Seattle Arts and Cultural Affairs leader Killoren leaving for D.C. job

After eight years running the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs for the city of Seattle, longtime Seattle arts administrator Michael Killoren is leaving soon to take a prominent position at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C.

On Oct. 12, Killoren begins work as the federal agency's new director of Local Arts Agencies and Challenge America Fast Track. In a prepared statement, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn praised Killoren's service to the city, and he pledged to work with the Seattle Arts Commission "to hire his successor, and to carry on the work of the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs." The timing of the rehiring has not been announced.

Killoren has managed the municipal arts agency, which has a 23-member staff and last year gave out $2.2 million in grants, since 2002. In that capacity, he helped develop arts-education programs in the Seattle Public Schools and provide greater access to the arts in communities of color through the Neighborhood and Community Arts Program.

His broad résumé also includes posts as director of cultural tourism for Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau, as executive director of the King County Arts Commission, and as managing director of the Alice B. Theatre.

In an NEA announcement, Killoren said he looked forward "to strengthening the relationship between local arts agencies and the NEA" and to "developing historic new partnerships with other federal agencies" in his new job.

As for Seattle, "I think the energy and vitality in this community is extraordinary, and arts and culture hold some of the answers and solutions to help make this a greater city," Killoren said in a recent interview.

To celebrate Killoren's accomplishments in Seattle, the city will host an open reception in his honor at 4:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave., with refreshments and music. The event will move at 5:30 p.m. to the nearby Polar Bar, 700 Third Ave.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com