Seattle arts leader Randy Engstrom steps down

After eight years heading up Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture, Randy Engstrom says he’ll step down at the end of the end of January.

Engstrom came to city government after years as a cultural activist; most notably he helped found the Youngstown Community Center, a West Seattle arts and culture hub.

During Engstrom’s tenure with the city, he oversaw development of both a program to catalog and to advocate for affordable cultural spaces, as well as the creation of a new Public Development Authority that will serve as an intermediary between city efforts and private developers.

He worked with arts advocates at Seattle Public Schools to roll out Creative Advantage, a program that ultimately will bring arts education to every school in the district.

And Engstrom has shepherded OAC efforts to center racial justice and equity in every funding and policy decision his office makes.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done,” Engstrom says simply.

But he’s perhaps proudest of the way his office, and the creative community it serves, responded to the civic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Artists threw up murals on boarded-up businesses, people were performing in the streets,” says Engstrom. “There was so much hope and optimism in the face of a global pandemic.”

Although both the city of Seattle and King County established artist relief funds early on, it barely scratched the surface of the economic devastation the local cultural community has endured in 2020. Nightclubs, theaters and other performing arts venues have been shuttered since March, leaving thousands unemployed in the region. Engstrom hopes Congress will follow through on promises for another significant infusion of money for the beleaguered arts sector. Engstrom has no firm plans for his life after he leaves the OAC. He’d like to spend more time with his wife and 5-year old daughter, he says.

But Engstrom also envisions stepping up to address some national cultural policy questions.

“What is the role that arts and culture plays in civic life,” Engstrom asks. “It’s bigger than the art itself. I think it’s actually the way art impacts the community and the people in it.”

Engstrom won’t completely sever his ties to the office he led for so long. He plans to help a new leader acclimate to the job. Whoever the mayor selects for the position, they’ll have big shoes to fill.

This post has been updated to reflect the new guidance from the city that Engstrom's resignation is effective at the end of January 2021.