RACC Blog

State of the Arts annual presentation information

RACC will present its annual State of the Arts report to Portland City Council later is spring of 2020. We invite you to join us and learn how RACC and the City invest taxpayer dollars to support culture, creativity and the arts—and to thank City Council for their support.

Council Chambers is equipped with a sound system for the hearing impaired. Assisted listening devices are available from the Clerk.

The City of Portland will gladly accommodate requests for an interpreter or make other accommodations that further inclusivity. Please make your request at least 72 hours before the meeting to the Council Clerk 503-823-4086. (TTY 503-823-6868). Translation in ASL will be present at our presentation.

City Council meetings can be viewed at www.portlandoregon.gov/video

The meetings are also cablecast on CityNet, Portland Community Media television. Watch CityNet on Xfinity Channel 30 and 330 (in HD) and CenturyLink Channels 8005 and 8505 (in HD).


2019-20 RACC Project Grants (Cycle 2)

RACC’s Project Grant Program provides financial support to individual artists and not-for-profit organizations in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas Counties, for project based arts programming. Grants are awarded up to $7,000 and are available in three categories: Artistic Focus, Arts Equity & Access, and Catalyst.  The following 84 Project Grants were approved on February 12, 2020 and total $403,980.

 

2019-20 Project Grant awards (Cycle 2):

Applicant County Project Type Discipline Award Amount
Ahmad Pasley Washington Artistic Focus Theatre $5,580
Alberta Poon Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $6,650
Ann-Kathrin Küpper Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Audrey O’Farrell Washington Artistic Focus Theatre $4,920
Barbara Lima Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Beck Smith Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Betsy Chang Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Bill Lascher Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $6,550
Chliu-Mie Wu Multnomah Catalyst Dance/Movement $3,000
Christina Uyeno Washington Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Christine Miller Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Dawn Jones Redstone Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,250
Eien Hunter-Ishikawa Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Folk Arts $1,990
Emily Fitzgerald Multnomah Artistic Focus Social Practice $5,530
Emily Newton Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $4,640
Eric Stachon Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,440
Eve Johnstone Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,710
Gina Hartmann Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $3,870
Holly Robison Washington Catalyst Theatre $3,000
Jack StockLynn Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $2,380
Jene Etheridge Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Music $5,500
Joanie Fox Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,080
Jodie Cavalier Multnomah Artistic Focus Social Practice $3,870
Kanani Koster Multnomah Catalyst Media Arts $3,000
Kari Luna Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $4,550
Karleigh Frisbie Brogan Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $4,880
Kerry Politzer Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $2,630
Lilia Hernandez Galusha Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $4,820
Lindsey Holcomb Washington Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Livy Conner Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $5,250
lolo haha Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,250
Marilyn Zornado Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $4,130
Michael Davis-Yates Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Michael Sanchez Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $5,600
Michelle Zellers Multnomah Catalyst Social Practice $3,000
Monika Cassel Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $1,710
Odessa Charon Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $3,560
Precious Bugarin Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Media Arts $5,610
Quincy Davis Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $4,800
Quincy Woo Clackamas Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,530
Rachel Mulder Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $4,490
Reema  Zaman Washington Artistic Focus Literature $5,250
Robbie McClaran Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $5,250
Scott Ballard Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $6,300
Scott Braucht Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,600
Sean Abplanalp Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,950
Shalonda Menefee Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $7,000
Sharita Towne Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $6,560
Shaun Keylock Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $5,250
Stephanie Werba Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,210
Tomas Cotik Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $5,950
Tracy Schlapp Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Literature $5,600
Xavier Yarbrough Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $6,300
All Ages Music Portland Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,550
Architectural Heritage Center Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $6,000
Architecture Foundation of Oregon Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Visual Arts $7,000
Big Mouth Society Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $3,200
Bollywood Movez, LLC Washington Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,250
Camp45 Contemporary dba Converge 45 Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $2,880
Canby Pioneer Chapel Performing Arts Clackamas Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
en Taiko Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Music $5,250
Five Oaks Museum/Washington County Museum Washington Arts Equity & Access Visual Arts $5,250
Good in the Hood Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $6,650
Heidi Duckler Dance/Northwest Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $5,250
India Cultural Association Washington Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,250
Open Signal Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $6,430
Opera Theater of Oregon Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $5,160
Paragon Arts Gallery Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $6,650
Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF) Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Visual Arts $6,650
Portland Lesbian Choir Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $6,300
Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Media Arts $6,650
Purple highlights pending GOS partner organizations
QDoc: Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $7,000
Risk/Reward Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $5,600
She Rhyme Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
The Aspire Project Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Dance/Movement $5,250
The Clexa Project Washington Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,250
The Library Foundation Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $7,000
The Stumptown Improv Festival Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $4,290
The Theatre Company Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,950
Transpose PDX Multnomah Catalyst Music $3,000
Western Arts Alliance Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $7,000
Wilsonville Arts & Culture Council Clackamas Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $3,200
World Stage Theatre Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Theatre $5,950
Young Musicians and Artists, Inc. Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $1,130

