Tacoma City Council has appointed and re-appointed six local residents to the Tacoma Arts Commission.
Last month, Tacoma City Council’s Economic Development Committee interviewed 12 candidates to fill six positions on the commission: one person to serve an unexpired term; two people to serve three-year “At Large” positions; two people to serve three-year “Professional” positions; and one person to serve an unexpired “Work Professional Artist” position. The candidates included Cynthia Carter (At Large — Council District 1); Joel Chang (At Large — Council District 4); J. Shawn Cole (At Large — Council District 3); Sarah F. Idstrom (At Large — Council District 1); Dane Meyer (At Large, Professional — Council District 3); Kathryn Pascal (At Large, Professional — Council District 1); Hillary Ryan (At Large, Professional — Council District 1); Katrina Toft (At Large, Professional — Council District 2); Liza A. Brown (At Large, Working Professional Artist, Professional — Council District 2); Scott A. Campbell (At Large, Working Professional Artist, Professional — Council District 3); Candi Hall (At Large, Working Professional Artist, Professional — Council District 3); and Ronald J. Lagman (At Large, Working Professional Artist, Professional — Council District 3).
On Tuesday, Tacoma City Council approved a resolution that appoints Campbell to a Working Professional Artist position to fill an unexpired term to expire on Dec. 31, 2015; appoint Chang to an At Large position to serve a three-year term to expire on Dec. 31, 2016; appoint Idstrom to an At Large position to serve a three-year term to expire on Dec. 31, 2016; appoint Lagman to an At Large position to fill an unexpired term to expire on Dec. 31, 2015; re-appoint Meyer to a Professional position to serve a three-year term to expire on Dec. 31, 2016; and appoint Toft to a Professional position to serve a three-year term to expire on Dec. 31, 2016.
“I believe the Tacoma Arts Commission is one of the hardest working commissions, and definitely one that we have had for a long time advising the city on a lot of important issues around, of course, the arts and culture in our city, and sometimes beyond that, making sure that permeates all aspects of how we operate as a government and a city,” said Tacoma City Councilmember Marty Campbell, who also chairs the council’s economic development committee. “We had lots of qualified people coming forward. I would say this is one of the best groups of people that we have appointed to this commission.”
The 15-member commission consists of Tacoma artists, residents, and arts advocates who serve three-year terms in an effort to develop, support, coordinate, sponsor, and present the arts on a year-round basis; create policies to support the ongoing development of arts programs and projects in Tacoma; and administer programs that fund artists and arts organizations.
