Matthew Richter is on a mission: to find out how many cultural square feet there are in Seattle. How much bookstore brick and mortar. How many seats for theater butts. Stages and backstages, studios and galleries. Movie houses. Music boxes of every kind, with oboes and altos and DJs.

In his new role as the city's cultural space manager, he's counting them all. The idea is that you can't work to improve something until you know what you've got.

I hear artists out there all the time talking about needing spaces—affordable spaces, better-located spaces, better-equipped spaces. Or maybe you're a building owner thinking you have a home for an arts group.

Tell this guy! Here: more info, contacts, and a quick online survey. Once all the data is collected, we'll all know more.

And speaking of good news about cultural space, the mayor's budget for 2014 includes $300,000 to equip Washington Hall in the Central District with an elevator, meaning the historic venue (such a cool place) will finally be able to accommodate everybody—including leaders of resident arts groups who're super-excited to go to their spaces, but have to get other people lift their wheelchairs and carry them into their own offices.

Cultural space management!