Katie Stricker, CEO, Tacoma Arts Live
Tacoma residents are being offered something unusual Thursday morning: an opportunity to sit down with the person attempting to rebuild one of the city’s most important arts organizations.
Katie Stricker, the new CEO of Tacoma Arts Live, will host a free Coffee with the CEO gathering from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, September 17, at the Tacoma Armory. There is no presentation or formal agenda. Visitors can ask questions, tour the building and tell Stricker what they would like Tacoma Arts Live to become.
That invitation carries considerably more weight after the organization’s turbulent year. In January, Tacoma Arts Live announced that it expected to close June 30 while carrying approximately $3 million in debt. Instead, it entered a court-ordered receivership, reduced its staff and programs, and began restructuring around two priorities: arts education and bringing more activity into the Armory.
Stricker is new to the CEO’s office but not to the organization. She joined Tacoma Arts Live 19 years ago as a summer-camp choreographer and subsequently held several positions, including program director. Its educational programs now reach approximately 30,000 students annually through school residencies, after-school and summer programming, workshops and the Civil Rights Legacy Tour.
The reworked organization also plans to keep the Armory active with smaller performances, markets, community celebrations, roller skating and other partnerships. Stricker has described her goal as creating a place where Tacoma residents feel “seen, heard and valued.”
Thursday’s conversation is one way she intends to make that more than a slogan. Guests can stop by for coffee and light snacks, ask what survived the restructuring—or offer their own ideas for what should come next.
The gathering is free and open to all ages. Visitors should enter the Armory using the ramp at 11th Street and Yakima Avenue. Coffee with the CEO will return on the third Thursday of each month through December.
Learn more about Coffee with the CEO and the September 17 gathering here.
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