City cultural funding staff and the Tacoma Creates advisory group presented the Tacoma Creates annual report to the Economic Development Committee on Oct. 28, covering the July 2024–June 2025 program year and outlining plans for the 2025–26 funding cycle.

Rebecca Solverson, manager in the Arts and Cultural Vitality Division, told the committee that Tacoma Creates has supported a wide range of cultural activity across the city since a 2018 ballot initiative established the program and state legislation passed in 2015 set cultural access priorities. Solverson said the City Council unanimously reauthorized Tacoma Creates for a second seven‑year period earlier this year.

Program staff reported that funded organizations produced nearly 1,500 programs serving about 1,000,000 participants during the 2024–25 program year. The presentation said the program distributed roughly $6,000,000 in the 2024–25 cycle, with about $6,000,000 going directly to contracts with cultural organizations and the remainder covering administration, capacity building and transportation support.

Presenters emphasized financial and geographic access: nearly 70% of supported programs were free to attend, drawing more than 300,000 attendees at free in‑person cultural events. The report said all five council districts were served and the program overlays an interactive map of program locations with the city equity index to inform funding and outreach decisions.

A significant share of Tacoma Creates funding supports youth education. Staff said more than one‑third of all Tacoma Creates programs were youth education programs; 45 funded organizations delivered nearly 600 youth education programs last year. The presentation said Tacoma Creates covered transportation costs for 280 cultural learning opportunities for Tacoma Public Schools students and that 98% of TPS schools benefited from Tacoma Creates programming.

Staff noted that the creative sector benefits from the program’s operating dollars: about 73% of funds to organizations supported staff and contractors, including individual artists. The presentation also highlighted a partnership with the Tacoma Public Library, which hosted an average of more than 4.5 free Tacoma Creates programs per week across branches.

Looking ahead, staff said the 2025–26 funding cycle includes $6.7 million in contracts with 79 organizations — a roughly 15% increase in contracts from the prior year — and that the office is developing a capital funding program to launch in the 2027–28 cycle. Program managers said they will continue capacity building, community engagement and process improvements to expand equity and sustainability across the cultural sector.

Committee members praised the program’s economic development value and long‑term stability for cultural organizations. Staff said the full annual report will be released in the coming weeks and welcomed committee questions and feedback on the capital program design.