WESTAF 2023 Annual Report

2023 ANNUAL REPORT

WESTERN STATES ARTS FEDERATION

TENIQUA BROUGHTON CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

GAINES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

WELCOME FRIENDS,

Fifty is just a number, right? That’s true and yet, for the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) moving into its fiftieth year, it symbolizes an epic journey across a span of decades as surprising and complex as the region we serve. This year provides a special opportunity to reflect on what we’ve achieved, what we’ve learned, and how we can do better.

From modest but determined beginnings in the early ‘70s as a regional alliance of interior western states with a mission to “extend and strengthen the arts in the west,” WESTAF’s communities of artists, culture bearers, practitioners, presenters and organizers now exist in an expanse that stretches from the Great Plains to the Pacific Islands, and from the Arctic Coast to the Desert Southwest.

In these Annual Report pages, we take a look back at 2023 and lift up the people, places and projects we serve in the west and beyond. In doing so, we reflect both on our past and our future. WESTAF has contributed to systemic power structures that have underserved people of color, the disability community, our rural and remote communities in the west and other groups we actively seek to support today. We continue to study our commitments to and investments in equity, accessibility, social justice and other restorative approaches to our portfolio of programs, services and activities.

WESTAF is a rich amalgamation of mission, principle and commitment. Our approach includes support for the essential work of our sixteen state and jurisdictional arts agencies through funding agency innovation, consulting on policy and strategy development, expanding arts advocacy support infrastructure through the Western Arts Advocacy Network, and analyzing, tracking, supporting and stewarding state and federal legislation that benefits arts, culture and the creative economy.

WESTAF’s scope also includes a deepening commitment to trust-based, liberatory funding. Through these efforts, dynamic programs like the Black, Indigenous and People of

CHRISTIAN

Color (BIPOC) Artist Grant Fund, the Leaders of Color Network

Professional Development Program and the State Arts Agency Innovation Funds have emerged, while a stalwart grant program like TourWest, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, continues to evolve in our post-pandemic reality to be responsive to tourers and presenters, particularly in the remote and rural areas of our western region. ArtsHERE, recently launched in collaboration with our collective of U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and in partnership with the NEA, portends a slate of equity-forward national funding programs set to roll out across the coming months.

With an origin story dating back over two decades, our suite of technology solutions now reach hundreds of thousands of active artists and arts administrators, each accessing our systems, networks and tools to connect and create across the vastness of the internet. These platforms help to support artists’ livelihoods, while generating income that directly supports our regional work. Socially, our digital tools build artists’ capacity to impact communities, whether that’s here in the West or anywhere else.

These strands of work are interwoven in WESTAF’s commitment to serving as a thought partner and coalition builder, supporting local, state, regional and national efforts to strengthen arts, culture and the creative economy.

In tandem with all of this activity, expanding communities and networks of good people, joined by identity, place, practice and passion, have coalesced around our efforts to inform and advise around a range of approaches and priorities.

Through it all, we have been energized by the wisdom and astute vision of the WESTAF board of trustees, as well as the astonishing competencies and boundless curiosity of the WESTAF staff. We are so honored and grateful to be part of this joyful, resolute collective of creative problem solvers, as together we head into our next fifty years.

GRANTS, AWARDS AND PROGRAMS

Photo

FY23 Grants & Awards

BY THE NUMBERS

$1,225,347

$841,030 TOURWEST PROGRAM FUNDING

TourWest

Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, WESTAF's TourWest program provides flexible funding for presente srs and presenting organizations across the region. WESTAF encourages the inclusion of community and educational outreach as part of an organization's presentation of touring artists and continues to prioritize underserved communities, especially in rural areas.

The TourWest grant allowed us to successfully engage in a regional touring exchange with San Francisco-based dance company, FACT/SF. We hosted 3 sold-out performances with artist talk-backs, and a three-day workshop fostering deeper connections.

