Committee awarded over $60,000 in grant money to fund project

Seattle—The University District Arts and Heritage Committee has been awarded $54,912 from the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and $6,000 from 4Culture to execute an interdisciplinary project known as “Museum Without Walls” that will draw together the history and cultural life of Seattle's University District.

A Department of Neighborhoods Large Projects Matching Fund will fund the University District Museum Without Walls project as it launches its first year of exhibits, events, and other projects. In spring 2009, Museum Without Walls will install a temporary exhibit on the outdoor plaza of the University Tower (formerly Safeco Tower) called Open to Question: Social, Political, and Community Activism in Seattle’s University District. A number of associated programs, open to the public, will occur in conjunction with the exhibit that will encourage community participation in a discussion about the historical and contemporary meanings of activism in the University District.

The Department of Neighborhoods award will also fund the recording of a number of new oral histories with University District residents. The Museum Without Walls project will use oral histories to explore and showcase the diversity of the neighborhood and will capture some of the most interesting and hidden stories in the University District. The oral histories will be available online starting this winter at museumwithoutwalls.udistrict.org/.

4Culture has awarded $6,000 to the Museum Without Walls project to create a set of collectible, tradable cards, highlighting the history of the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition. The cards will be distributed at AYP commemoration events and other community events in the spring and summer of 2009.

In addition to $60,000 in grant money, the University District Museum Without Walls project has also raised $7,500 from a generous donation by the University District Rotary Club. The Rotary money will be used to fund the oral history recordings and the collectible cards, as well as sculptural tribute to the AYP in summer 2009.

The University District Arts and Heritage Committee welcome volunteers to help with Museum Without Walls. Please contact susancoleman2@aol.com for more information.