Spotlight:On

Welcome to Spotlight:On, the portion of the WLA web site where the trials and triumphs of working as an artist or arts organization in the Northwest are explored. This month we feature Crescendo Artistic Environment School, located in Edmonds, Washington.

Opened in 1997, Crescendo Artistic Environment School focuses on arts programming for early childhood development, with a heavy emphasis on music and cultural diversity. With activities ranging from dance and music theory to instrument lessons and language instruction, the school began much-needed expansion on their facility in Edmonds last year. This seemingly conventional project quickly became complicated for director Fanovitch Sebasstian and her husband, Crescendo teacher D.A. Sebasstian. Enter attorney David G. Hancock to the rescue, a referral from Washington Layers for the Arts.

Dear Washington Lawyers for the Arts,

My wife, family, and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts — your referral to David Hancock saved our little art school from complete oblivion!

Let me explain. We were locked in a life or death struggle with our landlord. We had paid for a remodel of the building, and the landlord would not pay back our investment, even though we had a verbal agreement. The landlord had hired a heavy-handed business lawyer who would not listen to reason. Because we had used all our income remodeling the building, we could not “hire” an attorney. We had found a pro bono lawyer who tried to fend off the landlord’s legal vulture, but to no avail. I remember getting off the phone with him in tears (and I never cry). It looked as if our business relocation and business itself was doomed to bankruptcy. Our lawyer at the time had pretty much given up.

Then I remembered your organization and on a whim called. You had the perfect attorney, David Hancock — who to make a long story short, shut down the landlord’s attorney and put us in a position to once again negotiate in a reasonable manner. We settled out of court and now, nine months later, have a thriving Arts & Music School.

Thanks Again,

D.A. and Fanovitch Sebasstian
Crescendo Artistic Environment School
www.crescendo-arts.com