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That’s a quick video pan of the lively crowd tonight at South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center, where almost 300 people gathered for the annual ArtsWest Gala. We dropped by just in time to hear the big news – AW is “debt-free” for the first time since opening in fall 1999. And its newest capital campaign is already three-fourths of the way to its goal — “Full Speed Ahead” has received more than $460,000 from city/county/state government and foundations, and just needs $166K from the public – here’s the slide shown to the crowd:

The money will go toward capital improvements like new seats, infrastructure improvements like a full-time box office, and “artistry” endeavors — in particular, ArtsWest leaders said, “a living wage for artists.” If you want to help ArtsWest reach its goal, you can make a donation through this page on the AW website.