— Tour West Grantee

52.3% OF TOURWEST GRANTS SUPPORTED ARTS PARTICIPATION IN RURAL AREAS

$180,000 PERFORMING ARTS DISCOVERY PROGRAM

$160,000 BIPOC ARTIST FUND

$25,017 LOCF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND

TourWest Grantees Funded by State

The TourWest grant we received for the 2023–24 concert season has allowed us to bring out of town musician and performers to our small, rural southwest Utah town for our series of free and low cost Americana music concerts. The TourWest grant allowed our organization to pay increased costs and keep our series of concerts going.

— Tour West Grantee from a Rural Community

Leaders of Color Network

The Leaders of Color Network combines all alumni of the Leaders of Color Fellowship program to deepen relationships across cohorts. The network shares and builds knowledge and skills to envision and enact a field that is supportive to the needs of BIPOC cultural workers at all phases of their career. The key purpose is to deepen relationships — among alumni, with WESTAF, and in the field at large — in order to create an intersectional, intergenerational, and multiracial movement on behalf of cultural equity.

Resources from WESTAF allowed me the tools I need to lead and direct my dance company in an impactful and intentional way. Through WESTAF participation my leadership style is inclusive, open and accepting.

— Leaders of Color Fellow

BIPOC Artist Fund

The WESTAF Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Artist Fund invests in the well-being and safety of BIPOC artists, cultural practitioners, and collaboratives by providing no-strings-attached funding and support. The program emphasizes self-determination for BIPOC artists and their communities.

Tuvieron un impacto tan hermoso me hizo creer en mi que mi arte puede ayudar a alzar la voz de muchas personas que puedo plasmar sin palabras una obra y a agradecer todo lo que tengo en mi vida es la mejor experiencia.

(They had such a beautiful impact, it made me believe in myself that my art can help raise the voices of many people that I can capture a work without words and to be grateful for everything I have in my life, it is the best experience.)

— BIPOC Artist

ALLIANCES, ADVOCACY & POLICY

Photo courtesy of ArtsWA, Village Theatre, 2023–Issaquah, WA.

State Arts Agency Innovation Fund

In FY23, SAAIF supported 16 unique projects in 6 states, totaling $74,000 (13%) of an initial $500,000 investment. These projects supported the specific needs and aspirations of state arts agencies in the West. WESTAF investment supported staff wellness programs, professional development of state arts agency staff, commissioners meetings, team building, celebrations, grantmaking and more. Read our impact report.

The Pacific Initiative

Over the last four years, WESTAF has holistically developed programs with the Pacific U.S. Jurisdictions of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and American Samoa, to create a partnership centered in Pacific values, culture and priorities through a strategic engagement we call the Pacific Initiative. This began as a partnership with the Commonwealth Council on Arts and Cultures (CCAC) to develop relief and recovery grantmaking programs, which distributed over $300,000 to artists and arts organizations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

During Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May 2023), a delegation of WESTAF’s leadership undertook a two-week trip to Guam, CNMI and American Samoa to learn about and celebrate the cultures of these vibrant yet isolated Pacific communities that are now a part of the WESTAF region.

Washington Creative Economy Strategic Plan

A collaborative team from WESTAF, Cultural Planning Group, and Third Way Creative was selected to produce a strategic plan for Washington's creative industries, guided by a statewide working group of creative economy practitioners.

Over an 18-month process, a wide range of stakeholders — artists, creative entrepreneurs, technology leaders, investors, educators and other civic leaders — from every corner of Washington were engaged to inform and shape strategies for strengthening Washington's creative economy. More than 400 people reflecting a wide range of communities and identities were consulted in-person and through surveys to shape the themes, findings, and strategies in the plan.

The Washington Creative Economy Strategic Plan reached its final stages of completion in FY2023.

Strategic Plan Key Priorities

Equitable access to resources within the creative economy

Investments in a creative economy that contribute to livability

A robust creative talent pipeline

Creative entrepreneurship and the creative workforce

Photo courtesy of ArtsWA.

