A Letter from OAA’s New Board Chair Michelle Pope

I am grateful to all the OAA board members for electing me to the position of Board Chair, and to Kris Tucker for her leadership as Board Chair in recent years.

As with many cities, Olympia has been hit hard this past year, confronting racial and economic inequality as well as the loss or temporary closure of many performance and exhibition spaces and small businesses. Despite these hard times, OAA was able to fund almost two dozen art projects in 2020, providing more than $20K to support artists in our community.

Arts and culture are powerful instruments for healing and promoting social and political change. I am eager to get to work on advancing Olympia’s arts environment through creating and promoting exhibition and performance spaces and advocating for affordable live/work spaces.

OAA is more dedicated than ever to doing this work with an equitable and inclusive lens. In 2021 we are committing time and resources to expand more diverse leadership on our board, pursue cultural consciousness through learning and listening, and create more transparent and inclusive policies.

We will continue to foster and build new creative partnerships with artists and city and community leaders who are all committed to removing barriers and improving arts access for everyone.

We are poised and ready to continue this work in 2021 and beyond. Together, we are Olympia Strong!