Arts for All - Regional Arts and Culture Council

Ensuring Arts & Culture are Accessible for All

Buy $5 tickets to many of the best arts & culture events in the region!

Arts For All envisions a community where everyone—regardless of financial resources—can experience and enjoy arts and culture.

Over a decade ago, Arts For All was founded by dedicated arts leaders to ensure Oregon Trail Card/SNAP recipients could access specific arts events for just $5 per ticket.

While the program has flourished and grown steadily, including some college students, RACC aims to expand awareness through broader outreach and deeper community engagement. By building new relationships and supporting local artists and creators, Arts For All helps everyone access and enjoy the creative fabric of our region and state.

This program thrives thanks to the dedication and support of participating arts organizations.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. Who can buy $5 Tickets?

A. Anyone who gets food relief through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and has the Oregon Trail Card or Washington State Basic Foods Card. This includes P-EBT (pandemic food relief).

Additionally, following recent updates, Arts for All pricing is now available to those with enrollment documentation in assisted living/home care programs or a college student ID.

Q. Is the Arts for All program available throughout the state of Oregon?

A. Most participating arts organizations are in the tri-county area. Currently, we have participating arts organizations in Lane, Yamhill, Hood, and Columbia counties. Some communities have developed their own Arts for All programs!

Q. How many tickets can I buy for $5 each?

A. Two per Oregon Trail Card, but ask the group if you can buy more.

Q. How do I buy the tickets?

A. You must present your Oregon Trail Card or other form of proof at the time of purchase . You can only pay with cash or credit card.

Q. Which events have $5 tickets?

A. Some of our arts partners have specific events that are part of the Arts for All program. Others offer discounts for all of their events. Check with the individual group (see right) to find out when their concerts are and if $5 tickets are available for what you want to attend.

Q. I don’t have an Oregon Trail Card or other form of proof. Are there other discounts available?

A. Some of these participating arts organizations also have a sliding scale and often children are free. Feel free to reach out to arts4all@racc.org. Check out our list of other free and reduced-price admission opportunities with dozens of arts organizations:

Multnomah County Libraries offer the My Discovery Pass. This is a unique partnership with local arts and culture organizations which free passes to community members with a valid library card. Go here for a list of participating organizations.

Below is a summary of only some of the free and reduced cost admission opportunities among local arts organizations. Please visit their websites for the most up to date information and how to connect. Some still have COVID 19 restrictions and precautions in place.

Artists Repertory Theatre: Pay What You Can performances; $5 tickets through Arts for All
Blue Sky Gallery: Free admission for all exhibitions and public programs.
Chamber Music Northwest: Student and senior discounts; $5 tickets through Arts for All; free community concerts during the Summer Festival; free brown-bag discussions (“Food for Thought: Composers a la Carte”), free public Master Classes.
Fear No Music pay what you will admission for yearly concert series. Check their website for information.
Independent Publishing Resource Center: “Teen Zine Canteen” is free for youth and their parents on Sundays. The Center’s Small Press library is free and open to the public.
Lakewood Center for the Arts: Student and senior discounts; rush tickets; several free programs open to the public.
Literary Arts, Inc.: 82% of events are offered free of charge.
Littman + White Galleries: free and open to the public.
Metropolitan Youth Symphony: Free tickets given away to students and community organizations; concerts in schools.
Northwest Dance Project: $5 tickets through Arts for All and other groups; numerous free performances; half-price student/senior rush tickets.
NW Documentary Arts & Media: Several free programs including the DocTalk series, and Recording Resilience at The Dougy Center.
Oregon Ballet Theatre: $5 tickets through Arts for All; 1,000 free Nutcracker tickets distributed to low-income children and families; merit- and need-based scholarships for the dance school; $2 tickets for school performances; OBT Exposed free rehearsals and performances in the park.
Oregon Children’s Theatre: Free and discounted tickets for students and teachers; $5 tickets through Arts for All; National Free Night of Theater.
Oregon Symphony Association: Endeavors to restore the free concert at Waterfront Park; free Symphony Storytimes events in public libraries; free ensemble performances throughout the Portland metro area; $5 tickets through Arts for All; free tickets for low-income students kinderkonzerts and Young People’s Concerts.
PlayWrite, Inc.: Free admission to all performances.
Portland Art Museum: Free admission for children 17 and under always; free admission for the general public on select days.
The Portland Ballet: $5 tickets through Arts for All; Pay What You Will performances.
Portland Center Stage: Rush tickets, $5 tickets through Arts for All, free tickets to youth participating in the Stage Door program; Pay What You Will performances.
Portland Chamber Orchestra: Student and senior discounts. Free tickets for school groups and retirement homes.
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art: Free and reduced cost tickets for students.
Portland Taiko: $5 tickets through Arts for All; free community performances throughout the year.
Third Rail Repertory Theatre: $5 tickets through Arts for All; Pay What You Will performances.
Arts for Learning Northwest: Provides programs for free or low cost to students and schools throughout the region.

