About RACC
Through vision, leadership, and service, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) works to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of community life. RACC has served the Portland tri-county area since its inception in 1995, when the city’s Metropolitan Arts Commission transitioned into a separate not-for-profit organization based upon the recommendation of ArtsPlan 2000+.
RACC is the steward of several public and private investments in arts and culture, and works to create an environment in which the arts and culture of the region can flourish and prosper. RACC is funded in part by local, regional, state and federal governments to provide grants to artists and operating support to art organizations in the tri-county region. (Funders include the City of Portland, Metro, and Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington Counties, the Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Cultural Trust and the National Endowment for the Arts. For a complete list of public and private funders, click here.)
Vision
To enrich community life by working with partners to create an environment in which the arts and culture of the region flourish and prosper.
Mission
Through vision, leadership and service the Regional Arts & Culture Council works to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of community life.
Core Values
We value freedom of artistic and cultural expression as a fundamental human right.
We value a diversity of artistic and cultural experiences.
We value a community in which everyone can participate in arts and culture.
We value a community that celebrates and supports its artists, and its arts and cultural organizations.
We value arts and culture as key elements in creating desirable places to live, work and visit.
Programs and Services
RACC provides service in five key areas:
- Through advocacy, RACC helps build support for a strong arts and culture community.
- RACC grants provide artists and arts organizations with financial support.
- Our nationally-acclaimed public art program integrates a wide range of art in public places. RACC manages Percent for Art programs for the City of Portland and Multnomah county.
- RACC provides other community services, including workshops for artists, organizational consulting, and a variety of printed and electronic resources.
- RACC supports arts education by directly funding artists residencies in schools and is working on a comprehensive solution to provide integrated Arts Education learning for every student in the region.
