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About

The Mercer Island Arts Council was established in 1985. Its mission is to nurture, promote, and support high-quality cultural arts activities for the community.

The goals of the Arts Council are:

• Advocate the arts, artists and arts organizations of Mercer Island.
• Stimulate community awareness and enjoyment of the fine arts.
• Promote community education, awareness and enjoyment of the arts.
• Support performing, visual and literary arts programs, projects and events.

Committees of the Arts Council, working with the support of Parks and Recreation staff, provide community activities such as art galleries, concerts and plays and literary events as well as support local artists with grants and acquire public art for the City.

Click here for an application to be a member of the Mercer Island Arts Council. 

Member Info

Eleven volunteer citizens comprise the board which is staffed by the Parks and Recreation Department. To find out more about these committees, contact the Chair (see below). Volunteers needed! Members are appointed to four-year terms by the Mayor, and confirmed by the City Council. A City Council member serves as liaison to the group.

The Arts Council members should be able to commit an estimated eight hours of time each month to board activities. Members should possess a broad perspective on the arts, must be willing to facilitate an event that may require a relatively large time commitment for a short period.

Click here to see our current Arts Council Members
 

New West Mercer Way Mural begins on August 6, 2018

If you're on West Mercer Way this month, be on the lookout for local artist Rachel Holloway, who will bring new life to the area with a public art installation starting Monday, August 6. Holloway was selected in 2017 to design a mural for the retaining wall that faces I-90's on/off ramps at Exit 6. This project is one of many funded by the City's 1% for Art in Public Places (1% for Art) program.
 
Holloway has been a muralist, scenic artist, and production designer for the film industry for more than a decade. A fine artist by training, she has lived on the Island for several years, and her mural design, based on her own original painting titled Darwin's Dream, aims to reflect the "the little magical pockets of nature here on the Island."
 
The artist and her assistants will erect temporary scaffolding; to maintain their safety, the sidewalk will be closed to pedestrians and the adjacent curb lane will coned off during mural production, which will last through the end of the month.