CoCA Gallery Lighting Redesign https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2020/coca-gallery-lighting-redesign https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

CoCA Gallery Lighting Redesign

Additional Information
Used for	This Sixteen Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty dollar ($16,750) grant request is needed to upgrade our existing inefficient and unsafe exhibition ceiling light rigging, which consists of a single 12 foot, fixed bar with clip-on canisters. It will be replaced with a series of double, 16 foot, twin motorized Triangle Truss riggings. The trusses hold swivel canisters that will produce effective and efficient light with adequate safety measures. The project costs include project consultation, design, deconstruction, lighting equipment, triangle truss rigging, circuit work, installation support, labor, waste disposal, and painting.
Benefits	The $16,750 to support CoCA Gallery Lighting Redesign benefits our artists, viewing public, staff and volunteers, programs, outreach, and capacity building. It will upgrade and improve the quality of viewing experience, as well as the visual accessibility and impact of artworks, for over 250 artists and 20,000 annual visitors. Our online presence has grown exponentially in new virtual viewers who need to fully experience the artworks for form and color in a well lit environment, regardless of their technology.
Proposal Description	Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) is a 501(c)3 incorporated in Washington State. We are a Black-led, community-based, non-profit, arts organization serving the Pacific Northwest as a catalyst & forum for the advancement, development, and understanding of Contemporary Art. In 2021 we will celebrate 40 years of providing impactful pro-equity programming, exhibitions, and critically engaging art experiences. CoCA is a local, national, global arts ally and steward, supporting a fully empowered creative life for all people. We commit to championing policies and practices of cultural equity that build an inclusive community for artists and art lovers. Our Statement of Strategic Intent guides us to amplify important voices, including and with specific attention to underrepresented artists who have not yet been given a platform in the art world. We are working to continually build organizational resources and opportunities supporting our pro-equity stance. During these challenging times, we believe it is critical to continue our robust arts programming, provided to the public free of charge — in a virtual format— to challenge, inspire, create belonging, and encourage pro-equity arts dialogue. Our updated values in 2000 and Vision Statement & Strategic Plan implemented from 2018 - 2024 and beyond, commit to pro-equity actions that continue to uplift and support diverse artistic voice, excellence, accessibility, educational and professional opportunity and upstream capacity building. Since 1980, CoCA has instituted bold, wide ranging, deeply engaging exhibitions, events, and performances that celebrate and advance the contemporary arts in Seattle, the greater Pacific Northwest, and beyond. With the expansion of our online presence, we have grown our membership in 28 states and 9 Washington counties. How and where we curate our exhibitions is central to CoCA as a presenter of contemporary art. We lease 770 square feet of gallery space within the Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts, located in the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood of downtown Seattle, Washington. This public/private funded arts building re-opened in June of 2004 to provide 50 units of affordable housing and creative spaces for artists and arts nonprofits. It was developed by Artspace Projects, Inc. Funders included HUD, City of Seattle Office of Housing, State of Washington-ArtsFund/Building for the Arts Program,The Allen Foundation for the Arts, Cultural Development Authority of King County and The Seattle Foundation. We are well situated here at mid-center of the historic Pioneer Square Galleries and mid-center of public decision makers, with city government to the north and county government to the east. Two major public arts entities are located within walking distance - one directly north of us in the same building, and the other due south in a second historic building. Our lease is longterm and the Tashiro Kaplan Building is CoCA’s home. We want to improve how we curate exhibitions as a focal point of our mission and values. Our main impediment is funding and the economic effects of COVID-19. This $16,750 grant to support CoCA Gallery Lighting Redesign will have a beneficial impact on our artists, programs, and viewing public as well as staff and volunteers. Coca exhibits over 250 artists annually. Our pre-COVID Art Walks averaged 350-600 persons each 1st Thursday of the month. Our Member Show & Directory, Portfolio Reviews, educational programming, and online networking opportunities attract over 20,000 plus CoCA participants annually. With the advent of our online presence, our reach has grown exponentially. People want to view these exhibitions in person when possible and now also through our online presence. Currently, the lighting does not contribute to either an in-person or virtual experience, nor does it effectively promote or respect