Panels as Pathways: How ARTS Turns Grant Review into an Art Form

If you squint at the bottom of a playbill or art exhibit description at a Seattle theater or gallery, you'll often see the characters A&C written in purple, surrounded by a circle. That's the logo of the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, or ARTS, which funds some $13 million worth of artistic endeavors throughout Seattle every year. Ranging from LGBTQIA+ outdoor film screenings in Cal Anderson Park to music workshops for blind and visually-impaired youth at Jack Straw Cultural Center, the cultural offerings backed by grants from ARTS cover a wide spectrum.

But who selects these recipients of public funds, when there are always more worthy proposals than available resources? Enter community selection panels, a necessary behind-the-scenes mechanism for carefully sifting through applications, discussing their merits, and reaching a verdict. For ARTS, assembling a panel is a central component of procurement practice - the on-average 80 panelists hired annually are all consultants paid competitive hourly or per diem rates - and it's not to be taken lightly. An innovative approach to panel selection and preparation has put this department on the forefront of equitable procurement in the cultural sector.

"We are very intentional," says ARTS Senior Panel Coordinator & Data Liaison Alexandra Chase. "We are picking people embedded in the arts community who already have a racial equity lens and who have oftentimes applied for grants before. They have an inside understanding of what they're looking at."

[Link]Cast and crew of Tagalog sa King Street, 2019. Left to right: Ai Lalo, Leah Mitts, Lorna Velasco, Arlo Magpoc, Nina de Torres Ignacio, Pia Rivera, Andrea Castillo, and Manny Golez. Photo courtesy Velasco Arts.

Before diving into reviews, all panelists undergo an ARTS-led orientation that covers topics like implicit bias, the difference between equity and equality, and how to strike a balance between encouraging new and emerging artists versus rewarding long standing artists. Even though scoring follows a numeric rubric based on set criteria, the orientation unpacks those scores to ensure panelists are reviewing based on the same metrics.

This thoughtful orientation fosters a collegial environment. "The orientation reveals vulnerability, which builds connection and trust," Chase said. "When it comes to panel day, there is a spirit of mutual respect. There are disagreements, but the tone remains civil."

Theater producer Lorna Velasco has experienced firsthand this embrace of working artists who have an equity lens. After making two successful grant applications in the 2010s related to Filipino theater arts, she was asked to serve on panels that reviewed applications for the Arts in Parks Program as well as Neighborhood and Community Arts Grants. For the career artist, the invitation was a refreshing change from business as usual.

[Link]Actors Nina de Torres Ignacio, Eloisa Cardona, and Roger Rigor read plays in vernacular for the Tagalog Festival at Theatre off Jackson, 2018. This stage reading was funded by smART venture grant. Photo courtesy Velasco Arts.

"It was the first time I was ever invited to be part of an arts panel in my over 20 years as a working artist," Velasco said. "The landscape of arts giving in the last 20 years has been really inequitable. Only the very few and very connected are invited to the table. Without those connections, you invite the people that you know. And if you have a group of people that are homogeneous, or part of institutions not based on community-led artistic work, there's a sense of gatekeeping that happens across the artistic landscape in grant giving."

Breaking down those barriers is precisely the goal behind ARTS' panel selection efforts, which comes with other fringe benefits. "A key strength of the panel process is that those panelists are then better prepared to apply in the future-and are more likely to receive an award," said Chase.

Ultimately, seasoned artists like Velasco and fellow panelists who are still hoping to land a grant form a symbiotic relationship when serving together on panels. The end result fosters better selections and nourishes a healthier cultural ecosystem.

This is a blog post from the Mayor's Innovation and Performance Team (I & P).Learn more about the Procurement Transformation project, and stay up to date by signing up for the Innovation & Performance newsletter.

Seattle is the recipient of a $1 million Bloomberg Procurement Transformation Grant, a partnership between the Department of Finance and Administrative Services and I & P, with technical assistance from the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Laband coaching calls from the Bloomberg Public Center for Innovation at Johns Hopkins University (BCPI).

The project aims to transform City procurement to be more efficient, results-driven, equitable, and strategic. As part of this, the City is highlighting a multi-part series of stories that demonstrate citywide promising practices that can better support our Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses (WMBEs).

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