CCWD Partners

The Cultural Programs Office at Seattle Center strives to uplift and manage public programming that centers the cultural communities of our region. This work is experienced most visibly through Seattle Center Festál, a series of free cultural festivals presented in partnership with community organizations throughout the year. Currently, Festál features 24 festivals, each with a unique cultural focus, identity, and range of engaging activities (e.g. food, crafts, music, dance, art, film, literature, and more). Northwest Folklife is one of the original eleven events that helped launch Festál in 1997. In 2022, Seattle Center Festál celebrated its 25th Anniversary ushering in a new era of hybrid programming.

Additional events that the Cultural Programs Office supports include: International Children’s Friendship Festival (ICFF), A Day in Punjab, Naturalization Ceremony, and the Race & Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) Summit.

Heidi Jackson is the Managing Artistic Director and Vivian Huang is the Senior Public/Cultural Programs Specialist. They jointly supervise the Cultural Programs internship. To learn more about Festál, visit the Seattle Center website here.

REDEFINE is dedicated to conscious growth through long-form arts journalism.

REDEFINE magazine is an independent, grassroots publication. Through interdisciplinary coverage, it shines light upon a rainbow spectrum⁠ of innovative thinkers and boundary-pushing artists, who engage in complex ruminations about self and society through their craft.

REDEFINE was founded in 2004, initially as a print publication before it moved online in 2006. It focuses on how the arts influence and are influenced by other walks of life — including literature, philosophy, science, spirituality, politics, and philanthropy — with the intention of inspiring positive social change.

Vee Hua is the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE and supervises the internship. Visit their website HERE. 

Founded in 1996, Velocity is an artist-led nonprofit in Seattle, WA that is dedicated to providing Seattle dance-makers with the resources, advocacy, and collaborative support they need to blossom their ideas into impactful art and community actions. This is central to our mission to advance contemporary dance and movement-based art by fostering the creative explorations of artists and audiences. We do this through flexible and responsive platforms that support dance research and creation, movement education, and opportunities to share and experience contemporary dance performance.

Our core programs include Velocity’s Creative Residency Programs, a ladder of new work incubator programs and process-driven residencies; Movement Education Programs, which provide training and classes for beginning through professional dancers, including the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation; and Velocity Presents, a full season of performances, discussions, and community collaborations.

Within our community, we are working to specifically serve people who identify as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC and Low Income. In 2023, 59% of our programming was led by or featured artists of color and 62% LGBTQ+ artists, and 25% of our class-takers identified as Transgender, Black, Indigenous or People of Color. To increase access to training and professional development for Transgender and BIPOC individuals, Velocity offers more than $15,000 annually in fee waivers for self-identifying TBIPOC individuals to attend all of our classes and training programs at no cost. Additionally, nearly 60% of community members qualify as low-income in Seattle. We continue to offer sliding scale and artists/low income ticket and class pricing, work/study discount programs, and other strategies for making our programs as financially accessible as possible. 

Shane Donohue is the Creative Producer and supervises the Velocity internship. Visit their website HERE.

Founded by Carolyn Hitt in 2015, Blue Cone Studios is a creative community production space located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, WA. In the Before Times, (Pre-Covid, Pre-George Floyd Uprising) our open recording sessions, weekly art nights, ongoing mentorships and other events were our staple point of connectivity with the community. In the Now Times of 2020 and beyond, we find ourselves shifting and honing energies towards mutual aid and resource support for artists in our network struggling with housing insecurity. Visit foreversafespaces.org to find out more about our efforts.

Mission:

Blue Cone is a coalition of independent artists dedicated to seeking out, collaborating with, supporting and promoting local Black, Indigenous, Non-Black POC, LGBTQ+, and neurodivergent artists and orgs. Our ongoing mission since 2015 has been the upliftment of Seattle’s creative community through direct investment in and engagement with emerging artists from typically marginalized communities. Our primary objective is to provide affordable space and creative programming to artists of all backgrounds and education giving those with experience the opportunity to inspire and mentor those who are discovering and honing their talents. We envision a strong local arts ecosystem that lifts from the bottom to amplify and empower creative communities in Seattle. By telling their stories, providing space for them to tell their own stories, and creating platforms for their craft to be seen, we hope to give the most underserved in our communities a safe place to develop and practice their skills.