ArtsWA Art in Public Places

Conservation Lead Jonathan

Hickerson reinstalls hand-built

Porcelain Tile Mural (1984) by Rudy Autio, 2023.

Walla Walla, WA

State Arts Agency

Engagement

BY THE NUMBERS

State Arts Agency Engagement

Since 2019, WESTAF has increased direct funding in the region by 149%. In FY23, we significantly expanded engagement with our 16 state and jurisdictional arts agencies partners, increasing individual meetings with state and jurisdictional arts agencies from 74 in 2022 to 231 in 2023. We also held 197 meetings with citizen advocacy groups and lobbyists in our region and conducted 24 consulting engagements with state and jurisdictional arts agencies and other state government partners.

149% INCREASE IN DIRECT FUNDING IN STATES

Since 2019

231 MEETINGS WITH STATE AND JURISDICTIONAL ARTS AGENCIES

197 MEETINGS WITH ADVOCACY GROUPS & LOBBYISTS

Projects by State or Jurisdiction

Alaska

• Alaska Cultural Trust Support

• Workshops at Alaska Arts and Culture Conference

American Samoa

• NEA Partnership Application Support

• GO Smart Application Set Up

Arizona

• Executive Director Transition Support

California

• Greater Bay Area Arts and Culture Advocacy Coalition

• California for the Arts Strategic Planning

• California Creative Economy Work Group with Cal Forward

Colorado

• Executive Director Transition Support/Search Process

Guam

24 TECHNICAL CONSULTING ENGAGEMENTS

• Percent for Art Program Policies and Procedures Development

• Mariana Islands Arts and Dance Festival Support

• NEA Partnership Application Support

• GoSmart Artist Application Transition

Hawai'i

• State Foundation Executive Director Transition

• Hawai'i Arts Alliance Transition

New Mexico

• Creative New Mexico Legislative Planning

Northern Marianas

• NEA Partnership Application Support

• Festival of Pacific Arts and Cultures Artist Application

Oregon

• Creative Districts Steering Committee

• Oregon Arts and Culture Caucus Liaison Support and Management

• Advocacy Coalition Facilitation

Washington

• Washington Creative Economy Strategic Plan

• Arts for All Planning Process Facilitation

CONVENINGS

Arts Leadership and Advocacy Seminar

In February of 2023, WESTAF brought back an in-person federal advocacy day in Washington, DC. 73 arts advocates from 14 of WESTAF’s 16 regional states and jurisdictions participated in 55 Congressional meetings with House and Senate offices to speak on the importance of federal support for arts and culture. WESTAF also hosted a public webinar on federal advocacy to continue advocacy capacity building in the field attended by 174 people.

55 U.S. HOUSE AND SENATE CONGRESSIONAL MEETINGS

73 ARTS ADVOCATES

Photos by Ceylon Mitchell.

Creative Vitality™ Summit

WESTAF’s Creative Vitality™ Summit brought together 20 speakers across 5 panels and 3 days, from Nov. 30–Dec. 2, to discuss the intersections between the creative economy and technological and social change. Artists, designers, technologists, arts advocates and policy experts considered the impact of new economic models, new forms of investment, and technological change in arts, culture and the creative economy.

In its first 2 years, CV Summit had nearly 900 registrants from 44 states and internationally. Unique attendees per session averaged 130, with a 43% attendance rate across all sessions. Summit partners have included the National Endowment for the Arts, National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC), art.coop, ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, rootoftwo, and Grantmakers in the Arts.

The Summit featured five panels:

Digital Transformation: Propositions, Approaches & Futures

Decolonizing Methodologies: Arts & Culture in the Digital Age

Civic Imagination: Growing the Cultural Networks of Civic Infrastructure

Liberatory Investment Models for the Creative Economy

Technologies of Friendship and Solidarity with Art.coop

~ 900 REGISTRANTS FROM

44 STATES & INTERNATIONALLY

20 SPEAKERS

5 PANELS

Executive Director Forum

In June 2023, WESTAF hosted the Annual State Arts Agency Executive Directors Forum in Girdwood, Alaska, where 13 of 16 state and jurisdictional arts agencies executive directors and interim directors participated in a two-day seminar focused on providing support to rural, frontier, and remote communities, creative districts, arts and culture driven education and more.