2019-20 RACC Project Grants (Cycle 1)

RACC’s Project Grant Program provides financial support to individual artists and not-for-profit organizations in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas Counties, for project based arts programming. Grants are awarded up to $7,000 and are available in three categories: Artistic Focus, Arts Equity & Access, and Catalyst.  The following 86 Project Grants were approved on September 25, 2019 and total $391,260.

 

2019-20 Project Grant awards (Cycle 1):

Applicant County Project Type Discipline Award Amount
Aja Ngo Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Visual Arts $5,580
Ally Harris Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $5,740
Amber Case Multnomah Catalyst Media Arts $3,000
Ameera Saahir Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Annin  Barrett Washington Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Bobbi  Woods Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $7,000
Bobby Smith Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $6,950
Bonnie Meltzer Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $6,290
Cari Luna Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $3,390
Chamisa Kellogg Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Claire Rigsby Multnomah Catalyst Theatre $3,000
Damaris Webb Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $6,960
Dana Louis Multnomah Artistic Focus Social Practice $6,300
Daniel Fiebiger Multnomah Catalyst Media Arts $3,000
Darcy Neal Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Dasha Shleyeva Multnomah Catalyst Music $3,000
David Poulshock Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $7,000
David Woodin Multnomah Catalyst Theatre $3,000
Debbie Baxter Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $5,540
Diana Ramos Multnomah Catalyst Media Arts $3,000
Dmae Roberts Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,850
Douglas Detrick Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $2,450
Drew Laughery Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Ebenezer Galluzzo Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Eric John Kaiser Multnomah Catalyst Music $3,000
Freddy Vilches Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $6,300
Gabriel Espinosa Clackamas Catalyst Music $3,000
Ian McCluskey Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,420
Jasmin Johnson Multnomah Catalyst Literature $3,000
Jennifer Elkington Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $3,820
Jennifer Gwirtz Multnomah Catalyst Dance/Movement $3,000
Jesse Blanchard Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $5,510
Jessica Evans Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $5,240
John Longenbaugh Multnomah Catalyst Theatre $3,000
John McDonald Multnomah Catalyst Theatre $3,000
Jude Brewer Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,560
Juhea Kim Multnomah Catalyst Literature $3,000
Kelly Fry Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Kevin Sampsell Multnomah Catalyst Literature $3,000
Kim Taylor Blakemore Multnomah Artistic Focus Literature $4,000
Kris Bluett Woolen Multnomah Catalyst Theatre $3,000
Laura Allcorn Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $5,190
Laura Hughes Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $7,000
Lisa Wilcke Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Visual Arts $1,930
Liza Faktor Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Lou Watson Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Lu Yim Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $5,200
Lucy Cotter Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Maiah Wynne Multnomah Catalyst Music $3,000
Mariana Tres Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $6,550
Matt Schumacher Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Maximiliano Martinez Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $6,950
Mia O’Connor-Smith Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Dance/Movement $5,600
Mo Scarpelli Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $5,440
Norina Beck Multnomah Catalyst Theatre $3,000
Oluyinka Akinjiola Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $6,300
Pamela Santos Multnomah Catalyst Social Practice $3,000
Paul Susi Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,260
Samir Khurshid Multnomah Artistic Focus Visual Arts $5,950
Sarah Mirk Multnomah Catalyst Literature $3,000
Sean Andries Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Theatre $3,920
Shana Palmer Multnomah Catalyst Media Arts $3,000
Shelley Tate Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,580
Shobha Jetmalani Multnomah Catalyst Visual Arts $3,000
Stephanie Collier Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $7,000
Stephen Cohen Clackamas Artistic Focus Music $1,000
Tahni Holt Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $6,130
Tonya Macalino Washington Artistic Focus Literature $4,500
Vanessa Renwick Multnomah Artistic Focus Media Arts $6,280
Bellagram Singing Telegrams Multnomah Catalyst Music $3,000
Centro Cultural de Washington County Washington Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,950
Curvy Chic Closet Foundation Washington Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,820
Depave Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Visual Arts $4,500
In Mulieribus Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $7,000
LineStorm Playwrights Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $6,300
Live On Stage Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,840
New Expressive Works Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $7,000
Performance Works NorthWest Multnomah Artistic Focus Dance/Movement $5,830
Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Multnomah Artistic Focus Music $5,500
Portland Textile Month Multnomah Catalyst Multi-Discipline $3,000
Resolutions Northwest Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Media Arts $6,950
SoulPatch Music Productions Clackamas Artistic Focus Music $5,950
The Broken Planetarium Multnomah Artistic Focus Theatre $5,890
The Portland’5 Centers for the Arts Foundation Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Multi-Discipline $5,000
Unit Souzou Multnomah Artistic Focus Multi-Discipline $5,650
YWCA of Greater Portland Multnomah Arts Equity & Access Literature $5,400

