RACC awards $661,543 to nonprofit organizations, schools, and individual artists for arts-related projects in 2014

PORTLAND, ORE. — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $661,543 in project grants for calendar year 2014, including 60 grants to nonprofit organizations and schools, and 88 individual artists in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. This sum is 10.7% less than RACC awarded for project grants last year, attributable primarily to across-the-board cuts from the City of Portland, RACC’s largest funding source. Clackamas County, Washington County, Multnomah County, Metro, and Work for Art also help fund these project grants.
 
With applications at an all-time high, this year’s grants were especially competitive – only 42% of all requests were fully or partially funded. Even so, many individual artists were successful in securing RACC funds for the first time – 60% of all funded artists and 20% of all funded organizations this cycle are receiving their first RACC project grant.
 
Fifty-eight volunteers served on 14 different panels organized by discipline. Most (93%) served as a RACC panelist for the first time, and 38% identified as non-Caucasian and/or multicultural. Guided by staff during the months of October, November and December, these volunteers evaluated 134 proposals based on artistic merit, audience development and financial accountability, and forwarded their final recommendations to the RACC board of directors, which approved the grants on December 18.
 
A summary of funded grants can be found at www.racc.org/2014projectgrants. Among them:
  • First-time grant recipients David Ornette Cherry, a jazz and world music composer, will integrate storytelling, visual arts installation, and his Organic Nation band into a music performance; Anthony Hudson (aka Carla Rossi) will host a monologue and song-driven cabaret utilizing storytelling, music, dance, video and drag to tell the story of Weimar Germany juxtaposed against contemporary America; and playwright Deborah Rodney will further develop her original musical play for youth, “Bully the Kid,” through a series of community readings.
  • Badass Theatre Company received their first RACC project grant to support an upcoming production ofSans Merci by Johnna Adams. Colored Pencils Art and Culture Council plans to develop a series of events in partnership with Multnomah County libraries to promote local authors and ESL students from diverse communities. The Northwest Animation Festival will use its first award to showcase the breadth of animation for NW audiences, and The Projects Festival will present workshops, panels and performances with experimental artists working in comics.
  • The Art Gym in Clackamas County will feature a major exhibition and publication for Vanessa Renwick, and Christopher Mooney will exhibit his large scale portraits depicting workers on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Willamette River Bridge.
  • Washington County residents will see a new round of Ten Tiny Dances presented by the Beaverton Arts Commission and new mosaic pavers created by the community with artist Lynn Adamo installed at the Shute Park Library in Hillsboro.
  • In addition, an anonymous donor continues to provide special funding for an annual “Innovation Prize” of $2,500. This year’s award for outstanding, innovative, media-oriented project goes to Laura Heit for a hand drawn animated installation and film titled “Two Ways Down.”
“RACC has been working hard to reach out and collaborate with new artists and new artistic communities in the region, and I believe that this fantastic slate of upcoming projects reflects that commitment,” Eloise Damrosch, executive director of RACC. “We are looking forward to another year of creation and innovation, and we will continue evolving our process and procedures to ensure that we are supporting a diverse array of artists and organizations in our community.”
A complete listing of grants appears below, and summaries of each grant are available atwww.racc.org/2014projectgrants.
Note: (*) denotes Clackamas County applicants, and (**) denotes Washington County based applicants.  All other applicants are based in Multnomah County.
 