I am so pleased with the guidance, support and leadership WESTAF has provided to me and my agency since [I've been in] this new role.

— State Arts Agency Executive Director

Greater Bay Area Arts and Cultural Advocacy Coalition

The coalition, established in April 2022 and composed of about 25 active members, successfully advocated for the restoration of the City of Oakland Cultural Affairs Division FY2024 budget and increased support for several City of Berkeley Civic Arts FY2024 initiatives. The group has met online and in person in San Jose, Oakland, Santa Rosa, and in August 2023, met in San Francisco to lay the foundation to establish organizing and policy fellowships, which identified Bay Area leaders who will work to deepen the impact of the coalition.

Through workshops, panels, and facilitated discussions, the group defined its values:

• Live with integrity

• Cultivate and nurture belonging

• Invest in joy

• Advance justice

Feb. 2024 Board of Trustees Community Dinner and Feb. 2023 Arts Leadership & Advocacy Seminar (Photos by Ceylon Mitchel)

WEB SERVICES FOR THE ARTS

WESTAF is an experienced technology developer, offering platforms and tools that transform the way artists and organizations approach their work.

CaFE

BY THE NUMBERS

12,500 CALLS FOR ENTRY ADMINISTERED

3,137,470 ENTRIES SUBMITTED

155,700 ACTIVE ARTISTS

767 ORGANIZATIONS USING CAFÉ

166 NEW CUSTOMERS ADDED IN FY23

CaFÉ strives to make art opportunities available to all and is the top choice for arts organizations nationwide that want a seamless call-for-artists experience.

Stories of Creative Connection

CaFÉ released two blog posts highlighting how it has helped to connect arts organizations with artists, streamlining their processes to foster thriving artistic communities.

Connecting the Community to the Arts: Galesburg Community Arts Center

The Galesburg Community Arts Center is an influential arts organization serving a five-county region in rural west-central Illinois. Originally founded in 1923 as the Galesburg Civic Art League, the center connects its community to the arts through exhibitions, community events, and an artist residency program.

Bringing Art to the Streets: The Paseo Project

The Paseo Project is a nonprofit arts organization located in Taos, New Mexico. It’s brought art to the streets since 2014 through the annual PASEO festival, Artist in Residence program, and community-based public art projects.

CaFÉ 'All Over the Place'

This call invited artists representing a variety of mediums across many locations and identities to submit artwork centered around the exploration of the relationship to or the personal experiences of a particular place, community, or its impact on one’s identity. We featured 97 artists on CaFÉ’s social media pages.

Top, center, clockwise:

For Me by Cassandra Chalfant.

Ending Peppers by Brandy Agun.

Goddess by Brittany Alston.

Bali Site Map by Jane Ingram Allan. *Photo courtesy of Timothy S. Allen.

Inside Outside Recovery, Ceramics Studio (Clinton Hill Bklyn) by Meridith McNeal.

ZAPP®

ZAPP FY23

BY THE NUMBERS

941 ART FAIRS & FESTIVALS

570 ORGANIZATIONS ON ZAPP

49 NEW CLIENTS

7,580 ARTISTS HELPED

87,704 ACTIVE ARTIST/ VENDOR PROFILES 22% Growth from Oct. 2022 to Sept. 2023

145,471 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED

ZAPP is the premiere online application and adjudication management system used by nearly 900 art fairs and festivals and over 65,000 artists nationwide.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation: A Story of Arts, Culture, and Opportunity

A collaboration across CaFÉ, GO Smart and ZAPP that explores how WESTAF—through its suite of technology products—supports, uplifts and expands arts programming and artistic endeavors.

