O
ur goals were, and remain, to increase funding for the arts, promise
potential matches from other sources of funds, increase art sales from
artists as a result of providing professional development, and to ultimate-
ly increase access to the arts for the residents of Ellensburg.
To meet our goals, we have been in an unexpected period of hustle like
never before to articulate grant programs, attract funding, create con-
tracts, grow the city arts collection, partner with other city programs,
and learn how to do all of this with very little guidance or staff support
— until now. With the addition of a staff liaison and the transition of
our commission from the library to community development, we have a
more effective liaison between the city and our community. In 2019 the
Ellensburg City Council passed a Public Art Policy which now formaliz-
es the procedures and goals of the Ellensburg Arts Commission.
Over the last five years, we have increased our funds to support the pro-
fessional development of artists, and grassroots organizations such as the
Ellensburg Film Festival, the Giant Puppet Parade, and the Valley Mu-
sical Theater. We have increased the art collection through the creation
of a City Purchase Award, installation of art glass on new bus shelters,
received funds from the National Endowment for the Arts to complete a
large scale public art piece, and transformed a community center with a
mural. Next month we launch our Poet Laureate Program.
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What’s next? We will continue to revisit steps one through
four. The work is not done, but the future of the arts in El-
lensburg is secure. Forty years ago, a group of volunteer cit-
izens were invited to advise the Ellensburg City Council on
matters of the arts — to all our benefit, they have continued
to do so with a pioneer level of enthusiasm and passion!
Monica Miller is the Executive Director of Gallery One Visual Arts Center and serves on
the Ellensburg Arts Commission and the Washington State Arts Commission. Prior to
moving to Ellensburg she worked at Artist Trust in Seattle and was a member of the
artist cooperative SOIL Artist Run Gallery. She loves strategizing, game-planning, grant
writing, throwing elaborate birthday parties for her son, and supporting her husband’s
art practice through PUNCH Projects.