RACC Blog

Help Pass Oregon’s First Ever “Equitable Access to Arts Education Task Force”

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Issued by Chris Coleman on behalf of the Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition on 6/5/17

….Last week (6/1/17) Christine sent a message asking advocates to take action in support of arts education. And many of you responded (thank you!) but, SB 313 is still sitting in committee. (SB 313 creates Oregon’s first ever Task Force on Equitable Access to Arts Education and has had a public hearing in the Oregon Senate and was moved to the Joint Ways and Means Committee for funding)

The good news is that your advocacy reached key leaders, but we still have work to do—fewer than half of all committee members heard from a constituent on this issue. If you saw Christine’s email but didn’t have a chance to send your message, there’s still time.

With just over 20 working days till this legislature adjourns, we need advocates to take action now. If you have not already done so, please click this link to send an email asking Ways and Means Committee members to support the creation of a Task Force on Equitable Access to Arts Education today……

This Time in Portland

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ELOISE BLOG:

A week ago it seemed completely appropriate for me to write a sincere last Arts Notes post prior to my June 30th retirement. The idea was to talk about all the wonderful experiences I have had over 30 years with MAC/RACC and to thank the thousands of wonderful people I have had the privilege to know.

Then the tragedy struck on the MAX Friday and completely changed my focus. Since November Portland and communities across the country have clearly experienced a distressing increase in verbal assaults focused on people of  color going about their peaceful everyday lives. That is wrong and not what our city is about. Yet it happens and swells into violent protests and becomes what a fringe element of our population is very much about.

Last Friday three incredibly brave people stepped up to defend two young women being barraged with hate and threats by an individual known for incendiary racist behavior. Their own outrage and selflessness saved the women. In doing so two perished and one was saved though gravely wounded. I cannot imagine the horror of that scene though it has haunted me since that day.

In trying to think about how to move on all I can think to suggest is proving to hateful people that they will not prevail. I think we need to pull together as concerned, committed, peaceful and loving citizens to raise our voices against hatred, write and sing our music, paint our fears and feelings, act out our responses and hopes for the future, teach our children by example and conversations, gather in places we gather to explore the ways out, support our leaders who are caught in an impossible bind, face this current reality with passion to protect everyone. It has to stop.

And I will get back with my grateful letter to all of you in a few weeks, because I will not let this tragedy get in the way of thanking you and celebrating the wealth of creativity, excellence and positive human interaction, which to me is what my time here has been most about.

Summer events celebrate Eloise’s legacy

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We invite the community to join us for two events honoring Eloise Damrosch, who will retire as RACC’s executive director on June 30. A free community event will take place on June 29, and a fundraising event to support local artists is scheduled for July 30.

  • On Thursday, June 29, join us for an open house and block party with music, food, drinks and entertainment – plus a special ceremony honoring Eloise. Scheduled performers include drummers and dancers from NAYA, Joaquin Lopez, Unit Souzou and Portland Lee Association Dragan and Lion Dance Team. This event is free and open to the public; RSVP here.
  • On Sunday, July 30, RACC presents In the Garden of Artistic Delights, a benefit for individual artists and a tribute to Eloise. This event is sponsored in part by Arlene Schnitzer, and takes place at Bella Madrona Gardens in Sherwood. Tickets are $150 each and include paella dinner, hosted beverages, entertainment and a brief live auction. Only 200 tickets are available for this limited capacity event; visit  gardenofartisticdelights.org for tickets and information.

RACC announces new structure for project grants

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RACC has long offered project grant support to individual artists and organizations in the region, helping to support the creation and presentation of artmaking of all kinds. More than 140 artistic projects were funded last year, ranging from solo dance performances to an audio documentary series exploring gentrification to afterschool Taiko ensemble classes for youth.

Traditionally, RACC’s project grant application has been offered once a year, in the summer, to support the many performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, broadcasts, festivals, tours, workshops, events, installations, and happenings that occur in the following calendar year. Now it is time for something new.

