Founded in 1967, Allied Arts Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Seattle. Today, the organization continues its legacy of leadership in the arts by providing yearly artist grants, high school artist awards, a poetry award, music scholarships and fiscal sponsorship for artists and arts organizations. We also support arts advocacy and historic preservation.

Mission Vision & Values

Our Vision

Allied Arts Foundation supports all forms of healthy artistic endeavors and strives to foster a welcoming and inclusive artistic community.

Our Mission

Our mission is to support artists, art projects, and arts-related organizations by providing 501(c)(3) non-profit fiscal sponsorship, artist awards, and arts advocacy, and other support as determined by the Board of Directors.

Our Values

  • Encouragement — providing members of our artistic community with support and recognition for their talents

  • Integrity — operating with high ethical standards, including honesty and transparency, as well as consistency and accountability with our word, actions, and intentions

  • Creativity — celebrating artistic endeavors of all kinds

  • Inclusivity — embracing and promoting diversity across all levels of our organization and the opportunities we provide

  • Excellence — striving for, recognizing, and rewarding outstanding achievement Advocacy — promoting and fighting for causes we believe in

History

Founded in 1967, AAF began as the funding arm of Allied Arts of Seattle, a venerable citizen advocacy organization which had, since the mid-’50s, worked to enliven the cultural vitality of the city through urban design planning, historic preservation, and arts funding.

Robert Jackson Block dedicated a substantial amount of personal investment income toward the creation of an Allied Arts Foundation investment fund to prevent Seattle from being relegated to what English conductor Sir Thomas Beecham referred to as a “Cultural Dustbin.”

With Jerry Thonn, an attorney who had worked tirelessly with Friends of the Market to preserve Pike Place Market as Seattle’s first designated historic district, and with Peggy Golberg, Mr. Block formed the nucleus of a group determined to put money where Allied Arts’ voice was.

In supporting advocacy and education programs through their annual gala auctions, Allied Arts Foundation took root providing the necessary heft that allowed the influential advocacy group to help pass important historical initiatives. These included creating the city’s and state’s first arts commissions, mandating better arts funding through the one percent of county revenues for the arts and King County’s hotel/motel tax, placing restrictions on billboards, and helping to preserve Seattle’s historic buildings and create both the Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square historic districts to protect the city’s unique flavor and character, as well as its colorful past.

Allied Arts was on the forefront of a sustained and comprehensive effort to push Seattle out of its comfortable sleep as a cultural backwater toward its rich future as a vital urban magnet.

AAF Book

The complete story of Allied Arts is told in Stirring Up Seattle: Allied Arts in the Civic Landscape by R. M. Campbell. It’s a compelling read about the dynamic visionaries who helped shape the Seattle arts scene we know today.

Order online through University of Washington Press.

Oral History Project

Creating Stirring Up Seattle involved recording the oral histories of our founders. These videos have been preserved at MOHAI, HistoryLink.Org and on our AAF Youtube Channel.

We invite you to enjoy the rich histories and delightful anecdotes from these luminaries, many of whom are no longer with us.

501(c)(3) Information

Founded in 1967, Allied Arts Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Seattle.

IRS EIN: 91-0829974

IRS 501(c)(3) Determination Letter (Designation March 1, 1968)

SAM Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): R3WAK8N7UQX3

Board of Directors

  • Llewelyn G. Pritchard, President Emeritus Attorney, Helsell Fetterman, Emeritus

  • Lydia Aldredge, President Independent Artist: Archetype

  • Brooks Kolb, Vice President Landscape Architect, Brooks Kolb LLC

  • Lara Lavi, Treasurer Owner, Dreaming in Color Entertainment

  • David Cruse Beal Vice President, Starbucks – Global Loyalty & Digital Development

  • Kenan Block Kenan Block Media & Communications

  • John Bowen, Jr. Independent Artist

  • Gene Brandzel Attorney, Gene Brandzel PLLC, Retired

  • Mary B. Coney Literature Professor, Univ. of WA, Retired

  • Glenda Downs Owner, Sky River Meadery

  • Leonard Garfield Executive Director, Museum of History and Industry

  • Effie Gleason Manager, Canvas Event Space

  • Abby Hagan Documentary Filmmaker, Moxie Media

  • Gerald Hansmire Founder, Makers Architecture and Urban Design, Retired

  • Jane Hastings Technical Architect, Retired

  • Sally Hayman Art Critic, Retired

  • Olivia Neal Howell Owner, The Olivia Neal Experience, Inc.

  • Virginia Hungate-Hawk Artist, Instructor, Stadium High in Tacoma & Pratt Fine Arts Center

  • Karen Kane President, Madison Park Community Council

  • Cheryl Lee Associate, Helsell Fetterman

  • Matt Marshall Director of Development, Northwest African American Museum

  • Carey Page Graphic Designer, Carey Page Designs

  • Margaret Pageler Seattle City Council, Retired

  • Tae Phoenix Artist

  • Bill Pritchard Amazon – Legal World Wide Operations

  • Jeff Rinedahl

  • Olga Sagan Owner, Piroshky Piroshky

  • Cherie Seymore Leasing Agent, Phillips Real Estate Services

  • Michele Soderstrom Art Instructor, Port Townsend High School

  • Peter Steinbrueck Architect, Steinbrueck Urban Strategies

  • Tree Swenson Co-founder, Copper Canyon Press

  • Judy Talley Engineer/Owner, The Talley Group

  • Boyka Thayer Interior Designer/Owner, Tattersall Design

  • Jerry Thonn Attorney, Helsell Fetterman, Retired

  • Jessica Thonn Instructor, Centro Linguistico di Ateneo

  • Janet True Member, Swedish Foundation Board

  • Kate Wade Independent Artist

  • Lish Whitson Attorney, Lish Whitson PLLC

  • Virginia Wyman Trustee, Wyman Youth Trust