Wed., AUG. 10 UPDATE:

Dawn Leverett, is a real estate agent at Windermere-West Seattle in the Alaska Junction and former Board President for the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce. She is serving her second term as Secretary of the Board of Trusties for ArtsWest where she has been a board member since 2007. She spoke to the West Seattle Herald today about Alan Harrison's departure.

"We appreciate Alan and all he has done in his five and a half years to promote ArtsWest and its mission, and while ArtsWest has grown under his leadership, our priorities have shifted and we need a different approach with fundraising, especially in this current economic cycle. We are taking this opportunity to evaluate the entire structure of the organization, and are launching a new search for a new director.

"But, as far as the public is concerned, we are looking forward to a vibrant, upcoming season. We have absolutely no plans to change our programing. We're very happy with the direction of our programing and the work that Christopher Zinovitch has done. We're working toward a smooth transition."

Christopher Zinovitch is ArtsWest Director of Theater and Education.

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ArtsWest executive director Alan Harrison, who came to the Alaska Junction theater in December, 2005, will depart in September. Director of theater and education, Christopher Zinovitch, will remain. This change will not effect this fall's programming.

AUG. 9 UPDATE: Statement from Alan Harrison

Dear all,

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone associated with ArtsWest: the board of trustees, the staff, the artists, and the audiences. In 2005, when I began, there were a number of arts professionals in Seattle who suggested that ArtsWest was not the opportunity for someone who has been in the nonprofit arts business as long as I have. By 2006, we had changed our mission to “require conversation, improve the imagination, and promote cultural vibrancy as a core value” and succeeded in drawing record crowds each year. Better than crowds: ArtsWest now has a fan base.

Last season, the theater drew more fans than ever; with an amazing majority of them coming from outside the 4 zip codes of West Seattle. It is gratifying that we could use our provocative gallery and theater to cause conversations that move the issues beyond the unknown stage and into the “let’s fix it” stage all over Seattle. ArtsWest became a real progressive success story and we have so many people to thank for that. For the first time in the history of the organization, artists were being paid no less than a legal wage (including rehearsals), and the scale and scope of the organization grew to capacity. However, as the economy worsened, earned income was setting records for growth and contributed income dropped. Someday that will turn around, and ArtsWest will again succeed, of this I’m sure.

It was a wonderful ride. Now, my family and I are excited about the next opportunity to work with a company in Seattle. It is our home, and I am delighted to be a part of this wonderfully intellectually curious community of ours. We’re looking forward to seeing what that new opportunity will be, and can’t wait for it to begin.