the artists’ works. Required attention to our arts assets, such as proper lighting, ensures that artworks are experienced at their fullest; programs are visually accurate and meaningful; and staff and volunteers are safe while installing and maintaining exhibition lighting. CoCA’s robust ideological and programmatic framework allows us to develop and maintain consistent procedures and policies that support maximum operational and program efficacy for our organizational goals. CoCA’s current lighting system was an existing element in our initial lease. It has not been replaced and fails to effectively and efficiently illuminate critically engaging exhibitions, which are especially important as we pivot to an online platform. This grant request would allow CoCA to update the Gallery’s antiquated exhibition lighting. The lighting is composed of a single 16 foot long drop bar hanging from a 15 foot ceiling. A combination of 20 mismatched open flange and clip-on canisters are mounted on the static rigging and connected with extension cords. Access requires the Curator and volunteers to climb a 10 foot ladder to make all required exhibition adjustments. The light quality ranks from poor to fair even with quality lamps. When an exhibition is installed, the lighting impedes the visual impact and beauty of the show for the viewer, and it underrepresents the artists’ work. We have become sensitive to and want to cure the inappropriate, cumbersome, and actually dangerous nature of our gallery lighting. The $16,750 grant request gives us the capacity to improve the inadequacies outlined above. We will replace the current system with rigging that includes a series of double, 16 foot, motorized triangle trusses, which hold swivel canisters that utilize high efficiency LED lamps. The rigging will run the entire mid length of the open gallery ceiling and will provide much improved lighting capacity. It will be installed to code and will allow safe access for the Curator and volunteers. Written safety procedures for ladder use and lamp positioning will also be developed. The project costs include project consultation, design, deconstruction, lighting equipment, rigging, electrical work, installation support, labor, waste disposal, and painting. The project phases are as follows: Project Phases - 9 Phase 1 - Consultation & Design Phase 2 - Deconstruction & Waste Removal Phase 3 - Equipment Specs & Purchase Phase 4 - Triangle Truss Rigging Installation Phase 5 - Circuit Installation Phase 6 - General Labor Installation Support Phase 7 - Ceiling Painting & Repair Phase 8 - Punch List & Contingency Phase 9 - Warranties Established CoCA will continue its lease in the current location for the next 5 to 10 years. We maintain 3 paid staff; the Executive Director at 1.0 FTE, the Curator at .75 FTE, and the Operations Manager at.75 FTE. We have 13 Board members; a President, Vice President, Board Chair, Treasurer, and rotating Secretary position. CoCA maintains a robust intern program, with 9-12 Interns annually. Interns are recruited at large from the broader community and through formal relationships with the UW Schools of Business and Museology. CoCA has 6 major volunteer categories with 15-30 volunteers annually. These numbers have been impacted by the Covid-19 environment. Putting art out into the world and supporting arts literacy--global experiences-- empowers our commitment to contemporary art stewardship investments and long-term pro-equity commitments. It is our responsibility to ensure that artworks are ‘seen’ to the satisfaction of the artists through a high quality experience for the viewing public. It must be installed and maintained safely in our brick and mortar space and broadcast effectively as enhanced virtual exhibitions for diverse audiences throughout the pandemic. Lighting is the critical factor for both current and new geographic audiences. People who are homebound, due to physical or financial constraints, or those who have limited English proficiency, will all have access. As a change agent and steward, CoCA is committed to the value of images around the world - to the power of symbols. Symbols are a universal statement about place and experience. They will allow unknown online viewers to interpret what they are seeing in ways that are meaningful within their cultural constructs. CoCA cultivates a cultural alliance to galvanize the viewing public around the power of images to create an alliance of experiences. While the work is physically here in Seattle, it has a multicultural, global inreach and significance. Uniting people around art as a healing element of human experience is more important now than ever. All the world relies on color and the power of emotion it ignites. This grant will allow us to produce images in the highest quality, providing a visual experience as true to the physical reality as possible. The surface of each artwork either absorbs or reflects the light in which it sits, and we want to create conditions that produce the best effect. Different light sources emit different wavelengths that impact the viewers perception of color. Upgrading our lighting system, will allow the work to be viewed appropriately and with maximal impact. We want a universal experience of immersion into the exhibitions as they are viewed online by diverse individuals, communities and cultures.