Child adding handprint to Tacoma Art Museum's Black Lives Matter Mural
EQUITY & ACCESS
Equity and Access are central to Tacoma Creates funding priorities. In alignment with Tacoma Creates’ originating State legislation, and with the City of Tacoma’s commitment to creating an equitable and anti-racist city, Tacoma Creates is dedicated to supporting vibrant and inclusive cultural programming throughout the city. Equity and access for Tacoma Creates means minimizing historical, systematic, and institutional disparities and maximizing opportunities for all people, increasing access, building community participation and engagement, and reducing barriers to participation.
Tacoma Creates uses the City of Tacoma’s equity index as one way to frame where needs are greatest.
Read more about the City of Tacoma’s commitment to equity: Resolution 40622, Tacoma 2025, Equity Index, and Office of Equity and Human Rights.
What does Equity mean for Tacoma Creates?
Equity means minimizing historical, systemic, and institutional disparities and maximizing opportunities for all people. Equity takes into account context: history, current realities, and future outcomes. Equity advances social justice, which is about the distribution of social and economic resources and opportunities to create a more just society. The purpose of equity in Tacoma Creates programming is to foster greater inclusiveness, increase diversity, and broaden access to and participation in arts, culture, heritage, and science experiences.
EQUITY & ACCESS Equity and Access are central to Tacoma Creates funding priorities. This includes our public mandate to support programming in neighborhoods across the city, and to engage and support traditionally underserved populations. Tacoma Creates funding is aligned with Tacoma’s vision for vibrant, equitable, and inclusive cultural programs. Organizations seeking funding must demonstrate how they contribute to this vision through their policies, practices, and programs. What does Equity mean for Tacoma Creates? Equity means minimizing historical, systematic, and institutional disparities and maximizing opportunities for all people. Equity takes into account context: history, current realities, and future outcomes. Equity advances social justice, which is about the distribution of social and economic resources and opportunities to create a more just society. The purpose of equity in Tacoma Creates programming is to foster greater inclusiveness, increase diversity, and broaden participation in arts, culture, heritage, and science experiences. Tacoma Creates will use the City of Tacoma’s equity index as one way to frame where needs are greatest.
What does Access mean for Tacoma Creates?
Access is an important part of equity, and in building community participation and engagement. Increasing access requires considering both visible and invisible barriers to participation, and then working to remove or minimize those barriers. Learn more about the seven aspects of Access that we ask organizations to consider in their work.
What does Access mean for Tacoma Creates? Access is an important part of equity, and in building community participation and engagement. Increasing access requires considering both visible and invisible barriers to participation, and then working to remove or minimize those barriers. Learn more about the seven aspects of Access that we ask organizations to consider in their work.
How is Tacoma Creates supporting this work?
In addition to the financial support that organizations may use to address barriers to access, Tacoma Creates is also investing in capacity building work for organizations. This means helping organizations build knowledge and skills to support their equity work. We are partnering with local consultants Colemon and Associates to facilitate a series of workshops for funded organizations, designed to support their growth and understanding around Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI).