WAC’s work is done: Art consortium, founded in the 1970s, disbands

The Washington Art Consortium (WAC) has decided to disband.

Founded in the early 1970s, it was the brainchild of Seattle arts philanthropist Virginia Wright, who negotiated with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to get federal money to bring serious artworks — mostly drawings on paper and photographs, since they were easier to ship and store — to the Northwest.

In a statement, WAC said it had completed its mission, and its collection of 411 works by 175 artists (including Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky and Roy Lichtenstein) will be distributed to six of its member museums, including the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, the Western Gallery at Western Washington University and Tacoma Art Museum.