David Francis selected as Shoreline’s new Public Art Coordinator

Dave Francis
Shoreline Public Art Coordinator

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Dick Deal selected David Francis to be the City’s new Public Art Coordinator. Francis takes over from Ros Bird who held the position for seven years before retiring in October 2014.

Francis has a rich art history background working as a curator for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma; as curator and arts administrator for the Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle; and coordinator of many other art exhibitions in the Puget Sound area.  If you read about art in the Northwest you may have read some reviews of his work published in The Seattle Times, Seattle P-I, or Seattle Weekly.

The City adopted a 1% for the Arts Ordinance establishing a Public Art Fund in 2002. The City allocates 1% of the municipal capital construction dollars expended for structures, roads, sidewalks, trails, and parks to a special Public Art Fund for use on site, or pooled to create art opportunities in other locations over time. The Public Art Fund began accumulating funds with the major re-development of Aurora Avenue, the North City business district, and the redevelopment of Shoreline parks with funds from the 2006 Parks Bond. The first project to make use of 1% funds created the two Interurban Trail bridges, over N 155th Street, adjacent to Aurora Avenue N, and over Aurora at N 160th Street, completed in 2007.

In April 2007, the City hired a part-time Public Art Coordinator to manage the program. The Public Art Coordinator facilitates the artist selection process, contracts with the artists, and oversees the construction and budgets for art projects.

Since the Interurban Trail bridges, the City has installed seventeen additional permanent art pieces, plus seasonal banners on Aurora Avenue, in public places using dollars from the 1% for Art Fund. Peruse the City's public art map and see all of the great art we have in Shoreline.