PONCHO

Last updated

The Patrons of Northwest Civic, Cultural and Charitable Organizations (PONCHO) is a non-profit corporation in Seattle, Washington, United States, whose annual fund-raising auction has long played a significant role in funding the arts in Seattle. [1] However, over the years, the gala auction slowly ceased to be profitable and will not occur after 2008, being replaced by smaller art and wine auctions. [2] Janet True, president of the PONCHO board, has indicated that the gala auction will probably be replaced by something parallel to New York City's Tony Awards. [3]

Contents

The group was founded in 1963 to hold an auction to retire the US$35,000 debt accumulated by the Seattle Symphony's critically successful performance of Verdi's Aida at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition. They exceeded their goal, raising enough additional money to give $50,000 to the Symphony to help establish the Seattle Opera, as well as $15,000 to the Council on Aging and $1,000 to the Seattle Chorale. In the subsequent 45 years, PONCHO has raised over $33 million for more than 200 Seattle-area arts organizations. [4] [5] Significant beneficiaries other than the Symphony and Opera have included the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and ACT. [2]

Brendan Kiley of Seattle alternative weekly The Stranger , writing on the occasion of PONCHO executive director Gordon Hamilton's forced departure in July 2008, sees PONCHO as gradually shifting from being a "deep donor" to large arts institutions into a "broad donor" whose beneficiaries have come to include smaller groups. [3]

Notes

  1. Jones 1972 , p. 253
  2. 1 2 Trapnell, Susan (July 24, 2008). "As PONCHO regroups, Seattle arts struggle". Crosscut.com . Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Brendan Kiley, Executive Director of PONCHO Fired, Slog, The Stranger's blog, July 18, 2008. Accessed online 17 August 2008.
  4. About PONCHO Archived 2008-09-14 at the Wayback Machine , PONCHO official site. Accessed online 17 August 2008.
  5. Blecha, Peter, PONCHO holds inaugural fundraising auction, to benefit Seattle Symphony, on April 27, 1963, HistoryLink, July 16, 2002. Accessed online 17 August 2008.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Symphony</span>

The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capitol Hill Arts Center</span> Theater in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle

Capitol Hill Arts Center, also known by its acronym CHAC, was a performing arts center located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. CHAC operated two performance spaces in the building, most widely known for its theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCaw Hall</span> Opera house in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall is a performing arts hall in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located on the grounds of Seattle Center and owned by the city of Seattle, McCaw Hall's two principal tenants are the Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet. The building is named for Marion Oliver McCaw, whose four sons donated $20 million to fund a major renovation in 2003. It was formerly known as the Civic Auditorium and Seattle Opera House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arts in Seattle</span> Overview of arts in Seattle

Seattle is a significant center for the painting, sculpture, textile and studio glass, alternative, urban art, lowbrow and performing arts. The century-old Seattle Symphony Orchestra is among the world's most recorded orchestras. The Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet, are comparably distinguished. On at least two occasions, Seattle's local popular music scene has burst into the national and even international consciousness, first with a major contribution to garage rock in the mid-1960s, and later as the home of grunge rock in the early 1990s. The city has about twenty live theater venues, and Pioneer Square is one of the country's most prominent art gallery districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KNKX</span> Public radio station in Tacoma, Washington

KNKX (88.5 MHz) is a public radio station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States. A member of National Public Radio (NPR), it airs a jazz and news format for the Seattle metropolitan area. The station is owned by Pacific Public Media, a community-based non-profit organization. It operates from studios in downtown Seattle and downtown Tacoma. KNKX broadcasts from West Tiger Mountain in the Issaquah Alps with a power of 68,000 watts.

Seattle Repertory Theatre is a major regional theatre located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound and Theatre Communications Group. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann. It received the 1990 Regional Theatre Tony Award.

The Northwest Progressive Institute (NPI) is a liberal think tank based in Redmond, Washington, founded in 2003 and incorporated in 2005. It uses technology, public policy research, and political advocacy to advance progressive causes in the Pacific Northwest region as well as across the United States. It describes itself as "a netroots powered strategy center working to raise America's quality of life through innovative research and imaginative advocacy."

Diverse Harmony is an American youth chorus based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2002, it is the first Gay-Straight Alliance youth chorus in the United States. Today, Diverse Harmony is an LGBTQ-Ally youth chorus, and their stated mission is "to create a safe, affirming environment where everyone is accepted for who they are." In addition to singing members, the chorus has an extensive support network of volunteers, subscribers, and donors; they are also a non-profit organization. Diverse Harmony is a member of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, and was the first youth chorus to participate in a GALA Choruses Festival. The chorus appeared in the independent film Why We Sing, which has been screened at LGBT film festivals and on PBS stations across the United States.