Executive Director Madison Cario on change and growth at RACC

Madison Cario (second from left), with Jennifer Arnold, Charlene Zidell, and Cheryl Green.

Feb. 18, 2020 update:

In the three weeks since announcing our reorganization, we have had a wide range of conversations about the changes and I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the feedback received to date – please, keep it coming! Reach out anytime at ed@racc.org.

Many stakeholders were consulted over the past year as we considered potential options for RACC. They candidly shared their thoughts with me, with staff, and with board members. Their input helped shape decisions and came from many perspectives, including:

  • Leaders of arts organizations in Portland – including many of the small and mid-sized organizations benefiting from changes to RACC’s grantmaking criteria;
  • The Portland City Council and other city officials that raised concerns following the release of the Auditor’s 2018 report and initial steps to implement the auditor’s recommendations;
  • Funders and leaders of Portland’s philanthropic community;
  • Leaders of community-based organizations;
  • Peers from other cities with Arts and Culture Council’s – and data recently released by American’s for the Arts on funding for arts organizations around the country.

A number of people have expressed concerns about the RACC staffers laid off as a result of the restructure. I appreciate that concern and I share it. While we can never give details about any individual, I do want you to know that affected staff have been invited to apply – and given preference in the hiring process – for new positions that better support the organization’s new direction and vision. More updates on RACC staffing in the weeks to come.

Posted Jan. 29, 2020

When I first arrived at RACC last January 2019, I was inspired by the people, the diversity of the community, the field and the art forms. A year later, I am still inspired. For a full year I’ve asked people – if you could list the top 3 things that you’d like to have an arts council do to support you and your work, what would that be? Over and over again I was told we need you (RACC) to convene, connect, and bring us together we need you to advocate on our behalf, and we need you to get us more resources! With this in mind we began to imagine how RACC could best fill these gaps.

My charge, as given to me by the board since before my first day in Portland, has been to evaluate RACC’s challenges and opportunities. To develop a strategic plan for RACC to fulfill its responsibility and realize its full potential to advance a thriving, equitable and inclusive arts and culture environment throughout greater Portland.

For the past year I have been listening to artists, nonprofit leaders, and many other folks with big ideas. In meeting rooms from Oregon City to Hillsboro, at gatherings hosted by RACC and at arts events across the region, through “office hours” at local cafes and happy hours at neighborhood hotspots, I’ve been amazed and inspired by the abundance of passion and creativity here. I have heard a strong desire for us all to collectively “do more”.

