Washington State DOT Announces artist-in-residence Program

This will be the first statewide artist-in-residence program in the country

With this pioneering new program Washington DOT (WSDOT) will bringing a creative approach to advancing the agency’s goals like improving safety, reducing congestion, promoting economic vitality, supporting multimodal transportation systems, and creating healthier communities.

Applications are now open for artists interested in the year-long position, which will be located within WSDOT.

What will an artist-in-residence do?

The residency will run for one year with rotations through WSDOT’s core divisions to gain knowledge on the agency’s operations, priorities and challenges. The artist will then propose projects to address WSDOT’s overarching goals while improving community engagement, supporting alternatives to single occupancy vehicle transport and enhancing safety and equity. After four months of rotations, eight months will be devoted to the artist’s project(s) development and production.

Cities across the country have engaged artists-in-residence to support their efforts. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation's artists-in-residence have installed interactive artistic elements to bus shelters, taught storytelling skills to the DOT staff to help them better communicate their projects to the public, and served as a bridge between transportation advocates and DOT staff.

In Minneapolis, artists-in-residence have used theatre to help the city's Regulatory Services Department staff develop more empathetic policies and better relate to their constituents, while St Paul's artists-in-residence have worked to make community meetings more creative, fun, and productive.

This artist-in-residence program was created by Transportation for America, a program of Smart Growth America, and ArtPlace America.

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