:: Click here for a special 20th anniversary Artist Trust timeline! ::

Artist Trust was founded in 1987 by a group of artists and artist supporters who sought a creative way to remedy the lack of support for individual artists of all disciplines in Washington State. These visionaries saw a special opportunity to develop a unique model which could provide artists with resources to develop their work, and thus enrich their communities with new works of art. Artist Trust was launched with a carefully designed set of core programs of Grants and Information Services.

Each year Artist Trust directly serves more than 8,500 artists through its core programs of Grants and Information Services. Click here to read about Artist Trust's outreach throughout Washington State in Fiscal Year 2007.

Artist Trust has:

• supported more than 1,653 Washington State artists with over $3.2 million in grants and fellowships. The GAP (Grants to Artist Projects) award has grown from $500 to $1,500, and Fellowship awards have grown from $5,000 to $7,500. In addition, the Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, made possible through a $250,000 endowment gift, awards $10,000 to a female visual artist over 60 years of age.
  
  
• launched the Artist Trust website, with 24-hour access to vital information resources available to artists around the state (and the world);
  
  
• provided the bi-monthly electronic newsletter (re)Source, available by free e-mail subscription and posted online;
  
  
• published Art Source four times per year, to an average circulation of 8,000, providing comprehensive career development and support information, and thoughtful articles on current issues facing artists;
  
  
• published Possibilities, a comprehensive listing of artist opportunities, distributed to over 1,500 artists statewide six times per year;
  
  
• published Artists’ Assets once a year, an artist’s professional resource guide providing a wealth of resources on topics ranging from healthcare and emergency services, to employment and business development;
  
  
• provided a toll-free phone line (1-866-21TRUST) for artists to access Artist Trust staff, and responded to over 3,000 telephone inquiries annually on issues such as funding and professional opportunities, affordable workspace, health care, and intellectual property rights;
  
  
• opened a walk-in Artists' Assets Area, allowing artists to directly utilize the full scope of our resources. It is equipped with a computer for Internet research, a printer, photocopier, and a great number of periodicals, publications, newsletters and articles on a wide range of topics relevant to practicing artists;
  
  
• offered dozens of workshops annually on professional skill-building to artists in communities across the state;
  
  
• created the EDGE Professional Development Program, a six-week course for visual artists provides a comprehensive survey of professional practices through a hands-on, interactive curriculum that includes instruction by professionals in the field;
  
  
• regularly hosted Meet the Artist events during which artists share their work informally, giving citizens a rare glimpse into the artistic process.

Responses to the Artist Community: In addition to its core program areas, Artist Trust has responded to special concerns of artists:

• Health Care: In 1989, Artist Trust’s Health Care Committee determined that Artist Trust could not provide health care for its members in a way that would adequately satisfy the broad spectrum of needs. It urged artists to support the State Legislature's establishment of a state basic health plan, which was accomplished in 1989. In 1999, Artist Trust reaffirmed its role to provide artists with information about affordable, accessible health care. A 2004 $100,000 challenge grant from Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) is partially being used to spearhead the Washington Artists Health Insurance Project (WAHIP), a model effort to identify strategies for artists’ access to affordable health care.
  
  
• In its early years, Artist Trust was deeply involved with First Amendment issues as they impacted artists’ freedom of expression. Along with Allied Arts, Artist Trust led the effort to preserve the Mason and Spafford murals in government buildings in Olympia. Founding Executive Director David Mendoza left Artist Trust in 1990 to launch the National Campaign for the Freedom of Expression (NCFE). This development provided the arts community a monitor for censorship cases across the country and a defender of artists facing censorship.
  
  
• Emergency Relief: When a building in downtown Seattle housing many artist studios burned down in 1996, Artist Trust administered the Polson Building Artist Emergency Relief Fund. When the Nisqually Earthquake shook Western Washington in 2001, Artist Trust administered $40,000 in relief funds to several artists who suffered catastrophic losses.

