The Arts Ecosystem Research Project (AERP) is an initiative of Seattle University’s Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership Program and Lemieux Library dedicated to researching, documenting, and sharing information on the Seattle region’s dynamic arts and culture sector. The focus is the arts organizations, businesses, and major events that have shaped the region’s unique cultural character, with the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair serving as a threshold event in recent cultural history.
Spectrum Dance Theater has been a pillar of the Seattle dance community since its founding in the early 1980s. Spectrum’s contemporary choreography under Donald Byrd is well known for its political and emotional depth, especially content around geopolitical conflict and race in the United States. This case study follows Spectrum’s history from its establishment in a converted 1928 bathhouse through the first decade of Byrd’s tenure as Artistic Director, 2002 – 2012.
Case Study: Byrd and the Bath House