The Origins of Arts for All

In January of 2011, twelve of Portland’s classical music organizations, operating under the auspices of Go Classical PDX convened by All Classical 89.9, announced a pilot project called “Music for All” offering $5.00 tickets to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) card holders. Preliminary numbers for the six-month pilot program totaled 1,410 tickets used. Initial seed money for printing of promotional materials was provided by the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Work for Art and the City of Portland. Plans immediately began to include additional arts organizations in the next iteration of the program and to expand it beyond classical music. The result, “Arts for All” was launched on October 3, 2011. In 2022, RACC assumed the outreach and engagement efforts to expand the program with the support of Friends of Chamber Music, Pat Z. RACC will continue to uphold the vision of access to the arts for all, as the founders intended, and will seek to broaden community knowledge of this program.

Other Communities have Arts for All in Oregon

Corvallis Arts for All (CAFA), a program of the Corvallis Arts & Culture Commission, was launched in 2012. http://www.corvallisartsforall.org/

More Information

For questions, please contact our office at arts4all@racc.org. If you are an organization who wishes to join this program, please reach out to arts4all@racc.org.
Stay tuned, since we will be phasing out the Arts for All Facebook page in the fall of 2023.
Please follow us on Instagram. #ArtsForAll
For more information about the SNAP program, visit the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) website.

Additional Free and Reduced Cost Admission Opportunities

Artists Repertory Theatre: Pay What You Can performances; $5 tickets through Arts for All
Blue Sky Gallery: Free admission for all exhibitions and public programs.
Chamber Music Northwest: Student and senior discounts; $5 tickets through Arts for All; free community concerts during the Summer Festival; free brown-bag discussions (“Food for Thought: Composers a la Carte”), free public Master Classes.
Fear No Music pay what you will admission for yearly concert series. Check their website for information.
Independent Publishing Resource Center: “Teen Zine Canteen” is free for youth and their parents on Sundays. The Center’s Small Press library is free and open to the public.
Lakewood Center for the Arts: Student and senior discounts; rush tickets; several free programs open to the public.
Literary Arts, Inc.: 82% of events are offered free of charge.
Littman + White Galleries: free and open to the public.
Metropolitan Youth Symphony: Free tickets given away to students and community organizations; concerts in schools.
Northwest Dance Project: $5 tickets through Arts for All and other groups; numerous free performances; half-price student/senior rush tickets.
NW Documentary Arts & Media: Several free programs including the DocTalk series, and Recording Resilience at The Dougy Center.
Oregon Ballet Theatre: $5 tickets through Arts for All; 1,000 free Nutcracker tickets distributed to low-income children and families; merit- and need-based scholarships for the dance school; $2 tickets for school performances; OBT Exposed free rehearsals and performances in the park.
Oregon Children’s Theatre: Free and discounted tickets for students and teachers; $5 tickets through Arts for All; National Free Night of Theater.
Oregon Symphony Association: Endeavors to restore the free concert at Waterfront Park; free Symphony Storytimes events in public libraries; free ensemble performances throughout the Portland metro area; $5 tickets through Arts for All; free tickets for low-income students kinderkonzerts and Young People’s Concerts.
PlayWrite, Inc.: Free admission to all performances.
Portland Art Museum: Free admission for children 17 and under always; free admission for the general public on select days.
The Portland Ballet: $5 tickets through Arts for All; Pay What You Will performances.
Portland Center Stage: Rush tickets, $5 tickets through Arts for All, free tickets to youth participating in the Stage Door program; Pay What You Will performances.
Portland Chamber Orchestra: Student and senior discounts. Free tickets for school groups and retirement homes.
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art: Free and reduced cost tickets for students.
Portland Taiko: $5 tickets through Arts for All; free community performances throughout the year.
Third Rail Repertory Theatre: $5 tickets through Arts for All; Pay What You Will performances.
Arts for Learning Northwest: Provides programs for free or low cost to students and schools throughout the region.