Who We Are

Town Hall’s Spring 2019 Artists/Scholars-in-Residence, Urban Native Education Alliance’s Clear Sky Native Youth Council (UNEA), created this Land Acknowledgement specific to our building in Downtown Seattle:

“We acknowledge that we are in the homeland of Chief Seattle’s dxw’dəwɁábš (People-of-the-Inside, the Duwamish Tribe of Indians), the First People of this land. The Duwamish are the first Indian Tribe named in the 1855 Point Elliott Treaty’s title. On January 22, 1855, Chief Seattle was the first signatory to the Point Elliott Treaty at Mukilteo. Three other chiefs signed the Point Elliott Treaty on behalf of the Duwamish Tribe. The Duwamish homeland extends from Lake Sammamish west to Elliott Bay, and from Mukilteo south to Federal Way, a total of 54,700 acres.

“The Snoqualmie, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot Tribes are also sovereign nations indigenous to Puget Sound. Many people living at these sovereign nations and elsewhere are descendants of the Duwamish Tribe and have ancestral ties to this land.

“We raise our hands to honor Chief Seattle’s Duwamish Tribe of Indians and all descendants of the Duwamish Tribe. We thank them for their hospitality as the First People of this land, and for our continuing use of the natural resources of their Ancestral Homeland.

“Indigenous contributions and sacrifices are immense, and we acknowledge the ongoing disparities, racism, and political invisibility experienced by the Duwamish and other Indigenous Peoples of Puget Sound.”

The UNEA residents also created the verbal land acknowledgement read aloud during the introduction to Town Hall-produced events: 

“We acknowledge our institution stands on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish people, particularly the Duwamish. We thank them for our continuing use of the natural resources of their Ancestral Homeland.”

Participants from the UNEA community involved in creating this Land Acknowledgement included Alexander (Assiniboine) , Asia (Cherokee), Alex (Menominee), Akichita (Standing Rock Lakota), Chayton (Hunkpapa Lakota), Cante (Hunkpapa Lakota), Snoqualmie Tribe Chief Andy De Los Angeles, Snoqualmie Tribe member Sabeqwa De Los Angeles, past UNEA program director & Clear Sky Co-Coordinator AJ Oguara (Colville confederated tribes), and past UNEA Elder Tom Speer.

To learn more about the process of developing the Land Acknowledgement, visit the Town Hall blog. 

Town Hall was founded to be an accessible shared resource for the community: a place where everyone is welcomed, represented, and valued regardless of their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, religion, disability, size, or class. Yet, we recognize that United States culture and institutions are rooted in structural racism, and that racial inequities have existed within our organization as well.

Structured as a passive recipient of community ideas, we’ve historically relied on existing economic, educational, and socio-political systems that treat white people as the “norm” and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) as “other.” As a result, we have perpetuated and reinforced racial inequities in our programs, audiences, and leadership. In order to truly become a place where everyone feels welcome and has equitable access to our stages, programs, and engagement opportunities, Town Hall Seattle is intentionally widening our network of collaborators and shifting to a proactive, equity-centered practice across our programming and operations.

We understand that many people hold multiple marginalized identities, and we strive for an intersectional approach in our equity work. Although we are emphasizing racial equity, we are not focusing on it exclusively. To read more about Town Hall’s history and equity journey, click here.

Town Hall is committed to continual progress in making anti-racism, intersectional equity and inclusion part of the fabric of our organization. Currently, we are focusing on:

• Acknowledging that we are on Coast Salish land at the start of all our self-produced events.
• Prioritizing partnerships with BIPOC organizations in our self-produced Town Hall programming.
• Increasing the number of literary bookings and partner events that center conversations about racial equity.
• Producing and hosting a series of public events and workshops designed to offer opportunities for audiences to deepen their own anti-racism education.
• Prioritizing and paying more BIPOC creators to produce Town Hall programs, and amplifying the work of BIPOC communities.
• Creating more opportunities for affordable rentals for BIPOC creators.
• Upholding an equitable Community Code of Conduct (see below) within our building.
• Working with racial equity facilitators to inform our ongoing equity work. 
• Completing an annual organization-wide equity audit.
• Providing ongoing staff engagement and training with compensation for that work.
• Reporting annually on our racial equity work through an equity update, our blog, and newsletters.
• Improving methodologies for receiving and responding to feedback from our partners and community members.
• Diversifying our membership base.
• Spotlighting the work of our BIPOC partners to Town Hall members and funders.
• Expanding our network of vendor relationships and promoting the work of our BIPOC vendor partners.

Town Hall seeks active collaboration with our community, and our commitment to racial equity is no different. We ask you to come with us on this journey and invite you to hold us accountable and to reach out to us with feedback and ideas. Please e-mail us at info@townhallseattle.org.

Updated September 2025

Town Hall is a shared space for curiosity, learning, and connection. Entering a shared space comes with shared responsibility: to help ensure Town Hall is a place where everyone feels respected and welcome.

