Order 2023-09 – Portwide Arts and Culture Board Appointment Page 1 of 2
1
Order No. 2023-09 2
AN ORDER OF THE PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 3
4
… appointing a Public Member to the Port of Seattle 5
Portwide Arts and Culture Board. 6
7
PROPOSED 8
JULY 11, 2023 9
10
INTRODUCTION 11
12
The Portwide Arts and Culture Board recommended to the Commission, during its May 3, 2023, 13
meeting, the appointment of Tamar Benzikry to the Portwide Arts and Culture Board, as a public 14
member for a term of three (3) years. Ms. Benzkiry is filling a vacancy created by the resignation 15
of Asia Tail who stepped down on February 13, 2023. 16
17
TEXT OF THE ORDER 18
19
The Port Commission, in accordance with the Portwide Arts and Cultural Program Policy 20
Directive, hereby appoints Tamar Benzikry to serve a three-year term as a Public Member on the 21
Portwide Arts and Culture Board, effective July 11, 2023, and ending July 31, 2026. 22
23
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE ORDER 24
25
On November 19, 2019, the Commission adopted Resolution No. 3766 establishing the Portwide 26
Arts and Culture Board to provide guidance, leadership, and support to the Commission in its 27
policy to procure, commission, and incorporate high-quality art that engages the public. The 28
Board is comprised of nine (9) members: two (2) Port Commissioners, three (3) Executive 29
Leadership Team, and four (4) public members appointed by the Port Commission. 30
31
The professional public members are integral to the work done by the Portwide Arts and Culture 32
Board and represent expertise and experience in fine arts, museum management, architecture 33
and/or design. 34
35
Ms. Tamar Benzikry was born and raised in Seattle, where she feels deeply rooted. But as the 36
trilingual daughter of immigrants, she is also engaged with multiple global communities. Her 37
grandfathers were artists - a cantor in Morocco and a painter in Germany. Although she did not 38
know either of them, the melodies and paintings that suffused her childhood home enabled her 39
to hear their voices and understand the power that art has to connect generations across time 40
and geography. 41
Item no. 8h_order
Meeting Date: July 11, 2023
Order 2023-09 – Portwide Arts and Culture Board Appointment Page 2 of 2
42
Ms. Benzikry is a mission-driven curator, cultural strategist, and coalition builder with expertise 43
in public art and community engagement backed by 15 years of arts program management 44
experience. 45
46
She is currently a Principal at Art and Purpose, providing purpose driven consulting services to 47
museums, nonprofits, public/private partnerships and creators. Previously, she served as 48
Curator and Producer for Meta Open Arts (formerly Facebook, Inc) where she commissioned over 49
70 artists to create site-specific artworks in North and South America with a focus on Diversity, 50
Equity, and Inclusion and experimentation; as Senior Public Art Project Manager for 4Culture 51
where she led diverse project teams to develop and deliver high-profile and complex art projects; 52
and as Public Art Coordinator for the City of Bellevue where she developed neighborhood public 53
art programs. 54
55
Ms. Benzikry received her bachelor’s degree in art history and Jewish Studies from the University 56
of Washington and received her master’s degree in Jewish Art and Visual Culture from Columbia 57
University and Jewish Theological Seminary. 58
