Kent cultural groups to receive county grants from 4Culture

Several Kent organizations are among the many in King County that will receive grants next year from 4Culture, the cultural funding agency for King County.

The Kent groups include:

• Greater Kent Historical Society: Exhibit lighting for revisioned museum: $53,984.

• City of Kent arts sustained support: $72,000.

• Kent International Festival sustained support: $15,700.

• Kent Downtown Partnership preservation sustained support: $47,200.

• Culture Generation The Taste of Kent Cultural Kitchen, sharing the culture and traditions of immigrants through food: $150,000.

• Wakulima USA heritage sustained support: $64,200.

The first round of Doors Open funding will provide more than $165 million to 700-plus King County cultural organizations over the next three years, according to a Dec. 11 4Culture press release. This funding—made up of $150 million in Doors Open funds and $15 million of Lodging Tax funds—will provide the transformational support the cultural sector needs to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and chronic underfunding.

In December 2023, the King County Council passed legislation for a o.1% sales tax for Doors Open, a program which will increase funding to nonprofit organizations that focus on arts, heritage, science and historic preservations.

Doors Open is expected to generate roughly $700 million over seven years—a major public investment in the ongoing cultural vitality of our region, according to 4Culture.

Sustained support grants fund the day-to-day operational costs that allow cultural organizations to serve and enrich the lives of King County visitors and residents. A total of $37.2 million in sustained support awards will be contracted to 709 organizations beginning in early 2025. To provide a stable and predictable revenue source, these organizations will continue to receive funding over a three-year period.