Tacoma Arts Live will no longer book touring acts at the Tacoma Armory, ending the revenue model that helped push the 47-year-old nonprofit more than $3 million into debt.

The organization named 19-year employee Katie Stricker as its new chief executive officer on Thursday, July 30, shifting to education contracts and community event hosting.

The appointment caps a turbulent seven months. Tacoma Arts Live announced in January it would close entirely due to overwhelming debt and low ticket sales. Then on March 13, the board filed for voluntary receivership, handing control to Shelly Crocker, a former commercial bankruptcy lawyer. Crocker has been running the nonprofit since and appointed Stricker to lead its next chapter.

The debt

The nonprofit owes over $3 million secured by the Tacoma Armory, according to court records reported by The News Tribune. Tacoma Arts Live is currently making small interest payments to Columbia Bank while searching for a long-term solution.

"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.

Crocker said she expects it will take until the end of 2026 to formulate a permanent strategy for the debt.

What stays, what goes

Gone permanently: touring performances, the business model that once defined the organization when it was known as the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.

Staying: community events including Arts at the Armory, Black Night Market, and Market of the Beast.

A driving school and a barbershop collective continue to operate out of the building. Stricker confirmed the organization has no intention of selling the Armory.

The organization's Accelerating Creative Enterprises program, a small-business incubator funded by a two-year federal grant, ended June 30 and resulted in several layoffs.

Former participants were given access to Spaceworks, the co-working space TractionSpace, and a special access rate at Tacoma Arts Live's event venues.

Education as the new core

Stricker's plan centers on expanding education programming that already serves more than 30,000 students, teachers, and families per year.

Her top priority is growing the Civil Rights Legacy Tour, a theatrical production for K-12 students that currently reaches about 40 schools across Pierce, North Thurston, and Lewis counties, according to South Sound Biz. She wants to expand it to a statewide audience.

Tacoma Arts Live also plans to nearly double its service in Tacoma Public Schools' Beyond the Bell and Club B programs in the coming year, which Stricker said will increase employment for teaching artists.

Stricker joined the organization in 2007 as a teaching artist, choreographing "The Jungle Book" at its first summer camp. She later built the LENS Project, a violence prevention program serving over 3,500 family members a year, before rising to program director.

What's next

Crocker's end-of-year deadline for a debt strategy will determine whether the Armory's future is secure beyond the short term. Columbia Bank's interest payments continue monthly, and the organization is seeking philanthropic and impact investment to retire the principal.