WHEREAS, Massachusetts-born Peter Donnelly arrived in Seattle in 1964 as a Ford Foundation intern at Seattle Repertory Theatre and rose quickly through the ranks to become its Managing Director in 1965; and
     WHEREAS, Peter Donnelly helped draft the legislation that created the Seattle Arts Commission in 1971; and
     WHEREAS, In 1983, Peter Donnelly was the driving force behind the construction of the Bagley Wright Theatre, the first major capital project for an arts group on the Seattle Center campus since the 1962 World's Fair; and
     WHEREAS, Peter Donnelly became the president and CEO of Corporate Council for the Arts, now ArtsFund, in 1989 and led it through an astonishing two decades of growth until his retirement in 2005; and
     WHEREAS, Peter Donnelly helped ensure the survival of the National Endowment for the Arts in the early 1990s when the agency was under attack in Congress by securing the key support of Senator Slade Gorton; and
     WHEREAS, Peter Donnelly was the staunch advocate and prime mover behind the establishment of the statewide Building for the Arts Program in 1991 that has since distributed more than 58 million dollars to 150 arts capital projects across the state of Washington; and
     WHEREAS, Peter Donnelly was the single greatest force behind the transformation of Seattle from a mid-sized American city with a few arts organizations to a nationally recognized cultural capital with major institutions in music, visual art, ballet, opera, and theatre, including two Tony award-winning regional theatres and an extensive network or independent artists and arts organizations;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate does hereby proclaim the Senate's collective sadness at Peter Donnelly's passing, and urges all citizens to join in celebrating this exceptional man for his outstanding leadership and contributions to the State of Washington.