Tacoma Boat Builders out on the Adventuress
Child works on paper lotus at Asia Pacific Cultural Center's Korea Day
Puget Sound Revels gather at the Museum of Glass for "Bridge Sing"
Trumpet player performing for Northwest Sinfonietta
SPARK CREATIVITY. INSPIRE THE CITY.
ARTS ∙ CULTURE ∙ HERITAGE ∙ SCIENCE
2024-25 TACOMA cREATES ANNUAL rEPORT
Performers during Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation's Music at the Park event.
The 2024-25 Tacoma Creates Annual Report shows the impact of the fifth year of support for arts, culture, heritage, and science organizations in the City of Tacoma. Highlights include:
$6 Million distributed to 69 organizations in the City of Tacoma
Nearly 1,500 programs were produced by Tacoma Creates-funded organizations.
69% of programs were free for all participants.
Partnerships with Tacoma Public Schools and Tacoma Public Library continue to grow, serving thousands of youth and families across Tacoma.
Tacoma Creates nurtures the sustainability of the cultural sector by supporting organizations’ financial health, their ability to collaborate, and their programming and staffing capacity. Visit the Program Locations page for an interactive map of the locations where Tacoma Creates-supported programming took place.
To learn more about the good work of Tacoma Creates-supported organizations and the impact of $6 million in Tacoma Creates contracts, check out the 2024-25 Tacoma Creates Annual Report.
¡Nos complace compartir que nuestro Informe Anual 2024-25 de Tacoma Creates ya está disponible en español! Conozca cómo los fondos de Tacoma Creates han apoyado la programación artística, cultural, patrimonial y científica durante nuestro cuatro ciclo de financiación. El Informe Anual incluye la lista de organizaciones financiadas en 2024-2025, algunas instantáneas casi 1.500 programas y eventos apoyados por Tacoma Creates, un mapa de ubicación de los programas y un resumen financiero.
Tacoma Creates Reauthorization
Tacoma Creates – the City of Tacoma’s Cultural Access Program – has been reauthorized through 2032!
Tacoma Creates was initiated in 2018 thanks to overwhelming support of Tacoma voters, and at the Tuesday, October 7, 2025, City Council meeting, the Council voted to extend this valuable program for another 7 years.
Over the past 6 years, Tacoma Creates has provided over $30 million in funding to more than 100 local cultural organizations, reaching more than 4 million participants across 5,000+ programs.
To everyone who has attended a performance, seen an exhibition, or participated in a class or any other program made possible in part by Tacoma Creates, thank you for showing up for the things you love, expanding your cultural horizons, and creating and collaborating together.
To everyone involved in Tacoma Creates-supported work, we are grateful for the amazing programming and hard-working individuals and organizations in our local cultural sector. You have made a positive contribution to our community.
Arts, culture, heritage, and science organizations help make Tacoma the vibrant, vital, and interconnected city that we love by providing opportunities to create, learn, explore, and connect.
We are thrilled to be able to continue to support and sustain the important work of local organizations, big and small, old and new. We can’t wait to see how they continue to engage our community in the years ahead!
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If you’d like to learn more, you can access documents and videos from the three key public meetings that led up to the final votes to support the second 7 years of Tacoma Creates:
City Council Study Session: held Tuesday, July 29th. The documents related to the draft proposals and the video of the meeting are posted on the City’s website, here.
City Council Meeting: 1st reading of the Tacoma Creates Ordinances – held Tuesday, September 30th. The documents related to the ordinances and the video of the meeting are posted on the City’s website, here.
City Council Meeting: 2nd reading of the Tacoma Creates Ordinances and Council vote – held Tuesday, October 7th. The documents related to the ordinances and the video of the meeting are posted on the City’s website, here.
Partnerships with Tacoma Public SchoolS students and teachers!
Tacoma Creates funds will cover round-trip bus costs for up to 200 school-day field trips, each school-year, for all Tacoma Public Schools (TPS) to attend Tacoma Creates-supported programming! This opportunity is open to classes serving all grade levels, pre-K-high school, at any Tacoma Public School, with a priority given to TPS Title 1 schools. Field trips eligible for this transportation support include any during-the-school-day cultural programming offered by currently funded organizations within the City of Tacoma.
Tacoma Creates is proud to be a partner on Beyond The Bell / Club B after-school programs, along with Tacoma Public Schools, Parks Tacoma, Greentrike, and other community partners, which provides after school classes at TPS elementary and middle school campuses.
Visit our Youth Education page for more information on these TPS partnerships.
Who does Tacoma Creates fund, and what are these groups presenting? Check out Funded Organizations.
Explore the diverse array of events from our Tacoma Creates organizations by visiting our Events calendar.
Are you a non-profit cultural organization in Tacoma? Learn more about our Funding Opportunities.