< Community Accelerator Grant Program
Case Studies
The following case studies were conducted during year one and two of the Community Accelerator Grant program. Told through the lens of arts and cultural nonprofits throughout the state of Washington, these case studies offer a deeper understanding of the program’s impact to the grantees and the communities they serve.
2025 Case Studies
Grace's Mahali
Grace’s Mahali supports rest, creativity, and cultural connection by centering BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists through community-driven programming, wellness, and the arts.
Website: www.gracesmahali.org
Hedgebrook
Hedgebrook’s mission is to amplify the voices of visionary women and women-identified writers, especially those from communities historically excluded from mainstream support including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, low income, and people with disabilities, through our core Writers Residencies, workshops and public programs that connect writers with readers and audiences around the world.
Website: www.hedgebrook.org
Old Hotel Art Gallery
To promote the arts and art education; to preserve the historically significant structures owned by the organization; to cooperate with Othello's cultural and heritage organizations; and to encourage and promote tourism.
Website: facebook.com/theoldhotelothello/
Port Gamble S'Klallam Foundation
The Port Gamble S'Klallam Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Port Gamble S'Klallam tribal members while increasing the understanding of the Tribe's rich cultural heritage with people who reside in the Puget Sound area and visitors from far and wide.
Website: www.sklallamfoundation.org
Spokane Word
Spokane Word is a multilingual community radio platform expanding access to arts, culture, and heritage through inclusive storytelling and creative media. We produce accessible, multilingual content that celebrates local music, storytelling, and traditions across diverse cultures. By centering language equity and digital access, we create a creative platform where underrepresented communities can share their stories, preserve heritage, and connect across generations and geographies.
Website: kvfsradio.com
Tacoma Refugee Choir
Creating spaces for authentic expression, interconnection, and healing through song and music.
Website: https://www.refugeechoir.org/
TwispWorks
The mission of TwispWorks is to Start. Build. Grow. Together. Our vision is to cultivate the economic and cultural vitality of the Methow Valley, focusing on the arts, education, and support for small businesses.
Website: twispworks.org
Union Arts Center
As we progress on our journey with our new merged organization, we are taking time to determine our mission, vision, and values. ACT Contemporary Theatre’s Mission: ACT is a contemporary theatre where artistic ambition and civic engagement unite. Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Mission: With the plays of William Shakespeare at our core, Seattle Shakespeare Company engages our audiences, our artists, and our community in the universal human experience inherent in classic drama through the vitality, immediacy, and intimacy of live performance and dynamic outreach programs.
Website: https://www.unionartscenter.org/
Grace's Mahali
Grace’s Mahali supports rest, creativity, and cultural connection by centering BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled artists through community-driven programming, wellness, and the arts.
Website: www.gracesmahali.org
Hedgebrook
Hedgebrook’s mission is to amplify the voices of visionary women and women-identified writers, especially those from communities historically excluded from mainstream support including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, low income, and people with disabilities, through our core Writers Residencies, workshops and public programs that connect writers with readers and audiences around the world.
Website: www.hedgebrook.org
Old Hotel Art Gallery
To promote the arts and art education; to preserve the historically significant structures owned by the organization; to cooperate with Othello's cultural and heritage organizations; and to encourage and promote tourism.
Website: facebook.com/theoldhotelothello/
Port Gamble S'Klallam Foundation
The Port Gamble S'Klallam Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Port Gamble S'Klallam tribal members while increasing the understanding of the Tribe's rich cultural heritage with people who reside in the Puget Sound area and visitors from far and wide.
Website: www.sklallamfoundation.org
Spokane Word
Spokane Word is a multilingual community radio platform expanding access to arts, culture, and heritage through inclusive storytelling and creative media. We produce accessible, multilingual content that celebrates local music, storytelling, and traditions across diverse cultures. By centering language equity and digital access, we create a creative platform where underrepresented communities can share their stories, preserve heritage, and connect across generations and geographies.
Website: kvfsradio.com
Tacoma Refugee Choir
Creating spaces for authentic expression, interconnection, and healing through song and music.
Website: https://www.refugeechoir.org/
TwispWorks
The mission of TwispWorks is to Start. Build. Grow. Together. Our vision is to cultivate the economic and cultural vitality of the Methow Valley, focusing on the arts, education, and support for small businesses.
Website: twispworks.org
Union Arts Center
As we progress on our journey with our new merged organization, we are taking time to determine our mission, vision, and values. ACT Contemporary Theatre’s Mission: ACT is a contemporary theatre where artistic ambition and civic engagement unite. Seattle Shakespeare Company’s Mission: With the plays of William Shakespeare at our core, Seattle Shakespeare Company engages our audiences, our artists, and our community in the universal human experience inherent in classic drama through the vitality, immediacy, and intimacy of live performance and dynamic outreach programs.
Website: https://www.unionartscenter.org/
2024 Case Studies
Bioluminescent Films
Bioluminescent Films is a film collective with a focus on Women, Non-binary, LGBTQIA2+ individuals and our allies; we make films that are rooted in telling stories relevant to our collective lived experiences, and aim to support and uplift others who share our values. Our production model prioritizes healthier on set experiences among its crew and cast alike by creating work from a place of holistic creative modalities. With a focus on deconstructing the patriarchal systems in the film industry, Bioluminescent Films is consistently working to cultivate safer spaces, and more impactful vehicles to change the world through art and cinema by giving voice to those who need it most.