Carolyn Hitt supervises the Blue Cone internship. Visit their website HERE.

Milli is an award-winning, modern creative and strategy agency based in Seattle.

Founded in 2014, Milli has evolved alongside the rapidly changing social media and digital marketing industries. From beloved local burger chainlets to multi-billion dollar household name consumer brands, we've done it all. Our focus is on innovative brand strategy, scroll-stopping creative, and whip smart social media and integrated marketing programs. But more than that, our work is rooted in our values: as a BIPOC and millennial led agency we believe strongly that diversity, inclusion, equity and social impact are not only essential to the work we believe is worth doing but that they ultimately make all of our work and our clients more successful and sustainable.

Select clients include Darigold, Amazon, Red Bull, Talking Rain, Brew Dr. Kombucha, King County, University of Washington, The City of Seattle, and Scrappy's Bitters.

Mike Huang is the founder and managing director of Milli and supervises the Milli internship. Visit their website HERE.

The Rhapsody Project (tRp) is a community that explores and celebrates music, heritage, and culture through an anti-racist lens. Our music programs create spaces for cultural exchange, while our students and interns help guide our organization and values. Through a partnership with Seattle's Lady A, our project is building a new curriculum for teaching the legacy of Northwest blues in PNW schools. We are also anchor partners in the project to renovate the 2nd floor of Seattle's King Street Station, establishing it as a hub for creative workforce development in our city's historic Jackson Street jazz district.

Joe Seamons is the facilitator and co-founder, and oversees The Rhapsody internship. For more information, visit the Rhapsody website.

TeenTix exists to break down the barriers that prevent teens from accessing art in our community, such as ticket or admission cost, not knowing where to look for events, navigating transportation around the city, and feeling insecure around arts-going if there's no one in their lives already championing the arts.

TeenTix was founded in 2004 by Seattle Center and in partnership with ten of the resident arts organizations on the Seattle Center campus. In 2006, TeenTix began adding partners outside of Seattle Center. Currently, 70+ arts organizations throughout the Puget Sound region participate in the TeenTix program, including Tacoma Art Museum, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Art Museum, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle International Film Festival, Tacoma Arts Live, Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), 5th Avenue Theatre, and ACT Theatre. To date, TeenTix has facilitated the sale of over 130,000 arts tickets to teens.

Mariko Smithashima is the Teen Programs Director, and Monique Courcy is the Executive Director. They jointly supervise the Digital Marketing Coordinator internship. For more information visit the TeenTix website.

Ground Zero Radio is a youth-led platform, in the form of radio, that cultivates and connects with the community by amplifying the youth voice through music, sports, activism, the arts, and culture. Throughout the pandemic the youth of GZ Radio have been hard at work building community relationships and executing career connected learning programs with partner organizations that empower youth to take ownership of their futures. GZ Radio's efforts are centered to serve youth who have an interest in pursuing careers related to multimedia and the entertainment industry with focuses on radio, broadcasting, podcasting, journalism, audio/video production, marketing, social media, event planning, and civic engagement.

Masao Yamada is the founder of Ground Zero radio and supervises the Ground Zero Internship. Visit their Instagram page HERE.

Converge Media is a leading producer of culturally relevant content in Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest. We create videos, editorial and creative writing, podcasts, and local news coverage curated specifically for an urban audience. We believe that the Black community deserves authentic representation, a focus on our community’s issues, and equitable access to elected officials, leadership, and governmental information.

Founded by Seattle Central District natives Omari Salisbury and Erik Kalligraphy, from day one, Converge Media has been a platform to amplify not only our own original content but also the content of independent African-American creators throughout the region, providing them with access to our engaged audience that is interested in their voices and perspectives. Omari supervises the digital storytelling internship at Converge Media. Visit their website HERE.

