Search is on for new state Arts Commission director
Tucker will be leaving January 1 after 15 years of achievements.
OLYMPIA — After 15 years, the Washington State Arts Commission’s executive director, Kris Tucker, announced that she is stepping down. Tucker believes the agency is “well-positioned for a leadership transition,” and the search process has begun to find her successor, according to a recent prepared statement by the commission.
Under Tucker’s leadership, the Washington State Arts Commission, also known as ArtsWA, has flourished and achieved national acclaim. ArtsWA is the only state arts agency to win both the Wallace Foundation for the Arts Participation Leadership Initiative grant and the State Art Participation Initiative grant. Tucker initiated the Creative Vitality Index (CVI), a tool to inform policy makers about the economic, social and quality-of-life dimensions of culture, launched the Arts Education Research Initiative to research, document and promote effective arts education in Washington public schools. She is credited with creating a partnership with Washington State Parks to provide Folk Arts in the Parks, bringing quality folk arts programming to state parks venues across the state. She was instrumental in the passage of State Poet Laureate legislation in 2007 and improved stewardship and conservation of the State Art Collection.
The last 15 years have not been the easiest road on which to build all these institutions. Tucker has nurtured the program through the best economic times and the worst, according to the Commission’s statement. “She (Tucker) has seen us through some tenuous times while simultaneously raising the profile of our agency to the national level,”board President Cindy Finnie said.
The commission now leads the search process by recommending three candidates to the governor. The governor then selects the next director. “Washington has a vibrant arts community that is deeply embedded in both our culture and our economy,” Governor Jay Inslee said. “Kris has done great work, and I look forward to continuing our efforts to further strengthen arts in Washington.”
— Staff report