Focus on Working Artists: Artist Trust continues to be a strong advocate for increased funding for art education. Since its beginning, Artist Trust has received requests to fund arts programs in the schools and scholarships for students and teachers. After carefully considering these important needs, Artist Trust has affirmed that its primary mission is to support and fund working artists in their art-making.

Institutional Management: To manage its expanding services, Artist Trust has developed a vital and increasingly sophisticated infrastructure of staff and Board personnel. As of July 2006 the Board of Trustees includes 22 members from communities across Washington. An Honorary Committee of 25 outstanding citizens has been gathered to help Artist Trust advocate for artists statewide and nationally. The highly skilled eight-member professional staff includes Executive Director Fidelma McGinn.
 
Strategic Plan: Artist Trust’s 2005-2009 strategic plan reaffirms the organization’s commitment to existing core programs – financial support and information services – while taking on some bold new initiatives such as the Washington Artists Health Insurance Project (WAHIP). The plan is specifically targeted at increasing Artist Trust’s long-term stability and capacity for providing assistance while expanding its regional, cultural and racial reach to all Washington State artists.
 
Endowment Fund:  More than $60,000 streams into Artist Trust each year to fund artist grants and fellowships, information services, and operating costs. Prioritized in the 2005-2009 strategic plan is an ambitious push for a larger Endowment Fund, currently at $1.54 million.
 
Special Gifts: Artist Trust has been honored to receive many important gifts in its history:

• Founding gifts of $10,000-$30,000 from Nancy & Buster Alvord, Ruth Miska, Illsley Nordstrom, Jim & Katherine Olson, and Mrs. Bill Robertson;
  
  
• $100,000 Planning & Stabilization Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to establish the Artist Trust Endowment.
  
  
• $100,000 grant from the PANACA Board of Directors to match NEA funds for the Artist Trust Endowment;
  
  
• $150,000 gift from Jon and Mary Shirley to establish the Jon and Mary Shirley Fund for Visual Artists within the Artist Trust Endowment;
  
  
• Donation of a $97,000 house by artist Susan Christian, the sales proceeds of which established a cash reserve for Artist Trust;
  
  
• $50,000 endowment gift from an anonymous donor;
  
  
• $25,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in recognition of Artist Trust’s support of artists’ freedom of expression;
  
  
• $90,000 and $75,000 grants from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation to develop the EDGE Professional Development Program;
  
  
• $250,000 capacity-building grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation;
  
  
• $100,000 challenge grant from Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), used to attract new donors and to spearhead the Washington Artists Health Insurance Project (WAHIP). 

Collaborations: Artist Trust has a history of effectively partnering with regional and national arts agencies and organizations in order to better serve our constituency. Since 1993, Artist Trust has administered the Fellowships Program of the Washington State Arts Commission, an excellent example of an efficient public-private partnership. Artist Trust also maintained a partnership for many years with Washington Lawyers for the Arts by hosting and promoting the Arts Legal Clinic. On the national level, we continue to work with Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) and the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) on special projects. Artist Trust also collaborates on artist services with local and county arts commissions, presenting organizations, schools, and foundations.
 
National Impact: Artist Trust has developed a national reputation, increasingly being called upon by national funders and organizations to act as a convener, provide information about artists’ needs and to tackle special initiatives to improve support mechanisms for artists. Artist Trust’s vital services serve as a national model for artist support: agencies from other states have taken inspiration from Artist Trust programs, including New England Artists Trust, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Utah Arts Council, Diverse Works in Houston, and Missoula Arts Exchange in Montana.
 
Artist Trust is the only organization in Washington State, and one of few nationally, that is exclusively devoted to individual artists working in all disciplines. For the past 20 years, Artist Trust programs and services have addressed the needs of individual artists who traditionally have limited access to resources and support. By equipping artists with the resources necessary to be self-sufficient art makers, both the artist and community benefit.