Allied Arts of Seattle -- A Snapshot History

Allied Arts of Seattle is one of the city's most influential advocates for urban design and the arts. It grew out of the Beer & Culture Society, a small circle of academics, architects, and artists who first met in early 1952. On October 3, 1954, they convened a Congress of the Arts that established Allied Arts as a permanent organization to advocate for public funding of the arts, better urban planning and architecture, and other civic improvements. …

…criticizing the Seattle Commons Plan and opposing a local bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. In May 1999, Allied Arts president Alex Steffen convened a "Constitutional Convention" of artists and groups to press for new reforms in the way Seattle supports its arts community, thus bringing the organization full circle to its original agenda of almost half a century earlier. Sources: Seattle Arts Commission Annual Reports, 1992 and 1995; and Allied Arts Newsletter, January 1994. By Walt Crowley, February 02, 1999