Individual Artist
Category/Discipline
Amount
Lynn Adamo **
Community Participation
 $                  3,947
Andrew C. Anderson Furgeson
Multi-Discipline
 $                  5,400
Yulia Arakelyan
Dance/Movement
 $                  5,675
David Bee
Media Arts
 $                  4,500
Heather Lee Birdsong
Visual Arts
 $                  3,041
Paul Cavanagh
Literature
 $                  4,973
Meshi Chavez
Dance/Movement
 $                  3,404
David Ornette Cherry
Music
 $                  4,500
Taiga Christie
Community Participation
 $                  3,759
Krista Connerly
Visual Arts
 $                  4,500
Tyler Corbett
Visual Arts
 $                  4,230
Lori Damiano
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,129
Zackery C. Denfeld
Social Practice
 $                  6,000
Steven Doughton
Media Arts
 $                  4,798
Melanie Flood
Visual Arts
 $                  4,421
Jack T. Gabel
Music
 $                  5,870
Jeff Gierer
Community Participation
 $                  5,100
Damien Gilley
Visual Arts
 $                  4,784
Daniel J. Glendening
Visual Arts
 $                  5,320
Cheryl Green
Media Arts
 $                  4,600
Michael Griggs
Theatre
 $                  6,000
Stacey Hallal
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,350
Jo Hamilton
Visual Arts
 $                  4,232
Allie Hankins
Dance/Movement
 $                  4,336
Wayne Harrel
Theatre
 $                  2,194
Jen Harrison
Music
 $                  5,686
Laura Heit
Multi-Discipline
 $                  3,662
Laura Heit
Multi-Discipline
 $                  2,500
Hector Hernandez
Community Participation
 $                  4,309
Justin Hocking
Community Participation
 $                  4,035
Tahni Holt
Dance/Movement
 $                  5,150
Kurtis Hough
Media Arts
 $                  5,100
Anthony Hudson
Multi-Discipline
 $                  2,866
Laura Hughes
Visual Arts
 $                  5,168
Linda Hutchins
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,800
Lawrence Johnson
Media Arts
 $                  5,700
Evan La Londe
Visual Arts
 $                  2,805
Mark LaPierre
Theatre
 $                  3,013
Jeff Leake
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  3,788
Waylon Lenk
Literature
 $                  2,778
Ellen Lesperance
Visual Arts
 $                  2,883
Alain LeTourneau
Media Arts
 $                  5,905
Brian Lindstrom
Community Participation
 $                  4,800
Gabriel Liston
Visual Arts
 $                  1,588
Joaquin Lopez **
Multi-Discipline
 $                  3,216
Dana Lynn Louis
Visual Arts
 $                  5,100
Anna Magruder
Visual Arts
 $                  2,986
Susannah Mars *
Theatre
 $                  4,204
Jim McGinn
Dance/Movement
 $                  5,400
Anita Menon **
Multi-Discipline
 $                  5,328
Stephen Miller
Multi-Discipline
 $                  3,071
Renee Mitchell
Community Participation
 $                  5,355
Christopher Mooney *
Visual Arts
 $                  4,500
Emily Myers
Visual Arts
 $                  3,285
Sarah Nagy
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  5,100
Motoya Nakamura
Visual Arts
 $                  5,430
Loren Nelson **
Visual Arts
 $                  4,025
Caroline Oakley
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  5,640
Chris G. Parkhurst
Media Arts
 $                  5,320
Susan E. Peck
Community Participation
 $                  3,998
Roger Peet
Multi-Discipline
 $                  5,310
Andrew Phoenix
Theatre
 $                  4,708
Ryan Pierce
Visual Arts
 $                  5,236
Tracy Pitts
Media Arts
 $                  4,309
Melissa Reeser Poulin
Literature
 $                  4,423
Alicia Jo Rabins
Music
 $                  3,400
Wendy Red Star
Visual Arts
 $                  4,313
Vanessa Olivia Renwick
Media Arts
 $                  4,930
Jen Delos Reyes
Literature
 $                  3,881
Dmae Roberts
Multi-Discipline
 $                  5,800
Deborah Rodney
Community Participation
 $                  3,990
Danielle Ross
Dance/Movement
 $                  4,654
Paul X. Rutz
Visual Arts
 $                  4,280
Julie Sabatier
Media Arts
 $                  4,304
Tracy Schlapp
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,893
Stephanie Simek
Visual Arts
 $                  4,220
Anne Sorce
Theatre
 $                  5,092
Dao Strom
Multi-Discipline
 $                  5,850
Marianna C. Thielen
Music
 $                  4,570
Lorenzo Triburgo
Visual Arts
 $                  5,301
Leslie Tucker
Visual Arts
 $                  2,879
Philip Van Scotter
Media Arts
 $                  4,256
Holcombe Waller
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,500
Shu-Ju Wang
Visual Arts
 $                  4,729
Damaris Webb
Theatre
 $                  4,223
James Westby **
Media Arts
 $                  5,100
Kelly Williams
Community Participation
 $                  5,990
Reeva Wortel
Visual Arts
 $                  5,015
Erin Yanke
Media Arts
 $                  5,038
 
