Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council Announces New Executive Director

Fred Wong is the new Executive Director
of the Shoreline - Lake Forest Park
Arts Council
Photo courtesy SLFPAC

The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council is pleased to welcome Fred Wong as its new Executive Director. Fred will be joining the Arts Council at the beginning of December, to take the place of Nancy Frey, who is retiring after five years with the Council.

Fred joins the Arts Council with a distinguished background in arts as an artist, educator, and administrator. Over the past fifteen years, Fred has been involved in building public awareness of and access to art, first as an arts educator for the Seattle Art Museum and then for the past ten years as arts administrator for the City of Lynnwood. 

In his role as Cultural Arts Supervisor with the City of Lynnwood, Fred worked with his team to build audience, foster strong partnerships in the community, strengthen arts education in schools, and create a clear vision of the role arts plays in the City. 

Under his guidance, his team was the first City program to officially use e-marketing and brand its website. The Arts Council looks forward to bringing Fred’s unique and varied blend of artistic, educational, technical, and leadership talents to the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park community.

Says Fred, “Many people are intimidated by the terms ‘art’ and ‘artist.’ They do not view themselves as creative, even though they may have created beautiful gardens, or knitted clothes for friends. In my work and personal life, I am passionate about helping people to nurture their creativity. When I have done that or helped someone realize ‘artist’ is just a label, I am happy. I believe that community arts serve to stir people’s imagination, and to encourage them to find their own creative activities.”

He continued, “Another aspect of community arts is that the arts solve community problems, whether related to community building, civic engagement, education, or crime prevention. I believe strongly that arts organizations, artists, need to partner with non-arts groups to find creative solutions to community needs. I believe a community that strongly supports the arts, will be a strong community.”

As a child, Fred loved to study his grandfather’s Chinese ink paintings, his many art books, and art objects. Fred has painted landscapes in ink since age 11, exhibited his work in the U.S. and Hong Kong, and written a book, “Brush Ink Mind,” about Chinese calligraphy and painting. Fred enjoys hiking, discovering beauty in nature, in arts, in conversation, in food. His wife is a performing artist, and his daughter a student of music. He looks forward to nurturing and supporting the arts and creativity in the Shoreline and Lake Forest Park community.

The Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to nurture all of the arts in the community through programs and events, arts education, advocacy, and support for artists and arts organizations.