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods provides resources and opportunities for community members to build strong communities and improve their quality of life. Through our programs and services, we meet people where they are and help neighbors develop a stronger sense of place, build closer ties, and engage with their community and city government.

Sam Read is the interim communications manager at the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and supervises the communications and storytelling internship. Visit their website HERE.

Founded in 2007 by three then teenagers – Jesse Harris, Jocelyn R.C., and Kyle Seago – the National Film Festival for Talented Youth is now the world’s largest and most influential film festival for emerging filmmakers. Our annual attendance at our core program, a four-day festival held in Seattle called NFFTY, ranges from 10,000 - 12,000. Year round, we partner with local schools and nonprofit organizations to produce programs centering youth, both to foster interest to pursue a career in media arts and film, as well as provide practical and actionable career advice to emerging filmmakers. Additionally, NFFTY produces and distributes free programming online to tens of thousands of youth worldwide, including our long-running Film of the Week and NFFTY Podcast programs, which screen a short film for free and then have a deep dive interview with the filmmaker(s) behind the film. We realize that film career pathways are evolving ever more swiftly, and that learning from someone at or near the same step on the career ladder is infinitely more valuable than hearing from seasoned pros who have navigated the system – a system that historically has ensured that white, straight, cisgender men have more access to career advancement and positions of influence. In 2020 we added youth as moderators and hosts to nearly every panel, Q&A, and roundtable we produced across 20+ professional development events and 30+ screenings in a 10-day festival, our largest ever. Our endgame is to no longer allow industry gatekeepers the excuse “they just aren’t qualified or experienced enough” when asked to hire more women and people of color. NFFTY is uniquely positioned to help address Hollywood’s representation problem by encouraging, supporting, and championing young filmmakers.

Dan Hudson is the executive director at NFFTY and supervises the NFFTY Marketing and Programing internship program. Visit their website HERE.

Onyx Fine Arts Collective is a voluntary, non-profit, organization, based in Seattle, whose mission is to educate, inspire, cultivate, and showcase the artwork of artists of African descent from our Pacific Northwest communities. Onyx began with seven artists 17 years ago, and now has over 400 on their mailing list. Onyx is extremely grateful for the support from artists, donors, volunteers, business leaders, and local government. They understand the value Onyx brings to the community and their continued support allows us to advocate for the exhibition, recognition, and promotion of artists of African descent.

Elizabeth McDaniel, Onyx Board Member and Ashby Reed, Onyx Board VP/Contributing Artist jointly supervise the Onyx Digital Marketing internship. Visit their website HERE.

Penguin Productions unites youth leadership and adult mentorship to co-create theater and cultivate a healthy, equitable, thriving future through:

• Empowering confident, thoughtful youth leaders
• Making invigorating, inspiring, joyful theater 
• Creating diverse, inclusive spaces where everyone belongs 
• Nurturing artistic discovery and growth 
• Providing cost-free programming 

Penguin launched in 2017 with the world premiere of Frank Garland's "Operation 1600", written for the graduating high school senior class. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Shana Bestock, Penguin has continued to produce 4 shows annually, commission local playwrights for full length and festival productions, offer innovative workshops and theater intensives, and develop youth leadership potential and possibility.

Shana Bestock is the Producing Artistic Director at Penguin Productions and supervises the storytelling internship. Visit their website HERE.

Sphere Solar Energy is promoting equity and inclusion throughout Seattle to help communities have access to reliable energy throughout the globe, a portion of all company profits are targeted towards communities that lack access to electricity. Sphere Solar Energy’s mission is to make clean energy systems more accessible throughout the Northwest and in developing communities abroad so that a greater number of individuals can power their homes and their lives in a way that does not harm the environment for future generations.

Edwin Wanji is the CEO and founder of Sphere Solar Energy. He oversees the Sphere’s Marketing internship. Visit their website HERE.

The Vera Project is an all-ages nonprofit space dedicated to fostering personal and community transformation through collaborative, youth-driven engagement in music and art. A music venue, screen print shop, recording studio, art gallery, and safe space for radical self-expression, VERA is a home to Seattle’s creative community. Visit their website HERE.