About Us
Alma Mater, located in Downtown Tacoma is dedicated to building community. We seek to re-imagine what an arts center and cultural institution could be, redefining itself as a hub for social, economic, and cultural exchange. We operate on principles of rematriation and indigenous values under the leadership of Executive Director, Lisa Fruichantie.
Alma Mater comes to life through live performances and nourishing food created by local talent. Our concert venue, recording studio, and outdoor performance spaces offer cultural and music-based programming for artists of all calibers and stages in their career. Our restaurant and kitchen team offers seasonal cuisine at The Patio and leads HelpKitchen’s food relief efforts in Tacoma to provide meals to food-insecure individuals.
Our menu changes progressively throughout the year based on peak ingredient availability. With a focus on sustainability, we source locally from artisans, fishermen, and farmers when possible to maintain the highest quality and focus on local agriculture and food sovereignty.
Alma Mater / Urban Native Philosophy Kitchen
As we shift our current menu at Alma Mater to one infused with Native American influence, our cuisine will be locally sourced and Indigenous farm supported. Focusing on seasonal ingredients will enrich the philosophy, awareness, and advocacy concerns surrounding First Nations foods.
This menu will serve as a conversation starter for a program within our building that highlights Native Chefs from around the country; the Urban Native Philosophy Kitchen (Spring 2022), where we will provide events served from an evolving fixed menu available by reserved seating only. In addition to our public programming, we will be serving tribal affiliates seeking a destination for tribal gatherings, Native Veterans Affairs, mourning ceremonies, and Native Youth functions.
Our mission is to build a healthy relationship with our tribal elders, children, families, and ALL identities seeking to eat healthy food within our community, throughout the Salish Sea, and across the country.
About Executive Chef Ramon Shiloh
Shiloh's inclusive approach to the central values of food in Indigenous communities is a way to help strengthen us through these environmentally, politically, and racially charged times. The pandemic has already altered our eating habits and our global foodway systems for the worse. Eating only seasonally available foods supports local farms and helps stimulate local economies.
Shiloh (Creek, Cherokee, Filipino, African American) is an award-winning author and illustrator of several books. In 2018, he was invited to host a Chef’s Table at the Smithsonian's National Museum of The American Indian in Washington DC. Additionally, Shiloh focuses many of his efforts on supporting Indigenous children. He uses his knowledge of food, art, and culture to help Native youth develop a love for cooking that connects them both to good health and their histories within our ever-changing world.
Recently, Shiloh was profiled on KCTS/PBS to discuss colonization and assimilation that took away customs and traditional foods from both Native and immigrant communities.
Our Values
ART IS CONNECTION
Art is a gift amidst consumer culture; it is a tool for provoking social change; it is a voice, a laugh, a song for what we often cannot express.
PHYSICAL SPACE IS ESSENTIAL
Creative and cultural exchange must be preserved and supported through physical and communal engagement.
SUSTAINABILITY IS HOLISTIC
We evolve and sustain as a business and as a community, through emergent relationships that are enriching, interdependent, and diverse.
History
After a three-year stint in Colorado working in education, Jason Heminger returned to Tacoma to realize his idea of a dedicated space for artists to create, showcase, and perform their work, as well as an economic engine to support them. In the summer of 2015, Jason brought on long-time friends and like-minded thinkers Aaron Spiro and Rachel Ervin to help develop and reify his vision. Since then, the Alma Mater team has received generous investment and support from Wend Collective.
In order to create a lasting, sustainable model that didn’t rely on non-profit funding cycles and the whims of a fickle creative market, Alma Mater took an experimental approach to an arts organization, employing a for-profit model in order to provide unbounded opportunities for artists and creatives. The structure that emerged was an ecosystem of arts, programming, hospitality, and community, which continues to evolve to this day.
After co-founding and launching Alma Mater, Executive Director Jason Heminger passed the baton to long-time Tacoma community participant and staff member, Lisa Fruichantie, in early 2020. In response to the pandemic and demand for greater social awareness during that year, Alma Mater took time to reflect on all aspects of our organization and the inner workings of our existing operations. We decided to simplify our operations while keeping the foundational ethos that Alma Mater was built upon. With that time, we have been able to expand our community partnerships and food relief programs- something that we now prioritize as a core part of our organization.
As we move towards the future, we hope to maintain Alma Mater’s initial intentions and continue experimenting with the best ways to serve and grow with our community.
