Department of Safety

The Department of Safety was an artist-run community space founded in 2002, located in Anacortes, Washington's old police and fire station.

Department of Safety provided hostel accommodations for travelers from 2002 until 2005, when the operators decided to focus on the Artist in Residence program.

Department of Safety hosted music festivals, workshops, high school classes, hundreds of concerts, art exhibits, recording sessions, weddings, halloween parties and lectures.

[1] The model of the DoS suggested two years of commitment from residents to work on the space and programming itself while simultaneously giving those individuals access to facilities to focus on their own artistic practice.

The true story told the tragic tale of a group of teenagers who crashed horrifically on the motorway while driving back from a music festival after a weekend of drug taking and sleep deprivation.