Meet one of our wonderful board members, Kim!
Kim Hasegawa Darcy is the daughter of two amazing educators. She grew up on two coasts as her father was a Professor in upstate NY and her mother a Professor in Seattle. She racially identifies as Japanese American and has embraced her Japanese culture and heritage into her and her family’s lifestyle. She visited Japan every year and eventually lived there while her father was a professor at Hokkaido University. As a graduate of WSU she currently serves students in the Shoreline School District as the District’s Equity Specialist centering BIPOC voices and student outcomes. She is passionate about racial equity work and is honored to serve on the Arts Corps Board.
What made you decide to become a board member at Arts Corps?
I’ve been a donor and Tanisha invited me in. I believe that Arts Education is KEY for students and is also a content area where funding in many districts are cut. I wanted to promote Arts Corps for their amazing work and I’m honored to be a part of it.
What opportunities and challenges do you see ahead for those of us who care deeply about art, young people, and community?
Funding and access! That needs to be changed!
Has there been an artist or piece of art which has had a positive impact in your life?
Music. I love music of most genres. Music brings me nostalgia, memories, even the gift of youth! It calms me on stressful days and pumps me up when I need that boost of energy. I absolutely LOVE going to concerts – recently I have seen Janet Jackson, Madonna, Taylor Swift (with my daughter) and I will go see Peter Gabriel. My husband and I enjoy Rock, and my daughter and I enjoy pop and Hip Hop.
What is something that is currently bringing you joy?
Spending time on vacation with my family. I enjoy warm sunny climates! I love the fact that my UW sophomore still loves to do Mommy/Daughter trips. I also love spending time with my 4y/o niece as much as I can.
Sharmaine Tillmon was a singer songwriter in Seattle, WA. She started getting more hands on in Music business and taking on leadership roles when she joined The Residency back in summer 2016. As a Performer she’s had the opportunity to grace stages at Mopop Skychurch, Totem star shows, Chop Suey, Tesla, and etc. She’s also had the opportunity to curate a couple of stages at Upstream, Chop suey, etc. As a lyricist Sharmaine will continue to write what’s real, authentic and continue to inspire the next generation of leaders.
elizabeth maria ortega landed herself at Arts Corps in 2011 as a classroom assistant. She worked with a variety of art forms, began teaching her own class and then shifted into her work with FEEST. At FEEST, elizabeth worked for several years alongside young people to critically think about the root causes of health injustices in communities of color and creatively push back in their communities. She has also done work in various arts communities, youth shelters, middle and high schools, with immigrant rights and is now a teacher with a social justice emphasis at Puget Sound Community School. She is a writer, printmaker artist and carries her curiosity and creativity wherever she goes, from shifting power and institutions towards justice to playing with friends on the weekends. She creates and sells her art out of a studio in Fremont with other fellow qpoc artists. She holds a B.A. degree in Sociology from the University of Arizona and a MAEd in Education from Antioch University with a thesis on Decolonizing Learning Processes.
Janet Galore is a life-long Seattleite, artist, and designer who enjoys blending art and technology. She works as a creative director at Amazon, where her team uses research, storytelling, and prototyping to envision future customer experiences. Previously she spent 10 years at Microsoft envisioning the future; she designed games and animated dead fish at startups; and received a B.S. in pure mathematics from the University of Washington. She and her husband own a creative space called The Grocery on North Beacon Hill where they incubate art that takes risks. They seek to connect the community with creative people in the hopes of building an appreciation of artists as culture makers and interrogators, and nurturing a healthier ecology of art in our city.
