The Anne Focke Papers Project is designed to :
1) preserve, index, and make available the archive of over 160 banker boxes of her papers, and
2) activate interest and engagement with the archive for the next generation of artists and activists.
These files tell the story not only of Anne’s work but of the many other artists, organizations, and conversations that she founded, directed, advised, inspired, or simply crossed paths with over the six decades she’s been working locally and nationally. Anne has been a resident of Seattle since 1965 and leaves a string of organizations and projects in her wake. She founded or helped found and/or (an artist space), Artist Trust, CoCA (Center on Contemporary Art), 911 Media Arts Center, Artech, Arts Wire (early national online network), and Penny University at Town Hall. In others she held a leadership role: Seattle Arts Commission, Bumbershoot, and Grantmakers in the Arts. Still others she advised: the Market Foundation, the Neddy artist award, Goodwill Games Arts Festival, National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, SOIL (a Seattle artist collective). The collection spans from the pre-digital world to the present and reflects how artists’ work and organizations have changed during that time. Her papers also document the often unseen importance and scope of women’s leadership during a time when regional arts management was a largely male-dominated field.
