PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $733,608 in grants to 92 local artists and 52 nonprofit organizations for artistic projects that will take place in calendar year 2017. This represents a 10% increase over last year thanks to increased funding from Multnomah County, the City of Portland and RACC’s workplace giving campaign, Work for Art. Additional funding was provided by Clackamas County, Washington County and Metro.
“As 2016 draws to a close, we can start looking forward to a tremendous variety of innovative arts activities scheduled to take place in 2017,” said executive director Eloise Damrosch. “I am especially pleased that 57% of our grants this year are going to artists and organizations that have never received RACC project grant funding before.”
Some examples of funded artists and organizations that are receiving their first-ever project grant from RACC include:
- Alan Alexander III, $5,400 in the Theatre category to fund a public performance of an original musical theatre work titled “Homeless (the musical).” Book, music and lyrics by Alan Alexander III with additional music and lyrics by Kathryn Grimm.
- Irina Boboia, $6,495 in the Multi-Discipline category to fund “Two Worlds and Nowhere,” a project aimed at revealing the stories of local immigrants/refugees through video, still images and text. The project will be disseminated as a video blog, art installation and video screenings.
- Ashleigh Flynn, $5,600 in the Music category to help create an LP record of self-penned Americana songs inspired by “Rosie the Riveter,” whose brand inspired a social movement in America. The recording will feature a band of highly talented musicians, all female, over 40 years old, and many who identify as LGBTQ, and will culminate in a celebratory performance at McMenamins Mission Theater.
- Chiara Giovando, $4,838 in the Media Arts category, to support “A Stone, a Stick and a Plastic Soul” (working title) — a new film made in collaboration with contemporary artist and Karuk tribal elder, Brian Tripp. The project is positioned somewhere between documentary and fiction, exploring the unique ways Brian’s life and practice hover between the traditional and the contemporary.
- Kazumi Heshiki, $5,552 in the Literature category for “Fireweed Blossoms,”a book of haiku-hybrid poetry in English that is the culmination of several years of cross-cultural experimentation under the guidance of local poet Stephanie Adams-Santos. RACC support will help the artist self-publish the book and present it to the public.
- Jesse Mejia, $6,280 in the Social Practice category for “CHOIR,” an ongoing community singing group focused on learning and performing choral music by composers such as Arvo Part and Ola Gjeilo.
- Kate Simmons, $4,309 in the Visual Arts category. “Fold the Towel” is a conceptual piece that utilizes the female body to explore ideas of domesticity and the struggles of balancing career and family responsibilities. The finished work funded in part by RACC will consist of 9 images of the figure printed on semi-translucent 8’x6′ fabric panels.
- Black Women for Peace, $4,833 in the Community Participation & Access category to help present the 2017 Peace Festival, bringing together youth and young adults from diverse racial, ethnic and cultural groups to promote peace through the performing arts and cultural exchange.
- Q Center / LGBTQ Community Center Fund, $5,250 in the Dance/Movement category to bring the nationally acclaimed Sean Dorsey Dance Company to Portland in the fall 2017 for two performances of “The Missing Generation.” This piece gives voice to longtime survivors of the early AIDS epidemic and RACC funding will also be used to fund a dance workshop; an intergenerational community forum; and a post-performance discussion.
- Vanport Mosaic, $4,500 in the Theatre category, to produce six staged readings each of “Summer Squash” and “Hercules Didn’t Wade in the Water,” new plays about the American Dream, displacement and Hurricane Katrina. One performance of each show will be brought to a local High School with facilitated discussion afterwards.
RACC’s peer review process involved 46 community volunteers who served on 14 different panels organized by discipline. They were guided by staff during the months of October, November and December, evaluating proposals based on artistic merit, audience development and financial accountability. Most volunteer panelists (96%) served on a RACC grants panel for the first time. The RACC Board of Directors unanimously approved all panel recommendations on December 14.
A complete list of project grants appears below. More detailed summaries of each grant are available at http://bit.ly/RACC2017PG (PDF).
