The Washington State Department of Transportation is seeking someone with artistic talent to take part in a program that is the first of its kind for a statewide agency.
WSDOT announced that it will hire an artist-in-residence who will develop projects designed to bolster the department’s community engagement, a release from the agency announced last week. The artist will spent a year going through the different divisions of the department, identifying ways to meet its goals through projects they will develop.
The artist-in-residence program was created by ArtPlace America and Transportation for America and the WSDOT iteration will be the first undertaken by a statewide agency, the release states. The program has chiefly been one for municipalities — WSDOT noted that the Seattle Housing Authority, both Seattle and Los Angeles’ departments of transportation and the Minneapolis Regulatory Services Department have all taken advantage of the opportunity.
ArtPlace America gave $125,000 to WSDOT in order to get the program started, including a $40,000 stipend for the artist and $25,000 for a final project or projects, the release states.
Transportation for America will administer the grant and provide program assistance alongside the State Smart Transportation Initiative — both are part of the overarching Smart Growth America coalition.
WSDOT spokesperson Barbara LeBoe said the projects created by the artist-in-residence will be entirely up to them, with input from department staff.
“Part of the beauty of this is that it brings someone from the outside in with fresh eyes and a different perspective,” LeBoe said. She said the artistic insight of the selected candidate would complement the science and engineering-heavy focus typical of the department.
LeBoe said WSDOT has worked with Smart Growth America in the past on different planning initiatives. She noted that the artist-in-residence would be able to have a profound impact on one of the core government functions in Washington.
“Transportation is important to basically everyone in the state; there’s no one it doesn’t affect at some point in their daily lives,” LeBoe commented. She said the community engagement the artist could foster would be a benefit for a state department whose employees are often out in the field building and maintaining the infrastructure necessary for Washington to function.
LeBoe said the artist will rotate through 10 divisions of WSDOT including urban mobility and access, multi-modal planning and development, safety and “mega projects” such as the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel in Seattle, among others. The artist would be based primarily in Olympia, though they potentially could move around the state to different regional headquarters.
LeBoe said it was anticipated for the selected artist to start the program in March, rotating through the divisions for the first few months before coming up with the project or projects proper.
Though what the project or projects will look like is left to be decided, LeBoe said that the artist-in-residence may help in identifying certain groups in need of more outreach by the department. She said any opportunity for the department to take a fresh look at how it operates and communicates with the public was a benefit, with the artist-in-residence offering an opportunity to find out what WSDOT might have missed in its outreach efforts.
“We’re excited to see how this works out and to see what we might discover in the process,” LeBoe remarked.
