Five Tacoma honorees will receive AMOCAT Arts Awards at City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

The Tacoma Arts Commission announced the 2026 recipients on Wednesday, Sept. 30, recognizing three organizations and two individuals for their contributions to the city's cultural life. The ceremony falls during the 25th anniversary of Tacoma Arts Month.

The Arts & Culture Coalition of Pierce County will receive the Arts Patron Award. The coalition represents more than 30 arts, culture, science and heritage organizations across the region. It championed Washington state's Cultural Access legislation in 2015, led the campaign that established Tacoma Creates in 2018 and supported the program's reauthorization in 2025.

Rainbow Center and Ted Brown Music share the Community Outreach by an Organization Award.

Rainbow Center has served more than 100,000 people over 29 years through housing, transportation, mental health support and direct aid. Its Tacoma Pride Festival won the 2025 Pierce County Annual Event award.

Ted Brown Music, founded in Tacoma in 1931, is marking its 95th year. The family-owned business established its outreach program in 2007 and has donated more than 1,600 instruments. Its nonprofit arm runs Live It OutLoud, an eight-week summer music program for teens. This past year the company installed audio and video equipment at the Cora Whitley Family Center and participated in Tacoma Heritage Days at Job Carr Cabin Museum and the First Friday South Tacoma Block Party.

Theresa Pan Hosley and Angela Jossy share the Community Outreach by an Individual Award.

Hosley co-founded the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, which developed Tacoma's Chinese Reconciliation Park and runs the Tacoma Moon Festival and the Walk for Reconciliation Against Racism. Born and raised in Taiwan, she has lived in Tacoma for more than four decades. Her honors include the 2016 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Puget Sound.

Jossy founded Speakeasy Arts Cooperative in 2010 and directed Art on the Ave, which was voted Best Art or Music Festival in 2011, Best Community Festival in 2013 and Best Street Fair in 2014. She purchased Weekly Volcano in 2023 after its 2020 closure and rebuilt the publication. Its Newspaper Box Challenge has engaged more than 50 local artists in creating public art displayed across the city. Jossy also serves on the New Tacoma Neighborhood Council board and edits Tacoma Weekly.

Each honoree will receive an award handcrafted from recycled glass by Hilltop Artists. A city pilot program called "This is What We Make of It," run with Hilltop Artists, crushes donated glass into cullet that students use to create the awards and other art pieces. Residents can drop off clear bottles and float glass at the Tacoma Recycle Center, 3510 S. Mullen St., through February 2027.

The awards presentation follows the Tacoma Arts Month proclamation at 5 p.m. in Council Chambers at the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market St.