Order 2026-07 – Portwide Arts and Culture Board Appointment Page 1 of 2
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Order No. 2026-07 2
AN ORDER OF THE PORT OF SEATTLE COMMISSION 3
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… appointing a Public Member to the Port of Seattle 5
Portwide Arts and Culture Board. 6
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PROPOSED 8
AUGUST 11, 2026 9
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INTRODUCTION 11
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The Portwide Arts and Culture Board recommended to the Commission, during its August 11, 13
2026 meeting, the appointment of Emily Tanner-McLean to the Portwide Arts and Culture Board, 14
as a public member for a term of three (3) years. Ms. Tanner-McLean is filling a vacancy created 15
by the departure of a previous public member. 16
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TEXT OF THE ORDER 18
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The Port Commission, in accordance with the Portwide Arts and Cultural Program Policy 20
Directive, hereby appoints Emily Tanner-McLean to serve a three-year term as a Public Member 21
on the Portwide Arts and Culture Board, ending August 1, 2028. 22
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STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE ORDER 24
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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
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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
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Ms. Emily Tanner-McLean was born in California and raised in New York, and has called Seattle 36
home since 2014. She is a multimedia artist working primarily with video. A child of the MTV 37
generation, Emily came of age at a time when media’s grip on culture and politics exponentially 38
tightened. While earning her Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art at New York University (2005), she 39
witnessed the attacks of 9/11 and became acutely aware the media’s role in manipulating the 40
public’s consciousness. This experience seeded an interest in media’s generative capacity to 41
promote new, awareness-building ways of thinking. 42
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Item no. 8h_order
Meeting Date: August 11, 2026
Order 2026-07 – Portwide Arts and Culture Board Appointment Page 2 of 2
Following undergrad, Emily worked in fundraising for cultural organizations and then for park 44
projects in New York and Seattle, securing funding for public art and community programs. In 45
2013, she completed a Master’s degree in Public Administration with an emphasis on cultural 46
policy. This career and her studies educated her in the complex ecosystem in which artworks and 47
programs are developed. It also stimulated her curiosity in the varied and often contradictory 48
ways people perceive environment and symbols, a subject that informs her current art practice. 49
