TeenTix

OUR MISSION

TeenTix builds a bright future for our region by empowering young people to take an active role in shaping their arts community as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons, and leaders.

Why We Do It

We envision a future where:

• A healthy community whose diverse civic leaders value, support, and participate in a thriving arts sector,
• Classrooms engage regularly with the arts and cultural experiences in their communities,
• Young people are welcomed into governance and advisory roles within the arts and cultural organizations they regularly attend, and
• Arts and cultural organizations foster their next generation of arts leaders through internships, youth programming, and community service.

Simply put, in the words of a TeenTix member, “art makes humans better.”

WHO WE ARE

TeenTix is a longstanding cultural anchor within Seattle - born from a collective vision that youth participation and leadership in the arts are central to the future of our communities. Founded in 2004 by Seattle Center, TeenTix began creating partnerships beyond the Center in 2006 and established its own independent not-for-profit organization with 501c3 status in 2017. In 2021, we launched the Los Angeles TeenTix chapter, the first outside of Washington State. TeenTix is now a 20-year-old institution working to ensure teens are prioritized in the arts and cultural sector. To date, TeenTix has engaged more than 170,000 teens in more than 200,000 arts and cultural experiences at 150+ Arts and Community Partners.

TeenTix creates access to free and $5 tickets for teens to attend local arts events and performances, and offers access to workforce development positions and mentorship opportunities for teens interested in careers in arts and culture. Over the past eight years, we fortified our core Pass Program and New Guard teen leadership council, drove the revitalization of the TeenTix Press Corps, and catalyzed the creation of the TeenTix Arts Podcast (TAP), Mentorship for Teen Artists of Color (M-TAC), and the new Youth Career Development Program.

Regional TeenTix partners include 150 organizations spanning King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom counties, ranging from Tacoma Art Museum, Pork Filled Players, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Art Museum, Jet City Improv, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Seattle Opera, Wing Luke Museum, Oly Theater, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Tacoma Arts Live, 5th Avenue Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), and more. Our full partner list is available here.

CORE PILLARS

We Value Arts Access

We see young people as the key to cultivating and preserving our region’s culture and, therefore, serve as the connector between the youth of our region to the arts events produced by our Arts Partners. We are a resource for young people in our communities coming into their own autonomy.

We Value Youth Empowerment

Our work and mission shine when our next generation of artists, advocates, leaders, and patrons feel like they’re important contributors within their communities and the greater arts and cultural sector. Teens are experts on what makes a program accessible to them; they are at the forefront of the change we want to see. At TeenTix we empower them to lead the way. Similarly, we value equitable compensation practices and pay teens for their contributions to our Newsroom Blog, Teen Arts Podcast, New Guard, and program gallery showings.

Our Commitment to Anti-Racism

TeenTix is an anti-racist organization (currently operating on the historic land of the Duwamish people) that is actively working to identify, name, and correct institutionalized racism and constructs of white supremacy within our own organization, and to help our partnered arts and culture organizations do the same.

We encourage all applications to review our full mission, vision, and values statement located on our website.

THE TEENTIX CULTURE

TeenTix is deeply committed to helping our employees achieve their career goals, maintain a good quality of life, and create an environment that allows for a personal relationship with art and community. TeenTix prioritizes collaboration, staff involvement in decision-making, and mutual accountability. The work is inspiring, fun, challenging, and rewarding. As the central office of a community-wide effort to engage young people with the arts, TeenTix enjoys amazing access to a wide variety of arts organizations, experiences, and colleagues.