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Gülgün Kayim has a diverse and extensive background in arts and culture management. Gülgün is currently the Director of Arts and Culture for the City of Seattle, where they oversee key department activities to support and promote the arts. Prior to this role, they served as the Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy for the City of Minneapolis, where they established and led programs to support artists and creative businesses. Gülgün also worked as an Assistant Director for the Artist Program at the Archibald Bush Foundation, where they managed the selection process and provided support to artist fellows. Gülgün co-founded and served as the Co-Artistic/Managing Director for Skewed Visions and worked as the Public Art on Campus Coordinator for the Weisman Art Museum. Their early career included a role as an Assistant Coordinator for Sharing the Arts, where they administered arts programming for multiple arts centers in New Jersey.

Gülgün Kayim earned a BA (Hons) in Theater and Film from Middlesex University in the years 1985 to 1987. Following that, they pursued a Philosophy course at the University of Kent from 1984 to 1985. Later, Kayim obtained an MA in Theater Arts, specializing in Theory and Criticism, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the time frame of 1991 to 1992. Lastly, they completed their education by attaining an MFA in Theater Arts, with a focus on Directing, from the University of Minnesota from 1989 to 1993.