RACC project grants for individuals, calendar year 2017
Note: (*) denotes Clackamas County applicants, and (**) denotes Washington County based applicants. All other applicants are based in Multnomah County. AF = Artistic Focus and CPA = Community Participation & Access.
| Applicant | Project Type | Discipline | Grant Award |
| manuel abreu | CPA | Multi-Discipline | $ 3,038 |
| Oluyinka Akinjiola | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 4,275 |
| Alan Alexander III | AF | Theatre | $ 5,400 |
| Yulia Arakelyan | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 6,567 |
| Sue Arbuthnot | AF | Media Arts | $ 6,940 |
| Emily Bixler | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,780 |
| Sundance Bleckinger | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,949 |
| Irina Karin Boboia** | AF | Media Arts | $ 6,495 |
| Wayne Bund | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 4,934 |
| David Ornette Cherry | AF | Music | $ 5,250 |
| Robin Chilstrom | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,243 |
| Adam Ciresi | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,006 |
| Jeremy Davis | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,695 |
| Jay Derderian | AF | Music | $ 3,060 |
| Suniti Dernovsek | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 6,999 |
| Daniel Diana-Peebles | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 3,780 |
| Noah Dunham | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,755 |
| Brenan Dwyer | AF | Theatre | $ 4,275 |
| Wynde Dyer | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,342 |
| Raquel Edwards* | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,912 |
| Taylor Eggan | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 2,299 |
| Nancy Ellis | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 2,978 |
| Tiffany Ellis | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,950 |
| Ashleigh Flynn | AF | Music | $ 5,600 |
| Mitchell Freifeld** | AF | Visual Arts | $ 4,560 |
| Anne Galisky | CPA | Visual Arts | $ 5,400 |
| Zoe Gieringer** | AF | Media Arts | $ 2,370 |
| Chiara Giovando | AF | Media Arts | $ 4,838 |
| Joseph Glode | AF | Visual Arts | $ 3,930 |
| Lucas Gray | CPA | Visual Arts | $ 4,313 |
| Jen Harrison | AF | Music | $ 6,593 |
| Erinn Kathryn Hatter | AF | Visual Arts | $ 6,095 |
| Kazumi Heshiki | AF | Literature | $ 5,552 |
| Laura Hughes | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,760 |
| Carol Imani | CPA | Literature | $ 6,462 |
| Nancy Ives | AF | Music | $ 6,170 |
| Sean Johnson | AF | Visual Arts | $ 3,594 |
| Dawn Jones Redstone | AF | Media Arts | $ 6,648 |
| Yukiyo Kawano | CPA | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,156 |
| Christopher Kirkley | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,112 |
| Isaac Lamb** | AF | Theatre | $ 5,600 |
| Kathleen Lane | CPA | Literature | $ 3,168 |
| Horatio Law | AF | Visual Arts | $ 6,650 |
| Katherine Lewis | CPA | Theatre | $ 5,235 |
| Fuchsia Lin | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,603 |
| Laura Lo Forti | CPA | Media Arts | $ 3,200 |
| Sarah Loose | CPA | Social Practice | $ 6,590 |
| Jonathan Marrs | AF | Media Arts | $ 4,688 |
| Cambria Matlow | AF | Media Arts | $ 6,224 |
| Matt McCormick | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,290 |
| Jesse Mejia | AF | Social Practice | $ 6,280 |
| Pamela Minty | AF | Media Arts | $ 6,132 |
| Lauren Moran | AF | Social Practice | $ 5,040 |
| Dustin Morrow** | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,250 |
| Donal Mosher | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 3,419 |
| Travis Neel | AF | Social Practice | $ 1,680 |
| Tabitha Nikolai | AF | Visual Arts | $ 3,343 |
| Eric Nordstrom | AF | Media Arts | $ 4,921 |
| Tom Olsen | AF | Media Arts | $ 3,728 |
| Ann Marie O’Malley | AF | Literature | $ 4,081 |
| Rachel O’Rourke | CPA | Social Practice | $ 4,838 |
| Michael Palmieri | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,600 |
| Brian Parham | CPA | Music | $ 5,360 |
| Pepper Pepper | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,479 |
| Carolina Pfister | AF | Media Arts | $ 3,119 |
| Reid Psaltis | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,600 |
| Sarah Rabeda** | AF | Visual Arts | $ 4,085 |
| Alicia Rabins | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,603 |
| Bonnie Ratner | AF | Theatre | $ 1,955 |
| Denver David Robinson | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,588 |
| Danielle Ross | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 5,468 |
| Jeremy Rotsztain | AF | Media Arts | $ 4,646 |
| Nora Ryan | AF | Music | $ 5,072 |
| Annette Sabater | AF | Visual Arts | $ 4,781 |
| Molly Schaeffer | AF | Literature | $ 4,880 |
| Cameron Schneider | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 4,500 |
| Lisa Schonberg | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 4,109 |
| Anna Sell | AF | Theatre | $ 3,338 |
| Kate Simmons* | AF | Visual Arts | $ 4,309 |
| Susan Smith | AF | Music | $ 5,160 |
| Jack StockLynn | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,516 |
| Andrea Stolowitz | AF | Theatre | $ 6,984 |
| Dao Strom | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,622 |
| Sharita Towne | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 7,000 |
| Matthew Vuksinich | AF | Music | $ 7,000 |
| Holcombe Waller | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,650 |
| Mel Wells | AF | Literature | $ 4,388 |
| Lisa Wilcke | CPA | Visual Arts | $ 2,066 |
| Emily Wobb | AF | Visual Arts | $ 4,875 |
| Jenn Woodward | AF | Visual Arts | $ 3,708 |
| Mike Yager | AF | Visual Arts | $ 1,595 |
| Lu Yim | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,566 |
RACC project grants for organizations, calendar year 2017
Note: (*) denotes Clackamas County applicants, and (**) denotes Washington County based applicants. All other applicants are based in Multnomah County. AF = Artistic Focus and CPA = Community Participation & Access.