RACC is responding to community needs

Project grants are the most popular funding program at RACC by volume, and the interest and need for public support has increased significantly over the years. In 2008, RACC received 192 applications; two years later that number had increased to 267, and by 2014 RACC received a record 358 applications. This growth in the creative community needs to be met by a granting structure and timeline that better serves the artmakers, rather than the grantmakers.

In the most significant project grant change in years, RACC is moving from one deadline annually to three deadlines a year. The arts community can plan for the next project grant deadline coming up on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 by 5:00 p.m.  Subsequent project grant deadlines will be in February, June and October of 2018. RACC’s professional development grants will also move to the same multiple deadlines every year.

With the more frequent grant deadlines, artists and organizations can apply when they are ready to present their projects for consideration rather than when RACC’s application is available.

Grantmaking for Equity

Over the last two years, RACC staff have collected community feedback through online surveys and focus groups, and have researched and incorporated national best practices in grantmaking. Project grant enhancements are building on the lessons learned in administering RACC’s Arts Equity Grant program that was launched last year, and are a direct response to community need.

As always, RACC project grants are available to individual artists and non-profit organizations in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. The project grant categories and the application itself are slightly different than in previous years, so RACC encourages applicants to explore the categories and other grant requirements well in advance. The new categories for project grants will be:

  • Arts Equity & Access. Arts Equity Grants, which were first awarded in 2016, are now being folded into project grants and made available to individual artists as well as organizations. This change also allows RACC to expand Arts Equity Grant funding to all three counties when it had previously only been available to City of Portland and Multnomah County applicants. Arts Equity & Access projects will support arts programs and services that involve direct community participation from communities that are underserved, students, and other events and festivals that are community based.
  • Arts Services. Arts Services is a new category to artists and organizations that are providing technical assistance and other services to the field. RACC has seen an increasing number of these proposals over the last few years, and this new category makes funding available to projects that support the arts community with activities such as workshops and conferences.
  • Artistic Focus. The Artistic Focus category remains unchanged with the vision, innovation, creativity and high artistic quality of the artist or arts organization at the heart of the proposal.

As returning grant applicants read through the project grant guidelines and application, they may notice some additional changes. For example, organizations will no longer be required to meet a one-to-one match in their proposed budgets, and the review criteria has been revised.

Two-step process

RACC is also implementing a new two-step application process that will include a shorter Inquiry Application, followed by a Full Application for those proposals that are ready to be considered by a grant review panel. The Inquiry Application is brief, including several short questions plus a narrative opportunity to describe the proposed project, but will allow a staff review panel to determine that the details and timing of the proposed project are far enough along to be competitive.

“This new process will help save applicants from doing all the work of a full application at once,” says grants officer Helen Daltoso. The Inquiry Application will be reviewed by staff, and projects most likely to be competitive will be invited to submit a Full Application. Proposals that are not selected to submit a Full Application will have an opportunity to prepare further and re-apply in the next project grant deadline.

“If a project isn’t quite ready to move forward and needs more time to work out some of the details, there will always be another opportunity to re-submit another application in a few months,” said Daltoso. “Applicants will no longer have to wait a full year for the next opportunity to apply.”

Summary of Key Changes

Taken together, these changes will give artists and arts organizations more flexibility, and more opportunities for success at the Full Application stage. With three annual deadlines, applicants can come forward with proposals when they, and the projects they are developing, are truly ready for consideration.

  • Move from one annual deadline in August to three deadlines February, June and October beginning in 2018.
  • Applicants will be establishing their own project timeline, rather than having to adhere to the calendar year.
  • Revising grant categories to include Artistic Focus, Arts Equity & Access, and Arts Service projects.
  • Two-step application process:
    • Step one: Inquiry Application – a short application outlining project details
    • Step two: Full Application – only projects most likely to be competitive will be invited to submit a full application

The RACC staff and board are excited to launch this evolution of project support and how we serve the many dancers, filmmakers, composers, actors, artists, writers, performers, producers and creatives throughout the tri-county region.

How to Apply

The first step in the application process is to read the Project Grant Guidelines. This document outlines all the details of the program and can help applicants determine whether their project is eligible for a grant.

RACC is moving to a new online grant application system, so first time and returning applicants alike will need to create a new account in the new system at racc.org/apply.

