News Release >From the City of Tacoma, Washington www.cityoftacoma.org <http://www.cityoftacoma.org/> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 23, 2008 MEDIA CONTACTS Karrie Spitzer, Community Relations, karrie.spitzer@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 591-5790 Naomi Strom-Avila, Community and Economic Development, nstrom-avila@cityoftacoma.org <file:///\\tmb00701\com-rel\News\Releases\2008\December\nstrom-avila@cit yoftacoma.org> , (253) 591-5191 Twenty art projects funded by Tacoma Arts Commission The Tacoma Arts Commission announces the award of $50,000 in 2009 Arts Project funding to 20 different Tacoma organizations in support of public outreach projects in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry and the visual arts. The awards range in value from $1,000 to $4,000 and serve a cross-section of Tacoma's community. "These projects provide a broad array of opportunities for residents to connect and experience community. This program further advances Tacoma as an innovative and eclectic arts and culture center on the west coast," said Robin Echtle, 2009 Chair of the Tacoma Arts Commission. The Arts Projects funding program supports high quality community projects with a strong focus on the arts that are accessible and affordable to the public. Thirty-three Arts Projects applications were submitted to the Tacoma Arts Commission with requests totaling $140,070. "The selection panel was faced with the challenge of ensuring the greatest public good with only a limited amount of available funding," explains Amy McBride, Arts Administrator for the City of Tacoma. "Artistic quality and artistic merit were the most important factors for consideration, but with so many quality projects, this was by no means an easy decision." Funded projects include: the production of a teen musical, a poetry anthology, traditional Cambodian dance and urban hip-hop classes, a site-specific dance performance, classical music and children's music performances, a visual art instructional series, a cultural celebration, a guerilla art project and poetry readings. Funded organizations include: D.A.S.H. Center for the Arts, Exquisite Disarray Press, Fab-5, Tacoma Concert Band, the Barefoot Collective, Roosevelt Dancers, Second City Chamber Series, Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Tacoma Art Place, King's Books, Victory Music, Monkeyshines Project, Puget Sound Poetry Connection, Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Northwest Repertory Singers, Old Town Business and Professional Association, Pierce County AIDS Foundation, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot Theatre Company, SoJust and the Tacoma Farmers Market. Arts Projects is one of three funding programs administered by the Tacoma Arts Commission. For a complete listing of funding programs, publicly accessible funded projects and information about the Tacoma Arts Commission, visit www.tacomaculture.org <http://www.tacomaculture.org/> . ###