It’s time to submit your creative work for KAC’s Annual Holiday Art Market, one of our signature and highly anticipated holiday sales!

Submit Here

Open Call: Kirkland Arts Center Board of Directors

Have you ever thought about serving on the Kirkland Arts Center (KAC) Board of Directors? Joining our board is an invaluable way to help KAC thrive and grow and give back to the community. Working with staff and the Executive Director, the Board helps determine the priorities and strategic direction of KAC. This can include ongoing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) work, fundraising, and how we integrate with the arts community of the greater Eastside. Board membership is also a great way to connect with like-minded donors and volunteers. Lastly, it’s an opportunity to learn new skills in fundraising, the arts and non-profit finance & management.

If this sounds interesting to you we’re holding an Open Call for members in the month of October. Deadline to apply is October 31.

Apply Today

Registration for our Intensives opened last week and these classes with limited spaces are already proving to be popular!

Be sure to sign up for our Intensives now, before they fill up. If your first choice class is full, we suggest joining the waitlist, and becoming an education member so you can register early for future quarters.

Scholarships are Available

We want there to be no blocks to gaining access to art experiences!

There is a renewed, easy practice to apply for scholarships.

Email [email protected]

Include your:

Name

Residential Address

Birth date

Preferred Class

Scholarships are available to all ages

Become an Education Member Here

Register for Intensives Here

The Artist’s Alchemy: Transforming the Found

See it Before it Closes!

The only way to truly experience The Artist’s Alchemy: Transforming the Found is in person. If you have not had a chance to come by yet, please do so before we say goodbye to this exhibition at the end of this month!

Alchemy is defined as “a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination of base materials into something new.” The artists featured in this fascinating exhibition are artistic alchemists – crafting, constructing, painting, photographing, assembling and “bricolaging” wondrously new works from materials found in the natural and human-made worlds.

Exhibition Dates: September 9, 2022 – October 29, 2022

Gallery Hours: Wednesdays – Fridays 12 pm – 6 pm, Saturdays 12 pm – 4 pm

Learn More Here

Please Welcome our New Staff Members

Jay Parikh (He/Him) - Development Director

Jay Parikh comes to the Kirkland Arts Center after a long tenure in the performing arts and public television. His focus has been on sales, development, advancement and governance. Key accomplishments include funding and development, where he raised multi-million dollars annually through corporate sponsorships, production underwriting, foundational and government resources. He has managed the donor continuum from membership through legacy giving. He developed and guided a culture of innovation while reducing costs. Jay has an MFA in Theatre Administration from the Yale School of Drama. He and his wife Monica reside in Bothell.

Star Rush (She/Her) - Director of Education

Star Rush has held English faculty and dean appointments at Western Washington University, Bellevue College, and Cornish College of the Arts. She has taught writing, American Literature, and creative writing. Star earned her Master’s Degree in English Studies, Nonfiction, from Western Washington University, her dissertation being a memoir about her heritage as a gay Vietnamese American immigrant woman coming of age in America of the 1970s. Star has served as Interim President while holding the post of Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs for Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and recently, Senior Program Manager at Workforce Southwest Washington in Vancouver, WA. She is a photographer, writer, and award-winning educator. Her photography has appeared in the United States, London, the Netherlands, and Europe, as well as magazines Actual Colors May Vary, Askar Magazine, Camerapixo, Dodho.com and featured on international sites and publications: Resource Magazine, wired.it, and Volksrant. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in Hawaii Review, Fireweed, and others. Her cultural essays about connected mobile photography have appeared in iPhonegraphy.com, wearejuxt.com, dprConnect, iPhoneogenic.com, and others. 

Afomia Seleshi (She/Her) - Marketing Manager

Afomia Seleshi has been a marketing professional for the past five years and an art enthusiast her whole life. Focusing mainly on digital marketing, she has worked in a wide array of industries and is excited to bring her knowledge to KAC.

Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Afomia immigrated with her family to Washington in 2005 and became a citizen in 2018. She loves spending time in nature, especially by the water with her dog and cat.

Analisa Soverns-Reed (She/Her) - Education Coordinator

Analisa Soverns-Reed is an art historian and educator. She was born and raised in Everett and has lived in the Kenmore/Kirkland area for the past several years. Analisa attended the University of Washington where she earned an honors bachelor of arts degree in art history with a minor in history. After working in various fields for the next seven years, she decided to follow her passion for education. In 2022, she graduated from Grand Canyon University with a master’s in education with a concentration in secondary humanities education. 

Outside of her work for KAC as the education coordinator, Analisa runs the Accessible Art History social media platform. This digital humanities project utilizes free social media platforms (Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, blogs, etc) to bring art history education to anyone that is curious! Analisa is passionate about helping others to understand our shared history through objects. 

In her free time, Analisa enjoys reading, working on writing her first art history book, spending time with friends and family, and cheering on Seattle sports teams!

Kirkland Arts Center is a non-profit organization driven by the belief that art has the power to transform lives, and powered by donors like you.

Support KAC Today