Tacoma Creates is excited to announce that in this inaugural year of Tacoma Creates funding, 58 cultural organizations will be awarded contracts totaling just under $1 million to support a range of public programming for all ages, youth education programs, and a commitment to equitable and inclusive access for people throughout the City of Tacoma! Please see the press release below for more information. ________________________________ 58 Cultural Organizations Funded by Tacoma Creates TACOMA, Wash. -- The Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality recently launched the inaugural year of Tacoma Creates funding with contracts totaling just under $1 million to 58 organizations whose primary purpose is to advance or preserve arts, culture, heritage, and science. These organizations' work includes a range of public programming for all ages, youth education programs, and a commitment to equitable and inclusive access for people throughout the City of Tacoma. Following several pilot programs and capacity building projects over the past nine months, this is the first round of competitive funding for the Tacoma Creates initiative, which was approved by Tacoma voters in November 2018. "The current restrictions on public gatherings have had a tremendous impact on the cultural sector, however their work has not stopped. The cultural sector is instrumental in lifting spirits and supporting social cohesion during physical distancing, and will be even more so during Tacoma's recovery," said Tacoma Creates Program Manager Lisa Jaret. "It is critical to preserve the cultural sector so that it is able to help sustain our community." "The COVID-19 pandemic offers an unprecedented opportunity for the cultural sector to serve the community in creative ways that are needed now more than ever," said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards. "The pandemic does not change what Tacoma Creates was designed to do, it enhances the opportunity and these deserving organizations are providing meaningful public benefit." The City is taking a conservative and incremental approach to the distribution of Tacoma Creates funding with an anticipated reduction of sales tax revenues due to COVID-19. On April 21, 2020, the Tacoma City Council approved the release of up to $1 million of Tacoma Creates funds for initial 2020 Tacoma Creates contracts. These funds will be distributed to organizations approved for funding by independent review panels, with amounts based on the panels' rating of each application using the published review criteria. As available funding allows, additional Tacoma Creates funds will be released to these organizations to further their public benefit efforts. The 58 organizations who will receive Tacoma Creates funding are: * Alchemy Skateboarding * Asia Pacific Cultural Center * Breaker Gallery * Buffalo Soldiers Museum * Cathartic Muse * Centro Latino * Children's Museum of Tacoma * Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation * Citizens for a Healthy Bay * Classical Tuesdays in Old Town Tacoma * Destiny City Film Festival * Elements of Education Partners * Entertainment Resource Alliance * Fab-5 * FabLab Nonprofit * Foss Waterway Seaport * Genesis HCDC * Hilltop Artists * Historic Tacoma * Job Carr Cabin Museum * Krownless Kings * LeMay-America's Car Museum * Museum of Glass * Northwest Sinfonietta * Oasis Youth Center * Orchestral Recital Series of Tacoma * Permaculture Lifestyle Institute * Puget Sound Revels * RAIN Incubator * Rainbow Center * Symphony Tacoma * Tacoma Art Museum * Tacoma Arts Live * Tacoma Art Walk * Tacoma Boat Builders * Tacoma City Association of Colored Women's Clubs * Tacoma City Ballet * Tacoma Concert Band * Tacoma Historical Society * Tacoma Little Theatre * Tacoma Ocean Fest * Tacoma Opera Association * Tacoma Refugee Choir * Tacoma Sister Cities * Tacoma Tree Foundation * Tacoma Urban Land Trust * Tacoma Urban League * Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, T.U.P.A.C. * Tacoma Waterfront Association * Tacoma Youth Symphony Association * Tacoma Youth Theatre * Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber - Spaceworks * Ted Brown Music Outreach * The Grand Cinema * The Kareem Kandi World Orchestra * The Night Show With Will & Keilani * WayOut Kids * Write253 ### About Tacoma Creates Tacoma Creates is a voter-approved initiative to increase access to arts, culture, heritage, and science experiences throughout Tacoma by reducing barriers to access and expanding offerings, particularly for underserved youth. More information about Tacoma Creates is available at cityoftacoma.org/tacomacreates<http://cityoftacoma.org/tacomacreates>.