FROM COVER: Newspaper Box Challenge: Vote With Dollars -

BY ANGELA JOSSY for WEEKLY VOLCANO 7/25/25 |

These photos do not do justice to the amazing work these artists have delivered. Every side of these newspaper boxes contains astonishing work. Please take a moment to visit our website, where there are more photos of each of them: Weekly-Volcano.com/newspaper-box-challenge.

You can also see them for free in person in the lobby of the old Post Office Building in downtown Tacoma: Court House Square, 1102 A Street, Tacoma, WA 98402.

This project is a fundraiser for Weekly Volcano, and 50 percent of the net proceeds go to the artists who have generously shared their talent with us by transforming these beat-up, dirty, and in some cases rusty newspaper boxes. These boxes were gifted to Weekly Volcano by The Ranger newspaper when they closed.

Voting with dollars (by scanning the QR code or clicking the link on our website) will continue until the third Thursday of August, when an artist reception will be held in the ballroom at Court House Square. There will be an award ceremony for the top-performing boxes. Please save the date—August 21—for an inspiring evening!

Why does Weekly Volcano need a fundraiser?
We are currently on a quest to become a newspaper of record in Tacoma, which means we must bear the cost of printing weekly even before we receive the funding. If we can achieve this, we will be paid to print legal notices, giving us predictable income to stabilize the paper for years to come. Currently, Tacoma’s newspaper of record is not locally owned and prints a limited number of copies with little to no news of general interest to Tacoma. All of this money is leaving our community at a time when we need it more than ever.

One other requirement to qualify as a newspaper of record is that 50 percent of our circulation must be in paid subscriptions. This goal may be even more challenging than the financial one. Weekly Volcano has always been free, and it will stay that way. We distribute to 100 locations per week, where readers can pick it up at no cost. We also share stories on our website with no paywall and email our newsletter for free every Friday.

Now we can also mail copies weekly to subscribers for less than $23 per month—about $5 per issue. We announced this a few days ago and already have 17 subscribers. If you want to help us meet this goal, you can subscribe for home delivery here: https://form.jotform.com/251995002371051.

What’s going to happen to the boxes?
Once this exhibit at Court House Square ends and the prizes and checks have been distributed to the artists, the boxes will be placed inside trusted local businesses along our delivery route and will become part of a countywide scavenger hunt. More details coming soon!