Dear Cultural Advocates,

Another state legislation session has come to a close and we are excited to share with you the wins our sector secured with your advocate support from across the state. This year was a supplemental budget year, which means the legislature was making small adjustments to the two-year budget they passed last year and therefore, there is less new funding to distribute. It is also a shorter session with less time to pass policy bills. Nevertheless, many of our partners were able to come out with wins that will have broad impacts for science, heritage, and arts programs.

Here's a list of the budget allocations that were made to our sector during the session:

Humanities WA:

Prime Time Family Reading: $300k

ArtsWA:

Arts in Education research: $100k
Governor's Arts & Heritage Awards expansion & grants: $100k
8 Public Art Projects across the state: $735k

WA Dept of Archeologist and Historic Preservation:

New anthropologist staff position: $152k

WA State Historical Society:

America 250: $385k
Archivist: $174k
Jewish oral history project: $320k
First Flight Project: $186k
Julia Butler House study: $30k

Eastern WA State Historical Society:

New art and heritage acquisitions: $850k
Parking lot rebuild: $1,4 million

Bill update:

Here's a recap on bills that had cultural sector impact.

SB 5444: Adds zoos and aquariums to the list of designated places at which it is a gross misdemeanor for any person to enter while knowingly possessing a weapon - PASSED

SB 5972: Concerning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides - PASSED

HB 1648: Concerning ticket sales - DID NOT PASS

Arts, Heritage, and Science Week Recap

Thank You, Advocates!

AHS Week 2024 was a big success! Supplemental budget years tend to be much quieter, but that did not stop our advocates from showing up and being loud for culture. 163 people participated in Arts, Heritage, & Science Week! They took over 95 meetings with lawmakers; at least 65 of those were in-person, and at least 30 were virtual.

The legislative wins listed above are possible thanks to our advocates. AHS Week 2024 served as an opportunity to build and sustain lawmaker relationships while urging them to support our sector requests.

Want to join our mighty coalition? SAVE THE DATE: AHS Day 2025 is on February 5th! 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for our sector, and we will need advocates from every corner of Washington State in order to accomplish our goals. Sign up for the Cultural Futures event in your community to learn more!

Federal Advocacy

Senator Cantwell needs to hear from you!

If you want Congress to enact comprehensive ticketing reform to protect consumers, empower creative economic development, and restore trust in the ticketing experience for fans and artists, voice your support today. Click THIS LINK to sign our petition letter urging Senator Cantwell to champion comprehensive ticketing reform legislation NOW.

To learn more about the Fans First Act, click here and visit the National Independent Venue Association's info page. This is new legislation that goes farther than previous bills to provide much needed ticketing reform.

Cultural Futures Tour!

Cultural Futures is our FREE funding, policy, and advocacy workshop for cultural businesses and supporters!

This spring, we invite you to join your local partners for Cultural Futures! Cultural Futures is Inspire Washington’s annual post-State Legislative Session tour when we visit communities to share what happened during the 2024 Legislative Session. It's our job to alert you to new funding and policy opportunities.

Why is this work important?

The 2025 Legislative Session is ramping up to be a BIG one! We anticipate many new objectives for each of our sectors—science, heritage, and the arts. Without new advocates and active engagement across the state, these large funding requests will be very challenging to secure. If you have thought about getting involved in the past but haven't yet participated, now is the time! With Inspire Washington, cultural advocacy is easy, fun, collaborative, and inspiring!

With eight new locations (looking at you, Coupeville, Bremerton, Goldendale, Vashon, Longview, Newport, Moses Lake, and Ellensburg!), 30 total to choose from, plus three virtual options— there is a Cultural Futures event for everyone in Washington!

On the agenda:

New Funding & Policies - We will break down the wins and successes of the Legislative Session and the opportunities for your work.
Overview of Washington's Cultural Access Program and next steps for your community.
Coalition Building - The 2025 Legislative Session is going to be huge for our sector and we will need to double our coalition of advocates to secure our big requests for science, heritage, and arts programs.
Grant opportunities - ArtsWA, Humanities WA, USDA, community projects, Capital Funding, Federal Opportunities, and much more!
Listening - What do you need and what should we advocates for? How do you get involved? It will take a broad coalition to secure future funding.
About Our Coalition - Do you want to be more involved in policy development and advocacy or learn about partnership? We'll plug you into future activities so that your community is represented.

In Person Tour Schedule

Thank you so much to our 30 venue partners. We couldn't do it without you!

Click on the city to register for your community's event.

CITY

DATE & TIME

VENUE

Friday Harbor	April 23 @ 7pm	San Juan Island Library
Eastsound	April 24 @ 3pm	Orcas Center
Bellingham	April 25 @ 12pm	Mount Baker Theatre
Coupeville	April 25 @ 7pm	Pacific NW Art School
Longview	April 30 @ 7pm	Columbia Theatre Association
Vancouver	May 1 @ 6:30pm	Clark County Historical Museum
Kenmore	May 2 @ 2:30pm	Kenmore Hangar
Tacoma	May 7 @ 7pm	Tacoma Little Theatre
Olympia	May 8 @ 7pm	Olympia Family Theatre
Aberdeen	May 9 @ 7pm	Driftwood Players
Spokane	May 14 @ 11am	Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
Chewelah	May 14 @ 7pm	Chewelah Center for the Arts
Newport	May 15 @ 6pm	Pend Orielle Players
Pullman	May 16 @ 7pm	Regional Theatre of the Palouse
Winthrop	May 21 @ 6pm	Winthrop Library
Wenatchee	May 22 @ 12pm	Historic Wells House
Moses Lake	May 22 @ 7pm	Moses Lake Museum & Art Center
Ellensburg	May 23 @ 11am	Gallery One
Bremerton	June 4 @ 7pm	Admiral Theatre
Port Townsend	June 5 @ 1pm	Fort Worden State Park
Port Angeles	June 5 @ 7pm	Field Hall
Yakima	June 11 @ 11am	Capitol Theatre
Tri-Cities	June 11 @ 7pm	REACH Museum
Walla Walla	June 12 @ 3pm	Fort Walla Walla Museum
Goldendale	June 13 @ 6pm	Maryhill Museum of Art
Everett	June 17 @ 11am	Schack Art Center
Vashon	June 17 @ 6:30pm	Vashon Center for the Arts
Seattle	June 18 @ 3pm	Seattle Rep
Auburn	June 20 @ 12pm	White River Valley Musuem
Bellevue	June 21 @ 3pm	Francia Russell Center, Pacific Northwest Ballet

Virtual Tour Schedule

Virtual 1	May 30 @ 9am	Zoom
Virtual 2	May 30 @ 7pm	Zoom
Virtual 3	May 31 @ 12:30pm	Zoom

About Inspire Washington

Inspire Washington nurtures the human spirit and strengthens communities by increasing access to science, heritage, and arts programming through advocacy, resource development, education, and coalition building.

Inspire Washington

info@inspirewashington.org

P.O. Box 806, Seattle, WA 98111

InspireWashington.org

Manuel R. Cawaling, Executive Director

Jessi Wasson, Programs and Operations Manager

Madeline Dalton, Outreach Coordinator

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