I also heard, quite frankly, common themes of dissatisfaction with how RACC has been functioning. There are many myths and misunderstandings about what RACC is, what we do, how we do it (spoiler alert: this is the magic) and for whom we are doing things. This confusion contributes to unintended consequences that play out in missed opportunities, inequitable practices, a sense of mistrust and squabbling over resources – both internally and externally. Without clarity and alignment, our brand and our impact are diminished, negatively affecting our staff, our board, our partners and the communities we serve.

A detailed analysis of RACC’s finances this winter, coupled with conversations with staff and board, revealed that we have been supporting programs and projects that are unsustainable. A 2018 audit by the City of Portland, by far our largest funder, revealed a lack of alignment in our goals, and led some to voice uncertainties about the value we provide to the community. The audit paved the way for new levels of city oversight, and as RACC begins to negotiate a new three-year city contract, we have new expectations for stronger accountability, clearer outcomes and greater efficiency going forward. Surely ALL of our community partners want these things, too.

In response to all of these forces, but also looking ahead to achieving our greatest potential, we are charting a new course for RACC and I’m asking for your partnership moving forward.

As you’ll see in our press release, RACC is letting go of some programs and reinvesting resources in other initiatives with stronger impacts. We will continue all of our current grantmaking programs and public art projects, while sunsetting our workplace giving program and eliminating our community engagement program as a separate function of RACC – focusing on collective impact partnerships rather than having a stand-alone program in order to better support communities that have historically been marginalized and underserved.

One change that I am particularly excited about involves transferring all management of The Right Brain Initiative over to Young Audiences of Oregon and SW Washington, RACC’s implementation partner since the Initiative began. This expansion of Young Audiences’ role plays to the strengths of each organization, sustains our long-standing partnership, and ensures continuity for the students, teachers, artists, and schools that we serve.

Combined, these changes will help RACC simplify its operations and focus on what RACC is uniquely positioned to do – be a better advocate and bring more resources into greater Portland’s arts and culture ecosystem. Working on fewer projects means that our staff and board will be better able to support the communities we serve, with a stronger focus on access, customer service, equity, and collective impact.

These changes are not made lightly. We have had to let talented people go – and I am grateful to them for bringing their extraordinary passion and skills to work every day. I am also grateful to our staff, community and board members – past and present – who have all been truthful thought partners and advisors in making some very difficult decisions.

I welcome your feedback and questions as we move in this new direction together. Please reach out anytime at ed@racc.org.


Regional Arts & Culture Council and Young Audiences announce exciting partnership changes

We are excited to announce that management of The Right Brain Initiative is moving from The Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington (Young Audiences). This expansion of Young Audiences’ role will play to the strengths and expertise of each organization, sustain our long-standing and successful partnership, and ensure the continuity of the program for the students, teachers and schools that we serve. Both boards of directors support the changes.

Over many months we’ve worked together to review our partnership and get a clearer picture of each organization’s strengths, challenges and vision for the future. We both see this as a way of aligning mission with action. Young Audiences will focus on what they do best – providing the programs and services needed to bring together our community’s students and artists. RACC will continue its core grantmaking programs and public art projects, while expanding its advocacy and fundraising programs with a deeper focus on reaching underserved communities. These changes will help both organizations going forward into a new decade and we anticipate a smooth transition.

We are enormously proud of what we have accomplished together through the Right Brain Initiative since its launch over a decade ago and believe that the program’s next decade is just as bright. Young Audiences has been a key part of The Right Brain Initiative since its inception, and has been serving our region for more than 60 years, guided by the mission “to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts.” The Right Brain Initiative aligns perfectly with that mission and Young Audiences looks forward to collaborating with students, educators, artists, families, advocates and supporters to ensure that the program continues to evolve to be responsive to our communities’ needs and to secure its sustainability.

