PORT TOWNSEND — The Lifelong Learning Center at Fort Worden State Park can serve as a model for arts education and appreciation nationwide, said the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts in a Tuesday visit to the facility.
“This is a great example of how the arts are thriving in so many different ways and how not everybody arrives on the same path,” Jane Chu said after speaking in front of an informal lunch that included about 50 people.
“They are taking advantage of the grounds in a way that brings relevancy to the community.”
Chu was accompanied by U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, sandwiching Fort Worden between visits to the Tacoma Museum of Glass and the Bainbridge Island Museum.
“I have the honor of representing an area where the arts are transformational, where you see so many exciting things, whether it be festivals or galleries or what’s happening at Fort Worden,” said Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat who represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.
“Many of those things are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, so it’s valuable that the leadership of the NEA gets to see some of the cool things that are happening here.”
Tour around facilities
Kilmer and Chu were accompanied on the 90-minute tour by their respective staffs as well as representatives of the Washington State Arts Commission.
The group saw a short presentation about arts in schools, followed by a tour of the campus and a visit to poetry publisher Copper Canyon Press.
“We’ve enjoyed a continuous stream of support from the NEA,” said Copper Canyon co-publisher George Knotek.
“This is a consecrated space where people from around the country and around the world make a pilgrimage to see what we are doing here.”
The small nonprofit press, founded in 1972, has published six books since 2005 that have either won or been recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
The Lifelong Learning Center, created when the public development authority formally took over the campus portion of Fort Worden State Park in 2014, is meant as a center for artistic activity in a variety of disciplines, among them music, art, woodworking and education.
“The arts create an amazing opportunity to help us engage with each other on a higher level,” Kilmer said.
“In economic development, the arts is absolutely a game-changer, not just in its ability to drive innovation but its adding to community vibrancy and vitality.”
Encourages business
Having a strong arts community, Kilmer said, can encourage new businesses to locate there.
Chu said Kilmer “is a rock star in Washington, D.C.,” because he has always advocated for the arts.
“Across the nation, we are seeing projects that are mashing up the arts with other non-art sectors,” she said.
“There are arts and science, arts and technology, and businesses saying they are more productive when they hire creative people.”
Chu said some companies that previously had sought employees with science degrees are looking for people with arts degrees to inject creativity into the workplace.
“Lifelong learning is never done, and you are epitomizing lifelong learning,” she said.
“There is no better time to be a leader in the arts because you are all about creating outside of the box, thinking about something new and solving tired old problems in new ways.”
Chu said the NEA is not affected by politics, specifically the presidential election.
“I focus on my job and live in the moment,” she said.
“The arts are nonpartisan; there is no political agenda.”
Kilmer has scheduled two solo public appearances on the Northern Olympic Peninsula this week.
He will hold town hall meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday at Sequim City Hall, 152 W. Cedar St., and at 5 p.m. Friday at the Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
