Welcome to our newest members from the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture (OAC)! This group of 22 workers fulfills a wide variety of roles, all of which are uniquely designed to foster socially expansive and culturally inclusive creative experience throughout Seattle.
OAC members were certified by the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) at the end of August. They decided to organize after initial attempts to change conditions within their workplace were met with limited success. Principal among their concerns were gaining worker protections and having a secure avenue for advocacy.
In his role as Public Art Project Manager, Jeremy Beliveau scopes projects with partner departments, guides the artist selection process, manages artist contracts, and guides public art projects from design to installation. What he loves best about his work is that he gets to work on a variety of projects with all kinds of people, that he’s always learning new things, and especially that he is able to bring art to Seattle, the city he loves.
“Being in a union is important because it helps build community and combat alienation,” said Beliveau. “Building solidarity nurtures empathy while building an uplifting collective power structure. So many of our world’s problems are caused by alienation, manufactured scarcity, and a system that forces us into competition over collaboration. Joining a union is the best first step (in my mind) toward unraveling all that.”