Website: bioluminescentfilms.com
Inspirations Dance Studio
Our mission is to create an inclusive and supportive environment where children, and adults of all abilities, backgrounds, and financial circumstances have the opportunity to experience the joy of dance. Through our non-profit dance studio, we strive to empower children and adults with special needs and those from low-income families by providing access to high-quality dance instruction, nurturing their creativity, fostering self-expression, and promoting physical and emotional well-being. We believe that everyone deserves the chance to shine, and we are committed to breaking down barriers and enriching lives through the transformative power of dance.
Website: inspirationsdancespokane.com
Kalispel Indian Community
Our land and our ancestors mean everything to us. They have always sustained us, and today, in new ways, they will continue to sustain us into the future. The foundation of our hospitality is nourishing and giving. Our strength is cordial and honorable. Gratitude and respect are expressed for the prosperity we share. In the future, we hope for a wonderful life.
Website: kalispeltribe.com
Masterworks Choral Ensemble
Masterworks Choral Ensemble is an adult community choir in Olympia, Washington, dedicated to performance, community service, music education, and leadership in the arts. Our mission is to perform a variety of choral, orchestral, and new commissioned works; to collaborate with other arts groups and local musicians; to participate in community outreach activities; and to provide leadership in developing, sponsoring, and broadening the vocal arts.
Website: MCE.org
Northern Lights Public Radio
The Organization's arts, cultural, and music programming covers a wide spectrum of expression, from traditional to experimental and reflects the diverse cultures it serves. Northeast Washington Community Radio Guild (DBA Northern Lights Public Radio) supports a wide range of arts and culture including performing and visual arts such as local musicians, theater groups, and artwork and art events.
Website: kchw.org
Pork Filled Productions
At Pork Filled Productions, produces and develops genre plays, promotes Asian American and POC artists, and imagines fantastical, inclusive and FUN universes.
Website: porkfilled.com
The Rude Mechanicals
The mission of The Rude Mechanicals is to enhance our community through the performing arts, educate the public on the value and impact of live theatre, elevate the quality of live theatre locally, and entertain our community by delivering high-quality Shakespeare-inspired theatre.
Website: rmtheatre.org
Seattle Opera
To thrill, inspire and educate through the shared experience of opera.
Website: seattleopera.org
2023 Case Studies
Ballyhoo Theatre
Ballyhoo Theatre’s purpose is to enrich, educate, and entertain the community by providing a superior theatre experience, to provide education in the theatre arts to children and young adults, and to create a safe and inclusive environment.
Website: ballyhootheatre.org
Cascadia Music
Cascadia Music builds community through sharing the joy of music.
Website: www.cascadiamusic.org
El Centro de la Raza
As an organization grounded in the Latino community of Washington State, it is the mission of El Centro de la Raza (The Center for People of All Races) to build the Beloved Community through unifying all racial and economic sectors; to organize, empower, and defend the basic human rights of our most vulnerable and marginalized populations; and to bring critical consciousness, justice, dignity, and equity to all the peoples of the world.
Website: www.elcentrodelaraza.org
Make a Scene WA
Make A Scene WA empowers girls & teens through the art of filmmaking.
Website: www.makeascenewa.com
The Rude Mechanicals
The Rude Mechanicals enhances their community through the performing arts, educate the public on the value and impact of live theatre, elevate the quality of live theatre locally, and entertain the community by delivering high-quality Shakespeare-inspired theatre produced by their ensemble cast and crew.
Website: www.rmtheatre.org/
Seattle Arts & Lectures
Seattle Arts & Lectures cultivates transformative experiences through story and language with readers and writers of all generations.
Website: https://lectures.org/
Seattle Musicians Access to Healthcare (SMASH)
The SMASH mission is to keep local musicians healthy, living and working in the Puget Sound region.
Website: www.smashseattle.org
Spectrum Center Spokane
Spectrum’s mission is to create a safe, intersectional, intergenerational, LGBTQIA2S+ community gathering space that celebrates a resilient, healthy community through social connectedness and support, arts and culture, access to resources, and leadership development.
Website: www.spectrumcenterspokane.org
Sound Theatre
To empower artists to give voice to the dignity and diversity of the human experience, moving audiences toward a more just and compassionate world.
Website: soundtheatrecompany.org
Southwest Washington Dance Center
Southwest Washington Dance Center is dedicated to professional quality instruction, appreciation, and presentation of dance as an art form throughout Lewis County and greater Southwest Washington.
Website: www.swwdance.org
Tacoma Refugee Choir
Creating spaces for authentic expression, interconnection, and healing through song and music.
Website: www.refugeechoir.org
The Vera Project
The Vera Project is an all-ages nonprofit space dedicated to fostering personal and community transformation through collaborative, youth-driven engagement in music and art. A music venue, screen print shop, recording studio, art gallery, and safe space for radical self-expression, Vera is a home to Seattle’s creative community.
Website:theveraproject.org
The Young Warrior Society
The Young Warrior Society are an indigenous-led community volunteer group creating experiences and joining opportunities that empower our community’s health through food sovereignty, indigenous cultural resiliency skills share, land-based education, and arts, that inspire healing, success, humanity and hope.
Website: www.nanamkin.com