| Applicant | Project Type | Discipline | Grant Award |
| 45th Parallel | AF | Music | $ 5,400 |
| Action/Adventure Theatre | AF | Theatre | $ 6,090 |
| A-WOL Dance Collective, Inc. | CPA | Dance/Movement | $ 5,250 |
| Be Space | CPA | Presenting | $ 3,488 |
| Big Horn Brass* | AF | Music | $ 2,360 |
| Black Women for Peace | CPA | Presenting | $ 4,833 |
| Boom Arts, Inc. | AF | Presenting | $ 7,000 |
| Caldera | CPA | Multi-Discipline | $ 7,000 |
| Centro Cultural of Washington County** | CPA | Social Practice | $ 4,238 |
| Circus Cascadia | CPA | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,300 |
| Classical Up Close** | CPA | Music | $ 5,250 |
| Clinton Street Theater LLC | AF | Media Arts | $ 4,875 |
| Color Outside the Lines | CPA | Visual Arts | $ 3,360 |
| Disability Art and Culture Project | CPA | Dance/Movement | $ 6,120 |
| en Taiko | CPA | Music | $ 3,138 |
| Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,250 |
| Know Your City | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 4,016 |
| Lan Su Chinese Garden | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,250 |
| Latino Network | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,562 |
| Live On Stage | AF | Theatre | $ 6,055 |
| MediaRites | AF | Theatre | $ 5,600 |
| NAACP Portland Branch 1120B | CPA | Visual Arts | $ 2,400 |
| New Expressive Works | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 7,000 |
| Newspace Center for Photography | CPA | Visual Arts | $ 5,600 |
| Nordic Northwest** | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 6,650 |
| Northwest Animation Festival | AF | Presenting | $ 6,975 |
| Obo Addy Legacy Project | AF | Music | $ 6,650 |
| Oregon BRAVO Youth Orchestras | CPA | Music | $ 6,000 |
| Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,822 |
| Pacific Northwest College of Art | AF | Visual Arts | $ 5,600 |
| Portland Community College | AF | Literature | $ 750 |
| Portland Community Media | AF | Media Arts | $ 5,833 |
| Portland Japanese Garden | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 7,000 |
| Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc. | CPA | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,250 |
| Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival | CPA | Media Arts | $ 6,300 |
| Portland SummerFest | AF | Music | $ 7,000 |
| Portland Zine Symposium | CPA | Presenting | $ 2,075 |
| Q Center / LGBTQ Community Center Fund | AF | Dance/Movement | $ 5,250 |
| QDoc | AF | Media Arts | $ 6,255 |
| Resonate Choral * | CPA | Music | $ 4,155 |
| Risk-Reward | AF | Presenting | $ 5,250 |
| Rogue Pack | CPA | Theatre | $ 6,650 |
| S1 Synth Library | AF | Presenting | $ 6,300 |
| Shingon PDX Henjyoji | AF | Visual Arts | $ 6,030 |
| SoulPatch Music Productions* | AF | Music | $ 4,718 |
| Sowelu Theater | AF | Theatre | $ 5,220 |
| Staged! | AF | Theatre | $ 5,225 |
| The Stumptown Improv Festival | AF | Theatre | $ 4,463 |
| The Vanport Mosaic | AF | Theatre | $ 4,500 |
| Washington County Cooperative Library Services** | CPA | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,250 |
| World Stage Theatre | CPA | Theatre | $ 6,095 |
| ZENA ZEZZA | AF | Multi-Discipline | $ 5,250 |
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The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) provides grants for artists, nonprofit organizations and schools in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; raises money and awareness for the arts through Work for Art; convenes forums, networking events and other community gatherings; provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists; and oversees a program to integrate arts and culture into the standard curriculum in public schools through The Right Brain Initiative. RACC values a diversity of artistic and cultural experiences and is working to build a community in which everyone can participate in culture, creativity and the arts. For more information visit racc.org.