Tacoma Art Museum
Making Headlines for Art
Tacoma Art Museum has shaped the region’s creative identity for more than 85 years, but even beloved institutions can fade from the daily conversation. Between pandemic closures and leadership transitions, TAM needed renewed visibility and relevance. JayRay partnered with the museum to spark fresh attention through strategic media relations, helping new exhibits, bold programming and community stories reach audiences locally and nationally.
GUIDING THOUGHT
When budgets are tight, story becomes your strongest currency. For cultural institutions, earned media isn’t just visibility — it’s credibility. By building trusted relationships with journalists and leading with timely, meaningful stories, museums can expand their reach, shift perception and invite new audiences through the doors.
Stories Worth Sharing
We elevated TAM’s presence through a steady drumbeat of story-driven outreach from exhibition announcements to curated press previews and artist interviews. Custom media lists, built from deep regional knowledge and national tools, ensured the right stories reached the right audiences.
Each month, we tracked placements and momentum, refining outreach based on what resonated. We also aligned advertising strategy with PR timing, ensuring paid and earned efforts worked together — not separately — to amplify visibility and impact.
Built on Trust and Timing
Strong PR starts with strong relationships. We partnered closely with TAM’s leadership, curators and staff to uncover stories with depth and deliver them with clarity and speed. Their openness and collaboration made it possible to move quickly and stay relevant.
We also invested in relationships with media — showing up for previews, building familiarity with reporters and becoming a trusted source (one local TV lifestyle show host regularly called us from the Museum’s lobby). That trust opened doors to broader coverage, including national placements that expanded TAM’s reach well beyond the region.
Results: Flourishing
