Find an Event
Visit the Tacoma Arts Month Events page where you can find a calendar full of arts and culture events happening throughout the month. Browse all events in the calendar, search by a specific date, or use the search or filter functions to look for specific programs. New events are being added all the time.

Add an Event
Have an arts or culture event, activity, class, workshop, or exhibit that is happening in Tacoma this October that you’d like included in this calendar? Click here to add an event to the Tacoma Arts Month calendar. If you need assistance, please follow these step-by-step directions.

Wednesday, October 5

6:30-9pm
STAR Center, 3873 S. 66th Street
Free and for all ages
Masks are required

Start Tacoma Arts Month off with a kaleidoscope of music and dance performances, hands-on activities, visual art, and more at this free, family friendly, community festival! Enjoy appetizers and no-host bar while we honor the 2022 AMOCAT Arts Award winners and funding recipients. Presented by the Tacoma Arts Commission. Event partners: Metro Parks Tacoma and STAR Center.

This event is wheelchair accessible. Accessible parking is directly adjacent to STAR Center.

Parking: Limited parking is available onsite. Guests are highly encouraged to take public transit or carpool to this event.

Public Transit: STAR Center is serviced by Pierce Transit bus routes 53 and 3

PERFORMANCES, ACTIVITIES, and VISUAL ART BY
Metro Arts Tacoma
Lydia K. Valentine, Tacoma Poet Laureate
Asia Pacific Cultural Center’s Hula Halau ‘O’Kealaakua Naniloa Mana’oakamai
Tamiko Nimura
Real Art Tacoma - Alex Vile
Vision Step Team
The Playground Kiki
Chef Holly – cooking demonstrations
Truth Koroi – photo booth
Permaculture Lifestyle Institute – projection mapping
Write253 / Line Break Press – make and take printing project
Suzanne Skaar – interactive video gaming experience
Jacob Sunday - Baba Yaga Film stop motion and puppets
Tacoma Water, City of Tacoma – coloring books
Safe Routes to Schools, City of Tacoma – mock mini-roadway and crosswalk
EnviroChallenger, City of Tacoma – craft activity
Mauricio Robalino
Rachel Heimbigner

2022 AMOCAT ARTS AWARDS
Tamiko Nimura – Community Outreach by an Individual
Real Art Tacoma – Community Outreach by an Organization
Grit City Magazine – Arts Patron

CATERING PROVIDED BY
Jan Parker Cookery

Image credit: photo collage from 2017, 2018, and 2019 Kaleidoscope opening parties

AMOCAT Arts Award recipients are nominated by the public. The Tacoma Arts Commission selects one finalist in each award category based on the breadth and depth of the nominee’s community impact as well as the quality of work being done by the nominee. There are three categories for recognition:

• Community Outreach by an Individual
• Community Outreach by an Organization
• Arts Patron

Image credit: AMOCAT Arts Award designed by Chandler O'Leary

The Community Outreach by an Individual award recognizes Tamiko Nimura for her commitment to changing the local landscape of literary arts in Tacoma to better represent the complex identities of our community members. Through her concerted efforts to tell history with a depth of intention, Tamiko is fostering a space where our community can learn, grow, and heal.

Tamiko Nimura is a creative nonfiction writer and public historian. Her training in literature and American ethnic studies (MA, PhD, University of Washington) prepared her to research, document, and tell BIPOC stories. Her work often deals with memory, silence, family, race, and history—not necessarily in that order.

Image credit: Tamiko Nimura

The Community Outreach by an Organization award recognizes Real Art Tacoma for being an all-ages arts and music space that promotes artistic creation in the community. Real Art Tacoma helps emerging artists, bands, vendors, and community members feel included and supported on the local music scene in Tacoma.

Real Art Tacoma is a 501(c)(3) all-ages creative arts and music event space. They provide space for young people to exist, express themselves, build community, and to be empowered through art, music, and the free exchange of ideas. Real Art Tacoma serves people of all ages with a heavy emphasis on youth of Tacoma, and beyond.

Image credit: Real Art Tacoma

The Arts Patron award recognizes Grit City Magazine for its devotion to sharing Tacomans’ life stories in an artistic way and raising up those in the creative community, providing opportunities for local creatives to be published. 

The effects of their efforts are far-reaching. Grit City Magazine supports the work of Tacoma’s arts and culture landscape, shares about Tacoma’s neighborhoods and communities as vibrant and interesting places, and creates outlets and opportunities for people to open their minds. Grit City Magazine was founded on the notion that Tacoma has good stories to tell. They explore the places that define it, pay homage to the history that built it, and celebrate the people who make it what it is today.

Image credit: Grit City Magazine

October 15 & 16
11 am – 5 pm
Various locations around Tacoma
Free and for all ages
Masks are required

You are invited inside the working studios of over 50 local artists to learn about the artistic process, ask questions, and purchase one-of-a-kind creations. All studios will feature demonstrations or will have hands-on activities for visitors. For more information, visit tacomaartsmonth.org/studio-tour.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Marit Berg, In Memory of Bill Colby, Debbi Commodore, Edward Coumou, Lisa Daniel, Kim Davenport, Laurie Davenport, Shannon Eakins, Jennifer English, Lynne Farren, Becky Frehse, Deborah Greenwood, Steven Grice, JW Harrington, Lucia Harrison, Hilltop Artists, Katherine Hogan, Sarah Jane Hoppe, Mark Hoppmann, Darcy Jones, Diane Katz, Anita Latch, Amy Lewis, Roberta Lowes, Mary Mann, Dorothy McCuistion, John McCuistion, Beverly Naidus, Gillian Nordlund, Chandler O'Leary, Teresa Owens, Christine Parent, Kelsey Parkhurst, Karen Perrine, Judith Perry, Yuka Petz, Liz Pulos, Julia Rapinoe, Liz Reynolds, Claudia Riedener, Mauricio Robalino, April Sanders, Jessica Spring, Patsy Surh O'Connell, Bruce Thompson, Casey Thurman, Nicole Turner, Elayne Vogel, Julia W. White

Image credit: photo collage from 2019 Tacoma Studio Tour

Save the Date!
Arts at the Armory will be held Saturday & Sunday, December 10 & 11, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, inside the spacious Tacoma Armory. This event is free and family friendly. Masks are required. Arts at the Armory is sponsored by Tacoma Arts Live.

Call to Artists and Creatives!
Tacoma artists and creatives, working in all artistic disciplines and mediums, are invited to apply for this unique interactive arts experience. Artistic disciplines and mediums include, but are not limited to: music, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, literary, video, design, digital, and dance. Learn more and apply at: https://tacomaarts.submittable.com/submit.

Image credit: Arts at the Armory in 2021