About WACultures
WACultures recognizes, sustains, advances, and celebrates the living cultural heritage of Washington State so that the many, different cultural communities of Washington better understand, respect, and appreciate one another.
WACultures is the official folk and traditional arts partner for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.
WACultures is presented in partnership by Humanities Washington and ArtsWA/the Washington State Arts Commission.
Contact WACultures staff any time at 206-682-1770
or by emailing wacultures@humanities.org
Staff
Thomas Grant Richardson
DIRECTOR
Thomas Grant Richardson is the director of WACultures and is staff of both Humanities Washington and ArtsWA. He has worked as an independent folklorist, writer, and consultant with numerous folk and traditional arts agencies across the county, as well as national organizations including the Association for Cultural Equity, The American Folklore Society, PBS Education, and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Thomas holds a Ph.D. in Folklore and & Ethnomusicology from Indiana University.
Contact Thomas at (206) 682-1770 or by email at thomas@humanities.org
Jera Lego
PROGRAM MANAGER
Jera Lego, PhD, is a Program Manager for WACultures, working on a variety of folklife initiatives. She has worked on a number of grant programs at Humanities Washington and education programs at the National Humanities Center in Durham, North Carolina. Jera has a PhD in liberal arts from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She is fluent in Tagalog, conversational in Japanese, and her Spanish is coming along nicely.
Contact Jera at (206) 682-1770 or by email at jera@humanities.org.
Advisory Board
Makaela Kroin
FOLK & TRADITIONAL ARTS PROGRAM COORDINATOR, WASHINGTON STATE PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION
Makaela moved to Washington from Oregon in 2018 to begin work as Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission’s Folk & Traditional Arts Program Coordinator. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from Smith College, a Master’s Degree in Information and Communication Science from Ball State University, and a Master’s Degree in Public Folklore from the University of Oregon. She began working in the field of public folklore as the program manager at the Oregon Folklife Network. At Washington State Parks, Makaela oversees a statewide Folk and Traditional Arts program and related community partnership development efforts.
Mark Miyake
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC AND SOCIETY AT WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S FAIRHAVEN COLLEGE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES
Mark has been teaching and advising students at Fairhaven College and leading their program in Audio Technology, Music, and Society since 2015, in which time he has also served as President of the Northwest Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology and on national award and funding panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. Prior to joining Western Washington University’s faculty, Mark served as Assistant Professor of The Arts and Social Sciences at Empire State College of the State University of New York and as the college-wide faculty convener for their Arts programs. During his time on the East Coast, Mark also served as the Chair of the Folk Arts Panel of the New York State Council for the Arts and as the President of the Middle Atlantic Folklife Association. He holds a MA and Ph.D. in Folklore and Ethnomusicology from Indiana University. Mark’s family immigrated to the U.S. when he was two years old; this has greatly influenced his approach to understanding the arts in their cultural contexts.
Latha Sambamurti
FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Latha Sambamurti is the producer and Artistic, Outreach and Development Director of several large-scale arts and culture festivals in the State of Washington. She has been a Washington state Arts Commissioner and a Redmond Arts and Culture Commissioner. She is an educator, community leader, trained musician, and band leader. She won the Kirkland Performance Center’s You Rock award for community service and an award from Women of western Washington Forum for promoting Indian festivals with positive thinking and outreach. She serves as a board director for several state and regional cultural organizations. She holds a master’s degree in English Literature.
Willie Smyth
INDEPENDENT FOLKLORIST
Willie is currently an independent folklorist working in Washington. For over two decades he led Washington’s state folk arts program as Folk Arts Coordinator the Washington State Arts Commission/WSAC. Prior to that he managed folk and traditional arts programs for the State Arts Council of Oklahoma for over four years. He holds a M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; and an M.A. in Folklore and Anthropology, and Ph.D. in Folklore and Theatre Arts, from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Contact Us
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