The announcement comes after a year of planning led by RACC’s executive director, Madison Cario. Find out more about changes presented by Cario this week to community partners, city officials, board members and staff that will make the organization more fiscally sustainable and achieve RACC’s vision.

We are both looking forward to another great decade for The Right Brain Initiative!

Madison Cairo, Executive Director                 Cary Clarke, Executive Director
Regional Arts & Culture Council                     Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington

 

Upcoming Right Brain residencies scheduled at schools will proceed as planned. For questions about in-school programming or upcoming residencies scheduled in your school – contact Kim Strelchun (kstrelchun@therightbraininitiative.org) at Young Audiences. For questions and to learn more about the changes visit Young Audiences here.


Regional Arts & Culture Council sets course for new decade

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

>>Reorganization will focus resources and programs on artists and underserved communities

PORTLAND, ORE – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) today announced organization-wide changes to reflect a new vision and priorities. Under the new vision, RACC will continue its core grantmaking programs, public art projects and arts education while expanding its advocacy and fundraising programs with a deeper focus on reaching underserved communities. As part of the changes RACC will eliminate 5 positions that are currently vacant, lay off an additional 15 employees, and hire 15 new positions to support RACC’s new focus areas.

The rollout comes after a year of planning led by RACC’s executive director, Madison Cario, and with the support of the board of directors. Additionally, the proposed changes are responsive to the City of Portland’s audit of RACC in 2018 and the city’s current budget priorities. The changes are effective immediately.

“We take this transition very seriously and deeply appreciate the work of RACC employees, especially those leaving the organization. These changes respond to what we are seeing and hearing from our community, and position RACC to better serve our region today and in the future,” said RACC board chair Linda McGeady.

“When RACC connects artists with resources, opportunities and each other, our communities become stronger. We have a vision of establishing RACC as a champion for arts and culture locally, regionally, and nationally,” stated the City of Portland’s Arts Commissioner, Chloe Eudaly. “The organizational changes proposed by RACC will help us all better achieve that vision.”

Additional details about the restructure include:

• Enhancing public awareness and engaging community members in culture, creativity and the arts through strategic investments and partnerships
• Creating an advocacy team to make the case to the public and partners about the value of arts education and the city’s Arts Education and Access Fund
• Increasing engagement in public art projects and collections, grantmaking and other publicly-funded arts programs and investments managed by RACC
• Demonstrating how the arts build livable communities by connecting to politics, education, economics, development, planning, and civic engagement
• Strengthening relationships with regional elected officials and policymakers at all governmental levels
• Advancing racial equity, diversity, inclusion and access both within the organization and in our work with community partners
• Better measuring and demonstrating the benefits to residents of investments in public art, arts education, arts and culture organizations and individual artists
• Applying best practices from around the country to measure public participation in and perception of the arts as a means of gauging effectiveness and making improvements.

“To achieve this vision, RACC needs to become more fiscally sustainable, diversify our funding sources and streamline our organization,” stated Cario, who took the helm of RACC one year ago following an 18-month national search. They added, “I’m excited to see what we can do when we focus on incubating new ideas, innovating the role of an arts council in today’s world. I am inspired by our staff and board’s commitment to ensuring the arts are accessible to everyone in our community.” The detailed plan was presented this week by Cario to community partners, city officials, board members and staff outlining the changes and reasons. Changes include:

• Shoring up or eliminating unsustainable cost centers – including sunsetting RACC’s workplace giving program
• Moving management of The Right Brain Initiative, an arts integration program, to RACC’s long-time partner Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington, a nonprofit organization
• Creating a dedicated development team at RACC with clear fundraising goals to help increase and diversify revenue
• Better leveraging public dollars to secure new national and local funding
• Reorganizing staff positions to align with organizational changes, simplifying work groups and reporting relationships.

RACC’s year-end report was released in December, highlighting accomplishments in 2019 and celebrating the artists, arts workers and arts educators who make our community stronger. RACC will present its next “State of the Arts” report to the Portland City Council on February 27 at 2:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Heather Nelson Kent at hnkent@racc.org or by phone 503-823-5426 or mobile 503-860-6145.