Read the full blog post >

Industry Topics and Issues

ZAPP made a concerted effort in FY23 to address important topics to those who organize and participate in art fairs and festivals, including how to make the process of selecting artists for participation (jurying) more equitable, and developed ZAPP’s Guide to Equitable Jurying (PDF).

Inspired by survey results from customers citing their concerns for the future of the industry, ZAPP also created "Art Fairs and Festivals in a Changing Climate: Adapting to Environmental Challenges" to address how climate change impacts outdoor events in particular.

Collaboration with Public Art Archive

ZAPP collaborated with the PAA team to build multi-faceted arts connections through the encouragement of public art tours for the road warriors (artists) who travel city to city, state to state, and region to region to participate in art fairs and festivals.

Top:

In collaboration with the Jazz & Heritage Archive, the Arhoolie Foundation displayed a curated selection of photographs by Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz, who documented Jazz Fest from the beginning.

Left:

Photo by Laura J Gardner Photography courtesy of Madison Chautauqua.

GO Smart™

GO Smart FY23

BY THE NUMBERS

$24M

TOTAL FUNDED

124 GRANT PROGRAMS ADMINISTERED

14,000 GRANT APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED

GO Smart™ is an easy to use, time-saving, and affordable online grants management system, designed for arts administrators by arts administrators.

ArtsHERE

GO Smart was selected as the grants management platform for ArtsHERE, a new National Endowment for the Arts grant program designed to increase opportunities for arts participation. More than 4,100 applicants submitted statements of interest.

National Endowment for the Arts Tools

GO Smart refreshed its NEA reporting tools, allowing administrators to customize the way demographics data is collected, which was an invaluable update for state arts agencies who use GO Smart.

Site Accessibility Audit

Ablr conducted an audit of the GO Smart site, providing extensive feedback on accessibility improvements. The GO Smart team worked diligently (and continues this work) throughout the year on these improvements.

National Endowment for the Arts ArtsHERE social graphics.

Public Art Archive™

Public Art Archive

FY23

23,000 ARTWORKS IN PUBLIC ART ARCHIVE

6,015

NEW MEDIA RECORDS Images, video, PDFs

ORGANIC WEB TRAFFIC INCREASED 127% TO OVER

111,000 ACTIVE USERS

The Public Art Archive (PAA) is a free, continually growing, online and mobile database of completed public artworks and offers a suite of resources and tools built for public art collections management.

PAA In the News

• "Public Art Archive launches new website to make public art available for all" ArtDaily.com.

• "New Tool Helps Alexandrians Find Off the Beaten Path Public Art" by Vernon Miles. ALXNow.

• "Ekphrastic Jazz in Hillsboro: Creating new music inspired by public art" by Brett Campbell. Oregon Artswatch.

• "World Travel Made Accessible With Beeyonder" by Chadd Scott. Forbes.

• "Unique Art Across America" by Andre Rios. American Lifestyle Magazine.

New Public Engagement Portal

The newly redesigned PAA website increased accessibility and user-friendliness within this resource built to discover the history, context and meaning behind each work. The new platform was built with the following goals in mind:

• An improved public engagement experience

• Location-based public art suggestions and on-the-go accessibility

• More emphasis on art and Collection Showcases

• Modernized collection maps and search results

• Exclusive access to artworks not on view

• Improved artwork detail pages

Launch of “Street Scene: CETA Murals, New Haven, and the Late 1970s”

This virtual exhibition features a content-rich dive into the colorful photographic imagery of the murals, artists, participants, and scenes of New Haven in the 1970s, when the CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) program was in play. Built with content researched and organized by Laura A. Macaluso, Ph.D.; Public Art Archive’s, Lori Goldstein; and Alison Verplaetse, the exhibition traces the beginnings of the program sourced by the federal government, how the program took shape in New Haven, Connecticut, and the people involved in shaping its legacy in the community.

Credit: Images of New Haven street scenes sourced from Andy Blair, who documented New Haven between 1971–1974.