Organization
Category/Discipline
Amount
45th Parallel
Music
 $                  5,132
Badass Theatre Company
Theatre
 $                  4,680
Beaverton Arts Commission **
Presenting
 $                  5,415
Blackfish Gallery
Visual Arts
 $                  3,825
Boom Arts
Theatre
 $                  3,686
Cascadia Composers
Music
 $                  3,000
Colored Pencils Art and Culture Council 
Community Participation
 $                  3,071
Community Alliance of Tenants
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,630
Conduit Dance, Inc.
Dance/Movement
 $                  6,000
Creative Music Guild
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,463
Creative Science School PTA
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  2,588
Curious Comedy Theater
Theatre
 $                  5,520
Disjecta Interdisciplinary Art Center
Visual Arts
 $                  5,700
Estacada Arts Commission *
Community Participation
 $                  5,369
Estacada Together *
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  5,700
Fear No Music
Music
 $                  4,500
George Middle School
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  2,250
Grout Elementary
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  4,400
In Mulieribus
Music
 $                  4,294
India Cultural Association **
Community Participation
 $                  4,350
Irvington School PTA
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  5,100
Jewish Theatre Collaborative
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  2,250
Ko-Falen Cultural Center
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  1,548
Kukatonon
Community Participation
 $                  4,500
Live on Stage
Theatre
 $                  4,391
Los Portenos **
Theatre
 $                  4,503
Media Rites
Media Arts
 $                  4,388
MetroArts, Inc.
Music
 $                  4,229
Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon
(MESO)
Community Participation
 $                  4,500
Museum of Contemporary Craft
Folk Arts
 $                  4,500
My Voice Music
Community Participation
 $                  5,288
National Alliance on Mental Illness
of Clackamas County (NAMI-CC) 
Community Participation
 $                  4,275
New City Initiative (JOIN)
Community Participation
 $                  4,500
Northwest Animation Festival
Presenting
 $                  4,399
Northwest Film Center
Community Participation
 $                  3,720
Open Meadow Alternative Schools
Arts-In-Schools
 $                  4,228
Opera Theater Oregon
Multi-Discipline
 $                  5,945
Oregon Cultural Access (ORCA)
Community Participation
 $                  4,728
Oregon Jewish Museum
Visual Arts
 $                  3,520
Performance Works Northwest
Presenting
 $                  2,388
Portland Children’s Museum
Visual Arts
 $                  5,400
Portland Community College
Foundation
Visual Arts
 $                  3,854
Portland Experimental
Theatre Ensemble 
(PETE)
Theatre
 $                  6,000
Portland Jazz Festival
Music
 $                  5,690
Portland Oregon Women’s
Film Festival
Media Arts
 $                  5,100
Portland Queer
Documentary Film Festival
Media Arts
 $                  5,850
Portland Vocal Consort **
Music
 $                  3,744
POV Dance
Dance/Movement
 $                  4,487
RASIKA –
India Arts and Culture Council
Music
 $                  4,520
Risk/Reward
Presenting
 $                  5,390
Signal Fire
Literature
 $                  2,800
The Art Gym *
Visual Arts
 $                  5,700
The Circus Project
Community Participation
 $                  3,637
The Library Foundation
Community Participation
 $                  5,400
The Obo Addy Legacy Project
Community Participation
 $                  4,388
The Projects Festival
Community Participation
 $                  5,653
Triangle Productions!
Theatre
 $                  4,418
VOZ Worker’s Rights
Education Project
Community Participation
 $                  4,500
Water in the Desert
Multi-Discipline
 $                  4,489
Well Arts Institute
Community Participation
 $                  1,299