The Inspire Olympia grant program, now in its third year, supports organizations as large as The Washington Center for the Performing Arts and the Hands On Children’s Museum, but it’s the funding for smaller groups that has made the most visible changes to the city’s arts scene.
Thanks to this program — and to the voters who approved a one-tenth of one percent sales-tax increase to fund it — Olympia has gained a theater and a gallery as well as more opportunities for the community to experience and participate in arts of all kinds.
The drummers and dancers of Samba Olywa “haunt” — and entertain — the South Capitol neighborhood each Halloween, weather permitting. Photo by Skip Albertson.
The city recently announced $3.3 million in grants for 2026-27, with $2.1 million awarded to 49 arts nonprofits, including the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, Harlequin Productions, Ballet Northwest and Earthbound Productions, which produces the Procession of the Species. (Inspire Olympia (https://www.olympiawa.gov/community/arts,_culture___heritage/cultural_access.php) also funds nonprofits focused on culture, heritage and science.)
Both the Thurston County Museum of Fine Arts (TCMoFA) and Theater Artists Olympia, better known as TAO, found homes for their work this year, and both give Inspire grants full credit.
“I can’t really overstate the importance of the grant,” said David Hoekje, executive director of TCMoFA, which began with pop-up exhibitions in vacant buildings and now has a dedicated space at 120 Olympia Ave. NE, Olympia. “Without the Inspire Olympia funding, I am not sure if the organization would have gotten off the ground the way it has.”
“It’s a godsend,” said Pug Bujeaud, TAO’s artistic director. In April, the company, which had been without a home since August 2024, moved into its new Oly Theater at 412 Jefferson St. SE, Olympia.
Recently showing was “An Improbable Peck of Plays,” a collection of locally written short plays which ran through Aug. 30. “A Spirited Manor,” about a woman haunted by both her past and her new home, opens Oct. 23. Bujeaud and company plan to produce four shows per season while making the 75-seat Oly Theater (https://www.olytheater.com/) accessible and affordable for other performers and groups.
“This is not just TAO-centric,” Bujeaud said. “The grant money is going towards keeping the venue open as a community stage, and we have all kinds of people interested in using it. We have everything from a kids’ program to burlesque happening in there.”
TCMoFA (https://www.tcmofa.org/) is also planning for the next year. “Upon receiving funding for the 2026-27 grant cycle, we’ve been able to ensure that we’ll be able to rent for another year, and we’re hoping to continue it beyond that,” Hoekje said. There’ll be six shows in 2027, he said.
Meanwhile, on view through Sept. 18 is “Mother,” an exploration of the often-overlooked work of mothers including pieces in a wide range of media. Next up is “Temporal,” the annual Coast Salish Museum of Fine Arts show, curated and created by indigenous artists. The exhibition, opening Oct. 2, will reflect on the present and future of indigenous people and indigenous stories.
Among other arts groups that have been transformed by the grants:
- South Sound Studio Tour, a free self-guided tour (https://www.southsoundstudiotour.org/) that happens each May in Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater. Organizers used grant money to increase the pay and hours of part-time staff and to fund more marketing and communication, including hiring a photographer to document the tour and a graphic designer to create the event booklet. The additional staff time freed up the all-volunteer board to focus on getting the word out.
The result: Tour attendance nearly doubled, and donations increased, too. Nearly three-quarters of the participating studios reported selling work as a result of the tour.
“The tour has grown in every regard,” said Marygrace Goddu, Inspire Olympia’s program manager. “The organization just needed the boost of stable funding to take off.”
- The Washington Stars Quilt Guild, which started in 2000 with a focus producing quilt shows, hosting workshops and classes for quilters, and making quilts and other items for people in need. Since getting Inspire Olympia funding, the guild (https://washingtonstarsquiltguild.org/) has taught sewing at Marshall Middle School and in the South Sound YMCA’s after-school care program.
“The quilters got connected into the community in ways that nobody expected,” Goddu said. “It’s been really fun to watch. … It turns out that kids love to sew.”
- Samba Olywa, the community drum-and-dance group best known for being the grand finale to the Procession of the Species. The volunteer-run band (https://www.sambaolywa.org/) has used grant money to buy instruments and costume materials, fund workshops, and pay rent for weekly practices held from 5 to 7 p.m. most Sundays at the Olympia Eagles Club, 805 4th Ave. E., Olympia.
“We’ve always asked for a donation at the door, and that money went to pay the rent,” said Carol Riley of the band’s board of directors. “The grant gave us the ability to say, ‘The suggested donation is $5, with no one turned away for lack of funds.’ ”
The band, which welcomes new participants whether or not they have experience in music or dance, has grown a result, Riley said. Practices that used to draw 25-30 participants now attract 40-50, and more than 100 people participated in this year’s procession.
“The Inspire grants have been a great thing for Olympia,” Riley said.
Allen Family grants
Two nonprofits supported by Inspire Olympia also recently received grants from Allen Family Philanthropies (https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/). The grants, which will fund creative youth development programs, were awarded to the Bridge Music Project, which supports youth to cope with challenges and express themselves through writing, recording and performing original music, and Mi Chiantla, which supports immigrant children and youth and their families through a program that covers mental health, substance-abuse prevention, academic skills and more. The Mi Chiantla grant will specifically support the organization’s photography program.
Also among the 10 Washington State-based organizations receiving grants (https://www.allenphilanthropies.org/news-and-stories/press%20releases/a-record-5-million-announced-to-support-creative-youth-development-programs-across-washington-state) were Tacoma’s Hilltop Artists, which teaches youth from diverse backgrounds about glass art, helping them to develop creative and leadership skills and guiding them toward educational and career opportunities, and the Kent-based United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance Washington (UTOPIA Washington), which serves queer and trans Pacific Islander, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth in King, Pierce and Thurston counties.