About Us
Our Mission
To enrich the lives of all members of the Burien area communities through the arts.
BURIEN ARTS NAMED CHARITY OF THE YEAR 2016
Discover Burien, our town’s cross between a chamber of commerce and a board of tourism, named the Burien Arts Association Charity of the Year 2016.
History
Burien Arts Association (BA) formed in 1964 as Burien Arts Gallery, an informal group of local artists, art enthusiasts and activists who wished to increase access to art in local schools and secure a place to display artists’ work. BA incorporated in 1968.
The first gallery was in the Burien 400 Building on SW 152nd where it operated for two years under the name The Burien Festival Shop. The gallery then moved to 4th Avenue SW and Ambaum Boulevard SW. BA offered arts instruction in schools and at the gallery for both students and adults into the early 1990s.
In 1974, the gallery moved to the former home of Harold and Bonnie Kampinski, the “little blue house” in Dottie Harper Park, 4th Avenue SW and SW 146th Street, next to the then Burien branch of the King County Public Library. The gallery occupied the little blue house until 2009.
During most of the 35 years in Dottie Harper Park, the gallery thrived and spawned the Highline Historical Society and the annual Heritage Fair and Strawberry Festival (originally a celebration of the U.S. Bicentennial.) The historical society continues to operate, independently of BA, as does the Strawberry Festival, now run by Discover Burien.
In its later years at Dottie Harper Park, BA expanded its scope to include performing arts events as well as visual arts programming. BA sponsors free Shakespeare in the Park plays each summer; life drawing; the Highline Classic Jazz Festival; free face painting at city cultural events in the summer and fall; and the annual Vision 20/20 Art Event as well as poetry readings and humanities offerings. Returning to its roots, BA now offers free student art workshops and adult drawing and painting workshops.
In 2009, the library moved to the new City Hall complex at its current location on SW 152nd Street. This move left the gallery in a foot traffic vacuum, which combined with the widespread recession, led to economic difficulty. The gallery closed that year. The old library building became the current Burien Community Center, 14700 6th Avenue SW, Burien, WA 98166.
BA continued its non-gallery programs and events, however, with help from donors and business sponsors, together with grants from 4Culture, WA Arts Commission, and the City of Burien. BA was by then a registered non-profit (501)(c)(3) corporation. BA had also become an outspoken and proactive advocate for the expansion of arts experiences and opportunities in our community.
In October 2013, BA reopened a gallery at 826 SW 152nd Street in Olde Burien. Exhibits were juried in by a three-member committee and rotated on a monthly schedule. Art works exhibited included two-dimensional works in every possible medium, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, and art gift cards. The gallery was staffed on a volunteer basis. Most volunteers were members of local artist group Artists United, which displayed members’ work in their own separate exhibition space within the gallery in exchange for their help. BA closed the gallery in Olde Burien in December 2016.
In January 2017, BA debuted its Pop-up Art Exhibit program in the City Hall lobby in the Burien City Hall complex where we displayed for two years. We also displayed art in the lobby of the Burien Actors Theatre at the Annex (now demolished) from time to time. From 2019 on, BA presented monthly exhibits on the BA wall at the Burien Community Center. From 2020-present, BA has presented bimonthly art exhibits on its designated walls at the Highline Heritage Museum, 819 SW 152nd Street, Burien, WA 98166. BA also retains an exhibit wall at the Burien Community Center.
BA looks forward to many more years of serving the Burien/Highline area with the finest in arts programming, experiences and opportunities as well as arts advocacy. We thank the community for its support.
Contact Us
Mailing address: PO Box 66574, Burien, WA 98166
Email: burienarts@gmail.com
Event Participation & Questions: events@burienarts.org
Board of Trustees
President – Currently open
Vice President, Interim President – Grace Stiller
Grace is currently Interim President of Burien Arts, filling the position in June, 2017, when the exiting President Lance Haslund moved from the area. She has worked extensively in non-profit management since the 1980s and serves on several local non-profit boards and two county boards. She holds degrees in Education and Art and has taught in a third world country. Now retired, Grace volunteers her time for both arts and environmental organizations.
Secretary – Eric Mathison
Eric was editor of the Highline Times (now the Westside Weekly) for 13 years. He has previously served on the Burien Advisory Parks Board and as a Trustee of the Burien Arts Association. His family donated the land for Mathison Park in Burien.
Treasurer – Charles Schaefer
A lifetime Burien resident, Charles is an accountant for several local small businesses and nonprofits. He previously ran for Burien City Council and currently serves as Vice Chair of the Burien Planning Commission. He also volunteers in the clothing bank at Transform Burien, serving our unhoused and low income neighbors.
Trustee – Cydney Moore
Cydney is a long-time community organizer who has worked with a variety of nonprofits over the course of more than a decade. She is a member of the Burien City Council. In addition, she serves as a Lead Organizer for ACLU Burien People Power and has held positions on many other steering committees, boards of directors, and organizational governing bodies. She authors an ongoing series on the B-Town Blog profiling shelter pets at Burien C.A.R.E.S. and has a background in journalism and digital marketing.
Cydney maintains a fervent life-long love of art in all mediums and strives to support her local art community through her volunteer efforts and her avid appreciation.
Trustee – Claire Yurdin
Claire has served as the Burien Arts webmaster since 2015 and chairs Shakespeare in the Park. Her father was an English professor at the University of Washington for 30 years where he taught courses in Shakespeare. She is happy to continue presenting the Bard to the world.
She volunteered at the Burien Arts brick-and-mortar gallery in Olde Burien and assisted with art exhibit openings at City Hall and the Burien Community Center for several years.
She has worked in marketing and web for over 20 years, most recently ten years for a business broker in Bellevue, WA.
Trustee – Devrim Ozkan
Devrim has been an active community and event organizer for over fifteen years. She’s curated art shows, organized live painting and music eventsm and served on multiple art boards. Since graduating from the University of Washingtons art department in 2003, she has dedicated her time in various forms to helping emerging artists find their footing in the art world.
Since joining us in 2020, she has directed our online and in-person BAM! events, assembled panels for our Vision fundraiser, and built our art supply library. She helped create and taught our weekly art workshop series and is currently the host and committee lead for that program. Devrim maintains the BAA online Square shop, handles most of our social media presence, and continues to create most of our graphics.
In her own studio she works mostly in oil paints, but is versed in mixed media, wood burning, ceramics, photography, sculpture, weaving, jewelry and installations.
Trustee, President Emeritus – Lance Haslund.
A musician, Lance was a BA trustee since 2009, then later President until his retirement in 2017. He and his wife Laurie, also a musician, produced a major jazz event for Burien Arts for 12 years (first the Highline Classic Jazz Festival 2006-2014), then the Burien Jazz Walk (2015-2017).
Advisers:
Amber Raven Nicole, Curator, Burien Arts Gallery walls
Amaranta Sandys, Former Curator, Burien Arts Exhibit Program Curating Committee Chair
Ken DeRoux, Former BAA Gallery Curator, Adviser as needed
Garreth Schuh, Former BAA Gallery Curator, Adviser as needed
Susan Woltz, Former gallery owner, Adviser as needed
Sybil Davis, Former BAA President
John Unbehend, Former BAA President
Lance Haslund, Former BAA President
THANKS TO OUR GRANTORS & TO YOU
Much thanks to our grantors, who help make it possible to offer many events free of charge.
And thanks to YOU, the residents and businesses of Burien, who have participated in and supported our programs since 1964.
