Tacoma Arts Live names new CEO, shifts focus toward educational programming
In the wake of Tacoma Arts Live’s latest restructuring, a new leader will take the helm.
The historic nonprofit named former program director Katie Stricker as its chief executive officer, according to a press release shared Thursday.
Tacoma Arts Live previously announced in January that it would close its doors after 47 years due to overwhelming debt and low ticket sales.
Then on March 13, the Tacoma Arts Live board filed for voluntary receivership, a process where a neutral party takes control of the assets, liquidating and distributing funds to creditors as necessary.
Shelly Crocker, a former commercial bankruptcy lawyer experienced in aiding organizations in financial distress, took over and has been calling the shots at the nonprofit ever since, which included appointing Stricker.
Prior to the receivership, there were talks of the nonprofit selling the Tacoma Armory.
“At this point, we have no intention of selling the building,” Stricker said.
Stricker has a lengthy history with the organization. She joined in 2007 as a teaching artist when the nonprofit was known as the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, choreographing “The Jungle Book” at its first summer camp.
When Tacoma Arts Live increased its investment in education during the 2010 to 2011 season, Stricker became a program manager and helped build the LENS Project, a violence prevention program serving over 3,500 family members a year.
Her nearly 20-year career at Tacoma Arts Live informs her approach into the nonprofit’s next chapter, which will expand one of its most successful aspects: educational programming.
Tacoma Arts Live regularly serves over 30,000 students, teachers and families a year just with the education programs, Stricker said.
One of Stricker’s leading goals is to expand the organization’s Civil Rights Legacy Tour.
The touring theatrical production explores the ongoing story of civil rights in America for K-12 students across western Washington. She’d like to see the production reach a wider audience across the state.
The nonprofit also plans to double its service in Tacoma Public School’s Beyond the Bell and Club B system for the coming year, which will increase employment for teaching artists and reach more children with accessible arts education, Stricker said.
“Tacoma Arts Live has always been looking to innovate in how they can serve the community, and so that’s a lot of the reason I’ve stayed,” Stricker said. “There’s just so many voices you can bring into the arts education space, and I think that’s really energizing.”
Besides strengthening its educational offerings, the new Tacoma Arts Live model will continue hosting local events and businesses.
Events like Arts at the Armory, Black Night Market and Market of the Beast are set to occur at the historic building, Stricker said. And a diverse array of businesses, from a driving school to a barbershop collective, still call the Tacoma Armory’s hallowed halls home.
These new changes don’t come without losses.
For one, the nonprofit’s model will no longer include booking touring acts and performances, Stricker said.
Another component that ended recently was the Accelerating Creative Enterprises program, an incubator for local small businesses funded by a two-year, non-renewable federal grant.
Though the grant’s funding ended June 30 and resulted in several layoffs, Tacoma Arts Live gave an “off-ramp” to ACE participants, Stricker said.
Former ACE partners were provided access to Spaceworks, a different small business incubator located at the Armory, as well as access to the co-working space, TractionSpace.
ACE partners also have a special access rate to Tacoma Arts Live’s event venues.
But these new changes alone won’t tackle the outstanding debt.
“We need philanthropy and impact investment to come together to address this debt component. I believe we will do it. And it’s still going to be difficult,” Stricker said.
The nonprofit owes over $3 million in debt secured by the Tacoma Armory, according to court records. Crocker believes it will take until the end of the year to formulate a strategy to permanently address it.
As the organization searches for a long-term solution, it continues to make small payments to Columbia Bank to cover interest.
“We are working really hard to make sure that Tacoma Arts Live and the armory are part of the Tacoma cultural community,” Crocker said. “And we don’t know all the answers yet, but we are working on them and we will be communicating out as we can.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2026 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Tacoma Arts Live names new CEO, shifts focus toward educational programming."
