35th Annual Celebration of the Arts Luncheon

September 14, 2023

We are thrilled to announce the return of an in-person Celebration of the Arts Luncheon on Thursday, September 14, 2023 at the Sheraton Grand Seattle. This event will welcome arts patrons, civic and business leaders, and members of our thriving arts community in support of ArtsFund’s mission and core programs. We look forward to celebrating Washington State’s arts and cultural sector with you!

ASL interpretation will be available during the event. For questions about additional accessibility accommodations, please contact Kaitlin Hurley kaitlinhurley@artsfund.org or call 206-788-3045.

Thank you for your interest in the ArtsFund Luncheon. Registration is now closed. Please email Kaitlin Hurley at kaitlinhurley@artsfund.org to place your name on a waitlist.

Run of Show
10:45 A.M. Check in begins

11:30 A.M. Doors open; entertainment by arts partners begins

12:00 P.M. Program begins; keynote by Marc Bamuthi Joseph

1:15 P.M. Program concludes

Keynote Speaker
Marc is a Black man with bald head and a salt and pepper beard. He is smiling in a suit and tie, looking at the camera in front of a gray background.BAMUTHI (Marc Bamuthi Joseph) is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. Bamuthi’s opera libretto, “We Shall Not Be Moved”, was named one of 2017’s “Best Classical Music Performances” by The New York Times. His evening length work created in collaboration with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, “The Just and The Blind,” was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and premiered to a sold out house at Carnegie in March 2019. His upcoming opera “Watch Night” is inspired by the forgiveness exhibited by the congregation of Emanuel AME church in Charleston, and will premiere at The Perelman Center in New York in 2023.

While engaging in a deeply fulfilling and successful artistic career, Bamuthi also proudly serves as Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. He is in high demand for his creative approach to organizational design, brand development, and community mediation, and has been enlisted as a strategic partner or consultant for companies ranging from Coca Cola to Carnegie Hall. His TED talk on linking sport to freedom design among immigrant youth has been viewed more than 1 million times, and is a testament to his capacity to distill complex systems into accessible and poetic presentations. Bamuthi’s community development philosophy, called “The Creative Ecosystem”, has been implemented in dozens of cities across the United States and is the subject of several critical writings, including one of the seminal essays in “Cultural Transformations: Youth and Pedagogies of Possibility”, published by Harvard Education Press.

Bamuthi is the founding Program Director of the exemplary non-profit Youth Speaks, and is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one-day festivals which activate under-resourced parks and affirm peaceful urban life. His essays have been published in Harvard Education Press; he has lectured at more than 200 colleges, and has carried adjunct professorships at Stanford and Lehigh, among others. A proud alumnus of Morehouse College, Bamuthi received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the California College of Arts in the Spring of 2022.

Volunteer Opportunity
We are seeking a great group of volunteers to support the Luncheon with registration, information, directions, and more! Any questions may be directed to Genevieve Green, Engagement Coordinator at genevieve.green@artsfund.org or 206-203-2255.