CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION _________________
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A RESOLUTION creating an Arts & Cultural District in the Uptown neighborhood of Seattle.
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WHEREAS, Resolution 31555 created a city-wide program of Arts & Cultural Districts, to be managed by the Office of Arts & Culture; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Comprehensive Plan calls for the support of Arts & Cultural Districts as a means to “support arts and cultural uses and the economic benefits they provide,” and encourages The City of Seattle (City) to “allow regulations and incentives to be adopted specifically for designated cultural districts,” and to “allow adopted guidelines or regulations to modify, exempt, or supersede the standards of the underlying zone to encourage arts and cultural uses;” and
WHEREAS, the Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study reported that Seattle’s nonprofit arts and culture industry generated $448,000,000 in annual economic activity, $248,000,000 in household income, $38,000,000 in local and state government revenues, and 10,807 full-time equivalent jobs; and
WHEREAS, arts- and entertainment-related businesses and organizations add cultural and economic diversity to a city, enhance the lives of the city’s residents and visitors, and positively impact the city’s economy by generating jobs and revenue; and
WHEREAS, the Uptown neighborhood is already one of the most culturally rich and dense areas of Seattle. It is home to some of the region’s largest cultural institutions, as well as being fertile ground for emerging small arts organizations. Within a one-mile walk of the Space Needle a Seattleite can take advantage of over 60 cultural spaces - art galleries, museums, studios, theaters, cinemas, clubs, bookstores, music venues, and art, music, and culturally-oriented community events; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to recognize and protect its arts-rich areas from the displacement that the twin successes of growth and new development often bring; and
WHEREAS Uptown has been home to some of the region’s best-respected arts and cultural organizations, including Art/Not Terminal, the Seattle Children’s Museum, the Pacific Science Center, On the Boards, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, SIFF Cinemas, INCA (Institute for New Connotative Action), G. Gibson Gallery, The Crane Gallery, Keys on Main, Mercer Street Books, KEXP, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theatre, Bumbershoot, Seattle Immersive Theatre, the Intiman Theatre, the Seattle Children’s Theatre, Vera Project, Pottery Northwest, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Teen Tix, Folklife Festival, Festál, Cornish College of the Arts, SIS Productions, KING-FM, ArtsFund, Theatre Puget Sound, KCTS 9, the Museum of Pop Culture, the Chihuly Garden and Glass, The Group Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Arthur Murray Dance Studio, and more; and
WHEREAS, the individuals working for and with the cultural institutions in Uptown have been largely priced out of the neighborhood, the neighborhood believes, and the City concurs, that a program supporting equitable and affordable development can preserve a sense of place and lessen the displacement that new development often brings;
WHEREAS, a group of stakeholders has self-organized and requested formal recognition as an Arts & Cultural District, organized around four guiding missions:
• A cultural integration across the geography of Uptown from Seattle Center to the Heart of Uptown and beyond;
• A commitment to racial and social equity;
• The activation of cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration;
• The development and measurement of Uptown’s creative economy;
NOW THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:
Section 1. The City of Seattle establishes an Arts & Cultural District in the Uptown neighborhood of Seattle, to be known as the Uptown Arts & Cultural District.
Section 2. The City of Seattle directs appropriate members of the City’s departmental staff to actively support and work with staff in the Office of Arts & Culture to develop and maintain the District, and to support the health and vitality of the artists, creative businesses, and artists residing in the District.
Section 3. The City of Seattle encourages all residents of Uptown, and especially those who own property or businesses within the District, to support, promote, and help maintain artists, arts organizations, and arts events in Uptown.
Adopted by the City Council the ____ day of ____________________, 2017, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this________ day
of ______________________, 2017.
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President ___________of the City Council
The Mayor concurred the _____ day of _______________________, 2017.
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Tim Burgess, Mayor
Filed by me this ____ day of ________________________, 2017.
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Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)