Images of murals and CETA participants provided by Ruth Resnick (Johnson).

Creative Vitality™ Suite

CVSuite provides centralized access to cleaned and vetted, for-profit and nonprofit labor market data to help arts advocates, economic developers and revitalizers analyze and demonstrate the impact of the creative economy.

CVSuite Partnerships & Collaborations

CVSuite data supports organizations across the western region and beyond. In 2023, we partnered with several organizations to support their data needs — from advocacy efforts, analysis and economic development to ambitious initiatives like developing a creative economy strategic plan.

New Year, New Data

As part of our commitment to providing our clients with the most relevant and high-quality creative economy data and analysis tools, we rolled out two data updates in 2023. These included a fresh set of numbers for all data years on the CV Suite site with current, more accurate data so that year-overyear trends remain comparable for creative economy projects.

Thank You Supporters, Partners & Donors

WESTAF gratefully acknowledges and deeply thanks our supporters, partners and individual donors for their financial contributions, vision, guidance and — most of all — believing in our mission to serve diverse audiences and enrich the lives of local communities, providing access to the arts for all.

FY23 Financial Summary

Teniqua Broughton

Bassem Bejjani Vice Chair

Adrian San Miguel Treasurer

Karmen Rossi Secretary

Julie Baker

Amber-Dawn Bear Robe

Lisa Becker

Susan Garbett

Jayne Butler

Goodman

Karen Ewald

Ann Hudner

Michelle LaFlamme-Childs

David Mack

Tony Manfredi

Megan Miller

Andrea Noble

Jess Peña

Brandy Reitter

Brian Rogers

Makanani Sala

Kelly Stowell

Staff

Read Staff bios online at WESTAF.org

Christian Gaines Executive Director

WEB SERVICES FOR ARTS, CULTURE AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY

Christina Villa Director of Business

Ashley Arias ZAPP® and CaF´E Customer Experience Coordinator

Michelle Baca Business Financial Specialist

Mareike Bergen ZAPP® Manager

Justine Chapel Communications and Marketing Manager, CaFÉ™ and ZAPP®

ALLIANCES, ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICY

David Holland Deputy Director

Cynthia Chen Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy

Cameron Green Regional Engagement Manager

GRANTS AWARDS AND PROGRAMS

Anika Ten´e Director of Grants, Awards and Programs

Josh Ellis Grants and Inclusion Manager

Ashanti McGee Grants and Access Manager

Marcelina Ramirez Grants, Awards and Programs Coordinator

Sierra Scott Grants Specialist

Aliah Chavez ZAPP® Customer Support Coordinator

Drew Chavez ZAPP® Customer Experience Coordinator

Ken Cho Sales Coordinator

Kelsey Foster GO Smart™ and CVSuite Support Coordinator

Lori Goldstein Senior Public Art Archive™ Manager

Jessica Gronich GO Smart™ and CVSuite Manager

Ayanna Hwang CaFE™ Operations Coordinator

Amelia Leinbach ZAPP® Coordinator

Paola Matos CaFÉ Customer Experience Coordinator

Erika McCloud Business Operations Coordinator

Toluwanimi Obiwole Business Project Coordinator

Tyler Speller CaFÉ Customer Experience Coordinator

Raquel Vasquez Senior Manager, CaFÉ™

Alison Verplaetse Public Art Archive™ Coordinator

Natalie Villa Project Management Specialist

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Leah Horn Director of Marketing and Communications

Brittany Howell Events Manager

Samantha Ortega Marketing Manager

Natalie Scherlong Communications Manager

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Amy Hollrah Director of Finance and Administration

Rebecca Dominguez Human Resources and Office Manager

Jessica Martinez HR and Office Coordinator

Michelle Reilly Finance Coordinator

Lauren Wilson Finance Technical Specialist

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Paul Nguyen Director of Technology

Jonathan Cantwell Software Engineer Ben Casalino UX and Frontend Engineer

Brett O’Connor DevOps System Administrator

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