Awesome is a band from Seattle. Self-described as "Part band, part art collective." They reject the "rock band" label, Lane Czaplinski, artistic director of On the Boards remarks, "If they are not rock musicians, "there is rock payoff." Czaplinski has compared them to Polyphonic Spree

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pike Place Market</span> Public market and tourist attraction in Seattle, Washington

Pike Place Market is a public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront on Puget Sound, it serves as a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. It is named for its central street, Pike Place, which runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street on the western edge of Downtown Seattle. Pike Place Market is Seattle's most popular tourist destination and the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world, with more than 10 million annual visitors.

Allied Arts of Seattle is a non-profit organization in Seattle, Washington, USA. The organization advocates for public funding of the arts, better urban planning and architecture, and other civic improvements. The organization claims to be the "oldest non-profit organization in Seattle dedicated to urban livability", but, in any case, at 50+ years old is certainly a venerable organization by the standards of a city barely older than 150 years It was a major force in establishing the Seattle Arts Commission, creating Seattle Center on the grounds of the Century 21 Exposition and preserving historical landmarks and neighborhoods, particularly Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market, as well as defeating the 2012 Seattle Olympic bid.

Rebecca Brown is an American novelist, essayist, playwright, artist, and professor. She was the first writer in residence at Richard Hugo House, co-founder of the Jack Straw Writers Program, and served as the creative director of literature at Centrum in Port Townsend, Washington from 2005 to 2009. Brown's best-known work is her novel The Gifts of the Body, which won a Lambda Literary Award in 1994. Rebecca Brown is an Emeritus faculty member in the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont and is also a multi-media artist whose work has been displayed in galleries such as the Frye Art Museum.

The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, also known simply as the Jay Fund, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1996 and "helps families tackle childhood cancer by providing comprehensive financial, emotional and practical support", according to the foundation's mission statement. Charity Navigator currently rates The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation as a 4-star organization, its highest rating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Satori Group</span>

The Satori Group is a Seattle-based theatre ensemble that unites innovative multi-media, dynamic physical styles, and contemporary content in live performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Durkan</span> American politician (born 1958)

Jenny Anne Durkan is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. After earning her Juris Doctor from University of Washington School of Law in 1985, Durkan began practicing law as a criminal defense lawyer and civil litigator. In October 2009, President Barack Obama appointed her United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington. She held that position until September 2014.

Greg Carter is the founding Artistic Director of Strawberry Theatre Workshop, a non-profit theatre company in Seattle, Washington. He works as a freelance director, designer, and stage manager and teaches at Cornish College of the Arts. As a playwright, he has adapted This Land, Fellow Passengers, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey for the stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Center for the Performing Arts</span>

The Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue located along Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin, Texas. The Long Center is the permanent home of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Austin Opera and Ballet Austin and hosts other Austin-area performing arts organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fay Jones (artist)</span> American painter

Fay Jones is an American artist, based in Seattle, Washington. A large number of her works are exhibited in public places in the Pacific Northwest, including a mural in the Westlake Station of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and a painting in Seattle's opera house, McCaw Hall. A 1986 retrospective organized by the Boise Art Museum also showed at the Seattle Art Museum.

Greg Lundgren is a Seattle-based artist, author, filmmaker and entrepreneur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Jackson Chihuly</span> American arts executive and philanthropist

Leslie Jackson Chihuly is an American arts executive and philanthropist. She is the president and chief executive officer of Chihuly, Inc., which includes Chihuly Studio and Chihuly Workshop, both of which feature the artistic work and vision of her husband, Dale Chihuly. In 2018, she was elected as chair emerita of the Seattle Symphony Board after serving nine years as board chair and implementing a number of revitalizing changes. Those included filling the roles of CEO and music director with fresh talent, and taking the organization from financial challenge and organizational strife in 2009 to the stage of Carnegie Hall in 2014. Under her leadership, the symphony won three Grammy Awards and the Gramophone “Orchestra of the Year Award” in 2018. Leslie Chihuly serves on the boards of the Seattle Symphony, Vassar College and the Pilchuck Glass School. In 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intention to appoint Jackson Chihuly to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts.

References