We Art Tacoma

Jamika and Katy are back in the host chairs, excited to learn from dindria of the Tacoma Public Library's Community Archives Center. dindria and the Tacoma Public Library team are collecting stories and oral histories...

The “Off the Record” podcast is normally available exclusively for Channel 253 members. But this was a special enough episode we wanted to publish it widely. If you appreciate this interview with Gregory Youtz about...

Eden Redmond is the Institutional Giving Manager and one of the representatives of TAM WU: Tacoma Arts Museum Workers United. She graciously educates the We Art Tacoma team on the importance of union recognition and...

Jamika and Katy talk with Grit City Magazine publisher and writer Sierra Hartman. Sierra and his publishing partner Sara Kay received the Amocat Art Award for Arts Patron. Sierra shares the trials and joys of...

Jamika and Katy talk with author and community builder Tamiko Nimura about her well-earned Amocat Art Award for Community Outreach by an Individual. We explore her incredible literary and historical work, and “wax rhapsodic”! Listen...

Jamika and guest host Hannah Devine interview community-builder and all-ages music advocate Tom Long! Tom Long represents Real Art Tacoma, the Amocat Award Winner for Community Outreach by an Organization. Tom is the president of...

Jamika and Katy sit down with the incredible Chevi Chung – actor, director, and Community Programs Specialist at the Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality for the City of Tacoma – to learn what we...

We jump back in with Nakanee Monique and they kick us off with a reading of part 2 of her epic poem Listen. Take some time to read the full poem, included below. Tacoma-based writer...

The first of a two-part series, Jamika and Katy talk with Tacoma-based writer and activist Nakanee Monique about her art and activism. Nakanee (she/they) has been writing poetry since they were 8 years old and...

Jamika and Katy turn to the art of the essay for healing, processing, and metabolizing grief, as our community and country faces compounding trauma and tragedy. “Joy is not the opposite of grief. Grief is...

Jamika and Katy get together with elder-in-training Amy McBride: City of Tacoma Arts Administrator, artist, creatrix, mystic, and witch! Amy shares her experiences from over 20 years in arts administration and creative community building, and what...

We Art Tacoma is back, baby, with some fresh new hosts! It's Jamika and Katy, at your cultural service! Jamika Scott and Katy Evans are delighted to take the helm as “art super fans.” In...

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Tacoma marketed itself in a variety of ways, including song. Several songs, such as “You’ll Like Tacoma,” and “Watch Tacoma Grow,” were aimed to be catchy jingles for...

This episode, Rosemary Ponnekanti is back for a record third time in 2020 to talk about a new project—Tacoma Light Trail, a festival/walk/driving tour of light centered around downtown Tacoma. From Wright Park to Dock...

Michael. Liang of Spaceworks Tacoma is back on the podcast to talk about what’s happening with Tacoma’s artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs. He also shares some resources for shopping local this holiday season. Enjoy! Links Spaceworks...

David Fischer, Executive Director of Tacoma Arts Live, joins the podcast to talk about how TAL has been navigating the pandemic, virtual shows (such as The Muse Hour with Karamo Brown on Saturday October 17)...

David Setford, Executive Director of Tacoma Art Museum, joins the podcast to talk about reopening plans at TAM on October 9 and what he sees going forward at museums in general. Tacoma Art Museum will...

Two guests join the podcast today to talk about Tacoma Ocean Fest. Executive Director Rosemary Ponnekanti talks about the origins of Tacoma Ocean Fest’s unique blend of art and science. She also shares how the...

Dr. Kimberly Keith joins the podcast to talk about Hilltop Artists, which teaches youth to blow glass and a whole lot more. The organization was recently honored as the Washington State Organization of the Year....

The doors to the Grand Cinema have been closed since March, but that doesn’t mean everything has stopped. Executive Director Philip Cowan talks about how you can stream new movies through the Grand, their online...

Christina Butcher is the founder of Blue Cactus Press, a small Tacoma-based press that focuses on poetry, fiction, and essays. She shares how she ventured into Tacoma’s literary and books arts scene to create books...

Creative Colloquy has been going strong for six years now with regular events for writers of all sorts. During the pandemic, they’ve adapted to virtual hangouts every Monday night at 7:00. Jackie Casella and Jonny...

