The Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs today announced the appointment of eight new Seattle arts commissioners (out of a total of 15), including Eric Fredericksen of Western Bridge, Sandra Jackson-Dumont of Seattle Art Museum, and artist Diana Falchuk of Crawl Space—all of whom know to be smart, motivated, passionate, effective people.

The others I don't know, but I'll be curious to see what transpires...details on jump.

SEATTLE - The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs announces eight new
members of the Seattle Arts Commission, five appointed by Mayor Greg
Nickels and three appointed by the Seattle City Council. The members of
the commission began their two-year terms this month.

“City leaders formed the Seattle Arts Commission in 1971 during one
of our region’s worst economic downturns, testament to the fact that
arts and culture are essential to quality of life,” Mayor Greg Nickels
said. “Creativity is one of the things that help Seattle lead in so
many different areas. Our new and continuing commissioners bring diverse
experience to help shape cultural policy in Seattle from arts education
to cultural space to public art.”

Mayor Nickels appointed Sandra D. Jackson-Dumont, Debra Guenther, Carol
Munro, Stephanie Ellis-Smith and David Sabee. Jackson-Dumont is the
Kayla Skinner deputy director of education and public programs and an
adjunct curator at the Seattle Art Museum. She directs the educational
and public programs for the museum’s three venues (the Olympic
Sculpture Park, the Asian Art Museum and the downtown museum). Guenther
is a landscape architect and principal at Mithun, an
interdisciplinary design firm with offices in Seattle and San Francisco.

Munro is the executive director of Auction of Washington Wines, a
nonprofit philanthropic organization of the Washington wine industry and
one of the top charity wine auctions in the nation. Munro is chair of
the board of trustees of Cornish College of the Arts and was executive
director of arts nonprofit PONCHO from 1992 to 2003. Ellis-Smith founded
the Central District Forum for Art & Ideas in 1999 and serves as a
trustee of KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio and Leadership Tomorrow. Sabee
is a cellist and founder of Seattle Music, a film scoring and recording
company that is one of the world’s top scoring stages. The mayor also
reappointed Joaquin Herranz to a second two-year term. Herranz is a
professor at the University of Washington’s Daniel J. Evans School of
Public Affairs.

“Seattle is looked upon by other cities as a national arts leader due
in large part to the excellent work of our Office of Arts & Cultural
Affairs and the Seattle Arts Commission,” said Councilmember Nick
Licata, chair of the council’s Culture, Civil Rights, Health &
Personnel Committee. “I hope to see the extraordinary range of
experience and abilities represented by new and returning commissioners
further that leadership role by making great things happen.”

The City Council appointed Diana Falchuk, Eric Fredericksen and Jon
Rosen. Falchuk is a multi-disciplinary artist, arts program manager and
art educator. She is a member of Crawl Space, an artist-run gallery.
Fredericksen is a curator and the director of Western Bridge, a
nonprofit space dedicated to contemporary art, founded by Seattle
collectors Bill and Ruth True. In the nineties, Fredericksen worked at
The Stranger as an arts editor and reporter. Rosen is in solo practice
as The Rosen Law Firm. Previously he was a partner in the labor and
employment law firm of Frank Rosen Freed Roberts LLP, which he
co-founded more than 28 years ago. He serves on the board of Music of
Remembrance, which is dedicated to remembering Holocaust musicians.

The City Council also reappointed Randy Engstrom to a second two-year
term. Engstrom is founding director of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
and co-chairs the Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee, a
citizen group charged with making recommendations to the City Council
about how to best preserve and promote affordable space for arts and
culture. Engstrom will serve as commission vice chair in 2009.

“I am pleased the mayor and City Council have appointed a field of
eight new arts commissioners, each of whom brings impressive arts and
culture interests and experiences that will strengthen the advisory and
advocacy capacity of the commission,” said Dorothy Mann, chair of the
Seattle Arts Commission. “I look forward to working with and learning
from them as we pursue our 2009 objectives in collaboration with the
Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs.”

Continuing on the Seattle Arts Commission are Chair Dorothy Mann,
Ph.D., consultant and community/arts activist; Richard Andrews, arts
administrator, consultant and former longtime director of the Henry Art
Gallery; Dan Corson, public artist, arts planner and theatrical
designer; Maureen Wilhelm, scenic artist and president of the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 488; and
Laura "Piece" Kelley, artist, poet, emcee, vocalist, educator and
activist. Ian Lindsay is the YMCA “Get Engaged” commissioner.
Lindsay is an actor and the marketing director for a benefit auctions
organization. “Get Engaged” is a program that connects young adults
with city boards and commissions.

The mayor appoints seven of the commissioners; the City Council
appoints seven, and a 15th member is selected by those 14. An additional
commissioner is selected through the YMCA’s “Get Engaged” program.
The Seattle Arts Commission’s nominating committee recommended a slate
of candidates for consideration by the mayor and City Council.

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs promotes the value of arts and
culture in communities throughout Seattle. The 16-member Seattle Arts
Commission, citizen volunteers appointed by the mayor and City Council,
supports the city agency.