Tacoma Art Museum Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Workers at Tacoma Art Museum vote unanimously to unionize

By Lauren Gallup November 17, 2023

Members of TAMWU celebrating after the announcement that workers unanimously voted for unionizing. (Credit: Gillian Fulford, AFSCME Council 28 / WFSE)

To unionize, Tacoma Art Museum Workers United [TAMWU] needed the majority of its 26 workers to vote yes. After two days of voting in an election overseen by the Washington State Public Employment Relations Commission, the unanimous results came in Thursday evening — 26 in favor of unionizing. Read More

Tacoma museum board indicates support of union, but not like organizers hoped

By Lauren Gallup June 28, 2023

Employees organizing as the Tacoma Art Museum Workers United union rallied with supporters March 23, 2023. // Credit: Lauren Gallup NWPB

The Tacoma Art Museum board of directors has indicated they will voluntarily recognize museum employees who have been organizing for the Tacoma Art Museum Workers United (TAMWU) union, through a privately arbitrated election. TAMWU organizers said they don’t support the conditions of that recognition, though.Read More

Tacoma Art Museum workers still in limbo over union decision

By Lauren Gallup April 4, 2023

Tacoma Art Museum employees have been organizing and rallying for recognition of their workers' union for months. On Friday, March 31, committee members met with the museum board of trustees, during which no decisions were made. Photo by Lauren Gallup.

The Tacoma Art Museum Workers United committee is still in limbo after a special meeting March 31 with the museum’s board of trustees. The board did not announce a decision on whether to recognize the workers’ union. Read More

Tacoma Art Museum employees rally for union recognition

By Lauren Gallup March 24, 2023

Tacoma Art Museum employees spoke to supporter Thursday evening, calling for the museum's board to recognize their union. Photo by Lauren Gallup.

After months of rallying and demanding recognition for their union, the employees of the Tacoma Art Museum got some assurance that the museum’s Board of Trustees would discuss at the end of the month the most recent union proposal. Read More

Camille Patha trades bright, bold colors for dark, evocative journey into black

By Lauren Gallup March 13, 2023

A still from the documentary "Camille in Color," by David Wild. Photo courtesy of the Tacoma Art Museum.

Two days before Camille Patha’s exhibit, "Passion Pleasure Power," opened at the Tacoma Art Museum, the artist walked around the gallery, a space filled with some of her new works from the past three years. Read More

Tacoma Art Museum awards inaugural The Current grant to artist Darrell McKinney

By Lauren Gallup December 2, 2022

The Tacoma Art Museum has announced the inaugural winner of a grant for Black artists. Darrell McKinney, a sculpture artist and designer based in Tacoma, whose foundation is in architecture and fine art in concrete, was awarded $15,000 to use at his discretion. Read More

27 Years of Hilltop Artists On Display At GATHER Exhibit

By Lauren Gallup May 24, 2022

Museum goers admire "Ofrenda" by David Rios, one of the pieces in the GATHER: 27 Years of Hilltop Artists exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum. Photo by Peter Berkley.

In the year 2005, Trenton Quiocho was a Tacoma high school student who signed up for a glassblowing elective. The class, taught by the organization Hilltop Artists, would set him on a trajectory to a career in glass art. Read More