Michelle Matlock is originally from Tacoma, but her career took her far. She wrote, acted, and produced her own shows in New York. She learned clowning and circus arts and eventually created a character for...

Ingrid Barrentine joins the podcast to talk about her photography. She got the photo-bug at 19 as a hobbyist and managed to create a professional career as a photographer. For Channel 253 this week, she...

Amy McBride, of the City of Tacoma’s Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality, joins the podcast to talk about how arts organizations and artists are doing in Tacoma during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of...

Writer Tamiko Nimura joins the podcast today to talk about her life as a writer, writing the biography of State Senator Rosa Franklin, the first African-American woman to serve in the Washington State Senate. We...

The You’ll Heart Tacoma sign has been making the rounds around Tacoma. It’s a mashup of the classic You’ll Like Tacoma sign from 1909 and the new 253 Heart. On this episode we dig into...

The cast and director of Oleanna join the podcast to talk about the new show at Tacoma Arts Live. The play reinvestigates a script from thirty years ago that tells the story of sexual harassment...

Once a year, the We Art Tacoma podcast geeks out on movies. This year’s guests are Chase Hutchinson and Andrew Hammond. Chase writes for The News Tribune on film and other topics. Andrew is a...

Artist Lisa Kinoshita kicked off an important discussion on Facebook when she wrote, TACOMA (POP. 213,418) NEEDS AN ARTS CRITIC.” And what a dialog ensured! I sat down with Rosemary Ponnekanti, the last full-time art...

David Fischer, Executive Director of Tacoma Arts Live, sits down to look back at the year in Tacoma arts and then look ahead to First Night! First Night buttons are $14 through December 30 and...

Sara Kay and Sierra Hartman talk about Grit City Magazine, the independent magazine that “believes Tacoma has good stories.” Sarah and Sierra have been behind the magazine since it was founded in 2017. The produce...

After graduating Foss High School, Umi went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. When he returned to Tacoma, he co-founded the store ETC Tacoma and the etcetera line of streetwear....

John Falskow, music professor at Tacoma Community College, joins the show to talk about a series of holiday (and not-holiday) shows around Tacoma, including the free TCC Orchestra concert and a fun event called “Tuba...

Singer songwriter Paige Hansen joins the podcast to talk about her musical background as a singer songwriter, her time as a jazz DJ at KNKX, and more. Links Paige Hansen on Facebook Paige Hansen on...

Lance Kagey and Tom Llewellyn have been behind the guerilla art project “Beautiful Angle” since the early 2000s. I was glad for the chance to talk to them more about their project, the origins of...

What is TUPAC? (By which we mean the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center and not the rapper). TUPAC help kids who are racially and socioeconomically diverse get access to classical art forms like ballet. An...

Victoria Ashley joins the podcast to talk about her work as an actor as well as the upcoming show “Shakespeare in Love” opening this weekend at Tacoma Arts Live. The play is based on the...

Silong Chhun is a man of many artistic talents—music, audio, graphic design, film. He’s also a booster of Tacoma arts, having recently served on the Tacoma Arts Commission. Check out the new episode! Links Silong...

For this week’s episode, Melinda Raebyne and David Dinnell sit down to talk about film in Tacoma and the upcoming Tacoma Film Festival (October 3 – 10). Melinda’s new film is Stories of Us: Camp...

The Gritty City Sirens burlesque troupe likes to say that they put the T and A in Tacoma. Two performers, Rosie Cheex and Ava D Jor, share their story about how they got into burlesque,...

Poet Michael Haeflinger joins the podcast to talk about the nonprofit Write 253 and his new book of poems Low Static Rage. At the end of the poem, he reads a poem from it about...

In the early 1980s, Andy Warhol submitted a piece of art to the City of Tacoma. It would make the roof of the building a giant flower. It wasn’t a winning entry, but the idea...

This week’s episode of We Art Tacoma is with Native American glass artist Preston Singletary, who has an exhibit called Raven and the Box of Daylight at the Museum of Glass. Preston is a legend...

Kareem Kandi joins the show to talk about his life in jazz music. From teaching 40 music lessons a week to performing to teaching to managing a nonprofit, Kareem has his hands full. Links The...

Dan Friday comes on the podcast today to talk about his glass art and the Saturday August 10 “In the Spirit” Northwest Native Festival. Dan’s glass piece Full Circle Totem won the “Spirit of the...