We ask everyone — audiences, presenters, artists, staff, and guests — to:

· Engage thoughtfully

· Remain open to different points of view

· Treat others with respect

Code of Conduct

Hate speech is not permitted. Hate speech includes language that attacks, threatens, or demeans any person or group based on sex, gender, race, sexuality, disability, age, religion, country of origin, or background.

Harassment is not tolerated. Harassment includes bullying, intimidation, stalking, unwelcome physical contact, or language that reinforces systems of oppression.

If You Experience or Witness Harm

If you witness or experience hate speech or harassment, alert a staff member or report the incident to access@townhallseattle.org. All reports are taken seriously.

Town Hall creates space for a range of ideas and expects civility. Our mission includes bringing many perspectives to the stage. Some of the ideas presented here may be challenging or unsettling. Responses to ideas — and to one another — must be grounded in care and respect.

Town Hall is a nonprofit cultural venue and civic space. We do not endorse the views of our speakers, guests, or rental partners. Our role is to provide a platform for public discourse. But let us be clear: civil rights, identity, and humanity are not up for debate.

Thank you for helping make Town Hall a place where ideas are explored — and where everyone belongs. If you ever feel unsafe or unwelcome in our space, please contact us at access@townhallseattle.org.

Town Hall Seattle is committed to accessibility for audiences and artists alike. From our ticketing policies to the capacities of our physical space, our goal is for Town Hall to be a place where everyone can take part, be inspired, and use their voice to shape our future.

Our Venue

In 2019, Town Hall Seattle completed a $35 million renovation, providing an even more accessible home for our city’s conversations and creativity. Core accessibility features of the renovation include:

• At-grade entrances (8th Ave Entrance to The Lobby, and West Entrance facing Downtown Seattle)
• Restrooms for all genders and bodies. Our building features 17 all-gender restrooms on our lobby level, as well as ADA-accessible restrooms on the lobby and Forum level
• Church pew/bench seats with wheelchair and companion seating in The Great Hall, and variable/movable seating in The Wyncote NW Forum and The Mehdi Reading Room
• A modern, spacious elevator serving all three levels of the building and a wheelchair lift for speaker access to the Forum green room
• Wheelchair ramp leading to the Forum Stage and wheelchair access via the elevator to the Great Hall stage
• Accessible backstage areas, restrooms, and green rooms serviced by an elevator
• Speaker and presenter seating for all bodies and abilities
• A Hearing Loop system in all three performance spaces. Using T-Coil (wireless receiver) technology, the hearing loop system projects voices and sounds directly from the microphone into an individual’s hearing aid.
• Braille on permanent room signage throughout the building

A Note on Transportation and Parking

Town Hall Seattle does not have a designated parking lot. Our venue is served by frequent bus routes, is near access to light rail stations, and close to a number of parking options nearby – including discounted, ADA parking at LAZ Parking (6th Ave Coast Seattle Downtown Hotel Garage). Learn more about parking options and discounted parking nearby here.

Program Accessibility & Livestreaming

Town Hall strives to ensure that all audience members can participate fully in our programs. We make every effort to provide real-time captioning (CART), ASL interpretation, translation and transcription services, and seating accommodations upon request.

Town Hall currently provides livestreaming for select events. An event may be livestreamed under any of the following circumstances:

• In-person tickets to the event are sold out or anticipated to sell out
• Livestreaming is requested by a speaker or co-presenting partner
• Livestreaming is requested by a ticket buyer
• The event topic is relevant to disability or disability justice

Audio and/or video recordings of most Town Hall-produced programs are available to the public approximately 2 weeks after the initial event date. You can find Town Hall’s digital content by visiting the Audio & Video Archives, and by subscribing to our podcasts and YouTube channel.

We do our best to honor livestream requests, pending staffing and permission from speakers and publishers. Contact access@townhallseattle.org to request accessibility services, ask questions, or to let us know what other accommodation you need to participate fully. Please provide at least 2 weeks’ advance notice when requesting CART and Livestreaming, and at least 4 weeks’ notice when requesting ASL.

For more information about our entrances, accessibility requests, and more, check out our Plan Your Visit pages.

Economic Accessibility

Town Hall strives to ensure that the cost of admission is never a barrier to participation. Almost all Town Hall-produced events are available on a sliding scale starting at $10, and many events are free. To break down further barriers to access, our 22 & Under initiative launched in 2019 with support from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, making most Town Hall-produced programs free for everyone aged 22 & Under.

If the ticket price to a Town Hall-produced program poses a barrier for you, please contact patronservices@townhallseattle.org for economic accommodations.

Economic Access for Rental Partners: We operate our stages with the same deep commitment to economic accessibility; our performance spaces are the most affordable in the region among similarly sized venues. We underwrite rental rates and related services for other small and midsized nonprofits and mission-aligned producers to help level the cultural playing field and ensure that everyone can afford to take the stage.

Note: Town Hall does not set the ticket prices for Rental Partner events. Our sliding scale ticketing model and 22 & Under tickets do not extend to programs produced by Rental Partners. To identify rental events, look for the gray “Rental Partner” label on our website and printed calendar.

Town Hall values active collaboration with our community, and our commitment to accessibility is no different. We invite you to contact us with feedback and ideas.