Since 2024, local arts and culture organizations have requested more than $30,000 through Ignite Kirkland.
The Kirkland Community Foundation has been able to fund every dollar requested, providing $30,105 for student music programs, orchestras, choirs, theater, arts education, cultural programs, artist residencies and historic preservation.
That is something to celebrate.
It is also evidence of a larger need.
Each year, arts organizations and community groups bring forward strong ideas. What Kirkland has not had is a dedicated, dependable source of local funding ready to support the next idea when it arrives.
The Kirkland Community Foundation created the new Arts & Culture Community Impact Fund to help change that.
The organizations and programs supported through Ignite Kirkland show just how broad Kirkland’s creative community is.
Funding has reached Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Kirkland Civic Orchestra, Kirkland Choral Society, Columbia Choirs of Metropolitan Seattle, Kirkland Performance Center and Resonance Studio Theatre.
It has supported Lake Washington High School Music Boosters, Juanita High School Performing Arts Boosters, the Juanita Schools Foundation choir program, Studio East Training for the Performing Arts, MoDazz Performing Arts Booster and 4 Tomorrow’s Artist Residency Program.
Ignite funding has also supported cultural programs offered by Africans on the Eastside, as well as the work of Kirkland Arts Center and Kirkland Heritage Society.
Together, these organizations create opportunities for children to make music, artists to develop their work, audiences to experience live performances, residents to share their cultures and the community to preserve Kirkland’s history.
Through Ignite Kirkland, the Foundation has been able to respond to many of these requests. But Ignite is an annual campaign supported by funding that must be raised again each year.
It is not yet a permanent resource dedicated to Kirkland’s arts, culture and heritage.
The new Arts, Culture & Heritage Community Impact Fund will provide flexible local funding for public art, creative placemaking, performances, arts education, cultural programs, local history, heritage preservation and creative opportunities that have not yet been imagined.
Strong ideas can emerge at any time. This fund will give Kirkland a place to invest in them.
The Foundation’s first goal is to raise $20,000 by December 31, 2026.
When that goal is reached, the Foundation plans to put $10,000 to work through local arts, culture, history, heritage and creative placemaking initiatives.
The remaining $10,000 will be invested as the beginning of the fund’s long-term principal. That investment can begin earning returns and create a foundation for future grantmaking.
This allows the fund to create visible impact now while also building something that can serve Kirkland for years to come.
The longer-term goal is to grow the fund to at least $200,000, creating a more meaningful and dependable source of support year after year.
Early opportunities being explored include a mural partnership with the Kirkland Woman’s Club, art along the Cross Kirkland Corridor and projects that bring creative experiences into areas of Kirkland where art is not currently as visible or accessible.
These are possibilities, not a fixed project list. The fund is designed to remain flexible so it can respond as new artists, organizations, partnerships and ideas emerge.
Individuals, families and businesses that contribute $1,000 or more by December 31, 2026, will be recognized as Founding Investors in the Arts, Culture & Heritage Community Impact Fund.
Founding Investors will be listed on the Foundation’s website and recognized in its annual report, unless they prefer to remain anonymous.
They will also receive updates about the fund’s growth and impact, invitations to future arts and culture gatherings, and opportunities to participate in early conversations about community interests and emerging creative opportunities. They will also receive special invitations to events that are supported by these funds.
The Kirkland Community Foundation Board will remain responsible for funding decisions, due diligence and stewardship of the fund.
Donors may also support the fund through a gift in their will or trust, creating a lasting investment in the creative life of Kirkland without having to predict which individual organization or project will exist decades from now.
The Foundation introduced the fund on July 13 during a gathering hosted by Kirkland community leader and gallery owner Ryan James.
Nearly two dozen people who love art and Kirkland came together to meet two resident artists, explore the gallery, enjoy cookies from Pinckney Cookie Cafe and begin imagining what a permanent local resource for arts and culture could make possible.
The gathering marked the beginning, but the fund is about much more than one evening.
The Foundation has already demonstrated what can happen when local creative ideas have funding behind them.
Now, Kirkland has an opportunity to build a resource that does not have to be recreated from the beginning every year.
A resource for the next mural, concert, cultural celebration, student musician, artist, performance or preservation project.
A resource for the ideas we know are coming and the ones we cannot imagine yet.
Make a gift of $1,000 or more by December 31, 2026, and become a Founding Investor in Kirkland’s creative future.
Founded in 2014, the Kirkland Community Foundation is a local community foundation supporting nonprofits across Kirkland and the Eastside. We connect donors, nonprofits, and community priorities through grants, partnerships, and local giving that strengthen our parks, people, and shared future. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 46‑4931717), we invest in thriving nonprofits, visible community impact, and trusted local leadership.
KCF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
EIN 46-4931717
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