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The Regional Arts & Culture Council is a local arts agency serving 1.8 million residents in the Portland, Oregon metro region including Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. RACC provides grants and technical assistance for artists and nonprofit organizations, with more than 5,000 grants totaling $44 million in the past two decades. RACC also manages a widely-celebrated public art collection of more than 2,200 artworks for the City of Portland and Multnomah County; conducts employee giving campaigns that have raised more than $8.5 million for local arts organizations since 2007; organizes networking events, forums and workshops; and integrates the arts into the broader curriculum for K-8 students through The Right Brain Initiative, serving more than 27,000 students a year. Online at www.racc.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Nelson Kent, Communications Manager, hnkent@racc.org, 503.823.5426


Hank Willis Thomas and Intisar Abioto featured in a new public art project, In—Between

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December  16, 2019 

Portland, Ore – A new temporary public art project has been installed along the median strip on NE Holladay Street between the Oregon Convention Center and the new Hyatt Hotel and parking structure. As part of a new series called In—Between, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) invited Portland-based artist Intisar Abioto and Brooklyn-based artist Hank Willis Thomas to create ten banners, each 10 feet tall, featuring the artists’ words and images. The banners will appear on five posts along NE Holladay Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 1st Avenue through May 31. 

Funding comes from the city’s Percent-for-Art ordinance, which sets aside 2% of the construction costs for Prosper Portland’s new parking garage to create public art. Kimberly Branam, executive director of Prosper Portland, commented, “Art teaches us about ourselves and our community, and we are proud to play a role in honoring the history and culture of the neighborhood through this work.” 

 RACC assembled an artist selection panel composed of community members, artists and representatives from Prosper Portland, the Oregon Convention Center, and Mayer-Reed Landscape Architecture. The panel agreed that goals for the project should include bold artwork that connects to the area’s communities and reflects the general concepts of movement, change, adaptation – addressing a general statement of “where are we going.” 

With this pilot exhibition, the panel seized on an opportunity to feature both internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist Hank Willis Thomas, whose first major retrospective is currently on view at the Portland Art Museum through January 12, and Portland-based artist and storyteller Intisar Abioto.  A Memphis native, Abioto moved to Portland nine years ago with her mother and sisters, and has since gained recognition for her photography and her blog, The Black Portlanders. The intention of her portrait work is to allow the complexity of people’s natures to unfold in the work.   

Julia Dolan, the Minor White Curator of Photography at the Portland Art Museum, reviewed Thomas’s body of work with Abioto, who quickly gravitated to Thomas’s text-based series “I AM A MAN,” inspired by a 1968 Ernest C. Withers photograph showing a large group of protesters bearing the same message. Thomas’s series of paintings plays with the orientation and wording of the text (A Man I Am, I Be a Man, I Am Many, I Am The Man, etc.), ending with a painting that says, “I am. Amen.” Thomas states, “The greatest revelation should be that we are.”   

In responding to Thomas’s workAbioto stated that her goal was “to honor the lived history and origin of the I AM A MAN statement as expressed through the work and trials of those living through the 1968 Sanitation Worker’s Strike. It was also to illustrate with images the I AM statement as lived in and by Black people in diaspora today.” Abioto selected images from her vast archive that “communicate a deep and internally rooted sense of I AM emanating from the individuals themselves. I AM. WE ARE. These statements are timely, timeless, and true, regardless.” 

Future installations of In—Between will evolve in focus, but will continue to reflect the overall theme of “where are we going.”  This will be the first of a series of temporary installations.  For opportunities to apply for future installations, artists can follow racc.org on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up to receive public art opportunities in their inbox at racc.org/public-art/public-art-email-list/.  

 

The artworks by Intisar Abioto and Hank Willis Thomas are on display along NE Holladay Street, between Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and 1st Avenue, through May 31. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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; 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. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Hawthorne, Director of Community Engagement, jhawthorne@racc.org, 503.823.5258.


