings
Arts Commission meetings occur on the first Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., and Public Art Committee meetings occur on the third Thursday of the month at 3:00 p.m. All meetings held in City Council Chambers at Historic City Hall, 540 Water Street, are open to the public and public comment is welcome. All scheduled meetings can be found on the Meetings Calendar and meeting agendas and minutes in the records and documents directory. 

• Public comment can be submitted on the public comment submission form, by attending a meeting in-person or virtually and contributing public comment during the meeting, or by sending a public comment in the mail to City Hall, specifying "public comment for Arts Comission" directly on the document. 

About the Commission
The Arts Commission promotes and encourages public programs to further the development and public awareness of and interest in the arts, and acts in an advisory capacity to City Council in connection with the artistic and cultural development of the City. Members are selected based on their knowledge and expertise with respect to the performing, visual, and literary arts.

The Arts Commission manages the following programs:

• Public Art and One Percent for the Arts. A Public Art Committee is made up of Arts Commission members appointed by the Arts Commission Chair. 
• Grants to Artists and Arts Organizations. Microgrants ranging from $150 to $3,000 are awarded in six cycles over the course of the year. 
• City Poet Laureate. Appointed to two-year terms, this pilot program started in 2024.
• Angel and Patron of the Arts Awards. Started in 1999, the Angel and Patron of the Arts are two awards provided by the Arts Commission to people in the community whose work supports local arts and culture. The program took a pause in 2020, and resumed in 2024. 

  These awards recognize individuals, artist collectives, and businesses that significantly contribute to the cultural enrichment of our community. Now in its 25th year, the Angel and Patron of the Arts Awards took a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the press release on the awards from September 20 on our Latest News page, or linked to the left. 

  Angel of the Arts Award 2024: 
  The Angel of the Arts Award honors an individual or artist collective in any discipline whose efforts on behalf of local art have been outstanding. This award is given to a community member who has made significant contributions to the creation, production, or performance of works in any art form.

  Patron of the Arts Distinction 2024: Tracy Grisman
  The Patron of the Arts Distinction recognizes a business owner or community leader who has made a sustained and noteworthy contribution to the arts community over the past year.

Grant Funding
The Port Townsend Arts Commission is dedicated to supporting arts that have a recognized quality and significant connection to the City. 

The Application for Financial Support, Funding Guidelines, and Frequently Asked Questions are available in the links below.

The Commission will review funding applications every other month on odd-numbered months. Applications are due on the 20th of the month prior to the meeting when they will be reviewed. 

• Grant Funding FAQ
• Funding Guidelines
• Application for Financial Support (online form)
• Application for Financial Support (downloadable PDF)
• Funded Event Report (fillable PDF)

Public Art
The City of Port Townsend Art in Public Places Policy and Procedure provides for the City of Port Townsend's One Percent for Arts Program and other public art funding sources, and accession and de-accession of gifts as pertains to the placement of visual art on publicly owned property.

Poet Laureate Program
The City of Port Townsend’s Poet Laureate Program is a collaboration between the Council Culture and Society Committee and the Port Townsend Arts Commission, in partnership with the Port Townsend Public Library. In 2024, the City appointed the inaugural Poet Laureate, Conner Bouchard-Roberts. The Poet Laureate serves the community in ceremonial, educational, and inspirational ways, infusing literary arts into civic dialogue. The Poet Laureate honors the city’s active, creative community, promotes the city’s robust literary arts, and celebrates the written word.

Each term, an open application process will utilize a panel of independent jurors alongside representatives from City Council and the Arts Commission.

"Poetry brings us closer to the truth of being, it is an act of noticing what is real, and some poems remind us of something long-forgotten about ourselves. Welcoming a Poet Laureate in our City welcomes the beautiful opportunity for Port Townsend to articulate the ineffable while holding poetic space for community connection."   
- Lindsey Wayland, Chair, Arts Commission

Curious about the work of the City's Arts Commission? Attend a meeting to find out more, consider an application to participate on the Commission, and contact the Arts Commission via email: artscomm@cityofpt.us

Find the application in the links below: