After an extensive search process beginning in December 2021, the appointment of WAA’s next Executive Director, Joshua Heim, is announced. 

Joshua is a dedicated arts leader focused on areas of advocacy, cultural planning, racial equity, and social justice. He will take the reins from longstanding leader, Tim Wilson, on September 19.  After 25-years Tim will officially step down from his role on September 30. Tim’s contributions to WAA are too expansive to name here, but include the development of visionary programs and successfully stewarding the organization through the pandemic.

Tim and Joshua are already working together closely to facilitate a smooth transition.

Joshua joins WAA from 4Culture, a cultural funding agency for King County, Washington, where he served as Deputy Director. His role focused on working with program managers to shift programs toward greater equity, centering people and communities of color who have been historically underserved by traditional arts philanthropy. Joshua also helped to lead an impactful COVID-19 response that included distributing over $12 million of federal disaster relief to cultural organizations and individual cultural workers.

Prior to his role at 4Culture, Joshua served as the Arts Program Manager and Diversity Liaison for the City of Bellevue, WA, following four years as Cultural Arts Administrator for the city of Redmond, WA.

Joshua holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies from the University of Washington in Bothell, WA and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR, as well as an International Development Policy and Management Graduate Certificate from the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. He is originally from Hawaii, where he worked for a short time as a professional hula dancer.

Josh’s vision and experience, paired with his proven ability to align culture and community development in complex organizations and ecosystems, makes him a perfect fit for WAA.

The board and staff are overjoyed to have Joshua as WAA’s new Executive Director. As he takes the baton, they are confident that he will continue Tim’s phenomenal legacy and lead WAA into this next phase of organizational growth.