2019-20 RACC Professional Development Grants (Cycle 2)

The Professional Development Grant program assists artists or arts administrators with opportunities that specifically improve their business management development skills and/or brings the artist or the arts organization to another level artistically. The following 36 Professional Development Grants totaling $53,260 were awarded on December 9, 2019. (*First time grant recipients)

 

2019-20 Professional Development Grant awards (Cycle 2):

*Adam Bacher – Participate in Speakers Academy class with the National Speakers Association – $1,200

*Alexis Day – Participate in a residency at the Studios at Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA – $1,600

*Amelia Unsicker – Travel to present work at The PGK Dance Project in San Diego, CA – $1,800

AnneLouise Sterry – Attend the Association of Performing Artists Professionals Conference in New York, NY – $1,600

*Ashlin Aronin – Participate in The Arctic Circle residency program, sailing from Longyearbyen, Norway – $1,600

*Becky Springer – Attend a four day workshop with Jodie King at the Sedona Art Center in Sedona, AZ – $1,400

*Cecily Overman – Attend Shakespeare training program at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA – $1,850

*Emma Colburn – Participate in DAK’ART 2020 Biennial for Contemporary African Art in Dakar, Senegal – $1,600

*Ezra Weiss – Career coaching with Kim Gumbel of Vespertine Works – $1,200

*Hannon Welch – Participate in residency at Carrizozo AIR in Carrizozo, NM – $1,930

Jennifer Swanson – Update of artist website – $1,500

*Jennifer Viviano – Travel and exhibit work at Sager Braudis Gallery in Columbia, MO – $2,000

Jessica Mehta – Participate in the Native Arts Cohort at the Potlatch – $1,960

*Jonathan Hanisits – Participate in residency at Casa Lu with printmaker Abraham Leon in Mexico City, Mexico – $1,550

*Kacy McKinney – Participate in a residency through Editora Quixote-Do in Brumadinho, Brazil – $1,000

*Kate Zipsy – Attend Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators conference in New York, NY – $1,500

*Katie Janovec – Travel to train with Rashaad Hasani and Ryan “Future” Webb in Washington, DC – $1,800

*Kelli Pennington – Work with Mary Virginia Swanson to refine portfolio and website in Tucson, AZ – $1,600

*kia metzler holden – Creation of an artist website – $1,500

*Kyla Yeoman – Attend DocShop workshop, part of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, MT – $1,000

*Leif Lee – Work with artist coach Beth Pickens, and attend class at Mercy Corps NW – $1,450

*leo ariel abbott – Study tap dance with Kaycie Jones at Portland Dance Studios – $,1500

*Maerose Sweeting-Boyer – Attend Jeff Miracola’s Fantasy Art Workshop at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI – $1,750

Margaret Connelly – Creation of an artist website – $1,500

*Nathaniel Hughes – Study with coaches Alicia Cutaia, Russ Stark, and Anni Kupper in Portland – $1,450

*Peter Field – Attend film directing workshop through Raindance at Rough Diamond Productions, in Los Angeles, CA – $1,000

*Shana Palmer – Travel and exhibit work at Epsilon Spires New Media Center in Brattleboro, VT – $1,150

*Shatha Almutawa – Participate in mentorship and study with poet Zeina Hashem Beck – $1,800

Stefano Iaboni – Work with videographer to make promotional recording of performance – $600

*Stephanie Gervais – Participate in residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont – $1,500

*Talilo Marfil – Work with marketing agency on branding and creation of a new website – $2,000

Tiffany Kirkpatrick – Attend residency with Cross Cultural Collaborative in Nungua, Accra, Ghana – $1,500

*TJ Thompson – Study for with percussionist Scott Amendola in Berkeley, CA  – $1,150

Vanessa Renwick – Participate residency and festival presentation at Basement Films in Albuquerque, NM – $720

*Greater Portland Flute Society – Update organizational website – $1,500

*In Mulieribus – Travel to perform two at a conference in Spokane, WA – $1,500