state arts action network
Council
2005–2006 Roster
Gretchen Johnston
For the past nine years, Gretchen Johnston has been the executive director of the Washington State Arts Alliance, a statewide membership organization dedicated to arts advocacy. A Washington native, Ms. Johnston has a B.A. in theatre from Eastern Washington University. She has worked in both the visual and performing arts as an individual artist, a teacher, a gallery owner, and an administrator—including as director of admissions and financial aid at Cornish College of the Arts and as executive director of the Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival, which she helped to found. For many years she has been an active volunteer and board member for a number of small arts organizations. She currently serves on the Technical Advisory Committee for the arts management program at Seattle Central Community College and as vice chair of the State Arts Action Network (SAAN) of Americans for the Arts. The SAAN is a professional group for advocacy and service leaders across the country.