Applicants who submit an Inquiry Application will receive a response from RACC within 5 weeks. Full Application proposals will be grouped by discipline and reviewed by a panel of community volunteers who have interest and experience in arts and culture programming.

The next four project grant deadlines are:

  • Wednesday, August 2, 2017 by 5:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, February 7, 2018 by 5:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, June 6, 2018 by 5:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, October 3, 2018 by 5:00 p.m.

GRANT ORIENTATIONS

For more detailed information on Project Grant applications you may attend the following free, optional orientation sessions. It is important that you register for these orientations by either going to racc.org/rsvp or emailing Jack MacNichol at  jmacnichol@racc.org.

  • Thursday, July 13, 2017 | 6:00-7:30pm | Beaverton Library Auditorium 12375 SW 5th St, Beaverton
  • Friday, July 14, 2017 | This session is full and we are not able to accept additional registrations
  • Monday, July 17, 2017 | 6:00-7:30pm | Kenton Library Meeting Room – 8226 N Denver Ave, Portland
  • Wednesday, July 19, 2017 | 6:00-7:30pm | Midland Library Meeting Room – 805 SE 122nd Ave, Portland
  • Thursday, July 20, 2017 | 3:00-5:00pm | RACC Office – 411 NW Park Ave #101, Portland
  • Wednesday, July 26, 2017 | 6:00-7:30pm | Hollywood Library Meeting Room – 4040 NE Tillamook St, Portland
  • Thursday, July 27, 2017 | 9:00-11:00am | RACC Office – 411 NW Park Ave #101, Portland

Questions?

You can learn more about Project Grants and read the new Grant Guidelines on our Project Grant page. Please contact Quinn MacNichol with questions about RACC grants, or with translation and technical assistance requests, at 503-823-2928 or qmacnichol@racc.org.

RACC board taps Jeff Hawthorne to serve as Interim Executive Director

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PORTLAND, ORE – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has announced that Jeff Hawthorne will fill the position of Executive Director on an interim basis, effective July 1 until the new Executive Director is hired. RACC’s current Executive Director, Eloise Damrosch, retires on June 30.

“We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Jeff as the Interim Executive of RACC,” said Mike Golub, chair of the RACC board. “Jeff is extremely talented, experienced and respected in the arts community and is the perfect person to steward RACC during our transition.”

As a 15 year veteran of the organization and RACC’s director of community engagement, Hawthorne is responsible for securing a large majority of the organization’s public and private revenue each year. He supervises RACC’s advocacy efforts, research activities, communications strategies and fundraising campaigns. Among his accomplishments at RACC, Jeff designed and implemented the state’s first United Arts Fund campaign (Work for Art), and secured funding for RACC to launch a new arts integration program in classrooms in 2007 (The Right Brain Initiative). He co-authored the region’s 2009 cultural action plan, Act for Art, which laid the groundwork for the city’s arts tax. In 2015 Jeff received the Michael Newton Award from Americans for the Arts, recognizing his innovative work in developing private sector partnerships and funding for the arts.

Hawthorne is expected to serve in this role for at least three months; he is not a candidate for the position permanently. The search for the new Executive Director is being managed by the RACC-appointed search committee. A formal posting of the position is expected in June. For regular updates, visit www.racc.org/executive-director-search-update. The search committee can be reached anytime by emailing EDSearch@racc.org.


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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.

RACC awards Arts Equity Grants to 24 organizations

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PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $126,540 in Arts Equity Grants to 24 organizations that are advancing RACC’s goals for equity and inclusion. These grants are funded by City of Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund, or arts tax, along with support from Multnomah County.

Arts Equity Grants provide financial support to organizations that are conducting arts and culture projects and programming for communities of color, immigrants, refugees, underserved neighborhoods, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ communities, people experiencing homelessness and houselessness, and other communities that have historically been marginalized.

A total of 75 nonprofit organizations submitted eligible Letters of Interest in this cycle and 31 organizations were invited to submit full applications. A panel of RACC Board Members and community representatives reviewed the 29 submitted applications and recommended full or partial funding for 24 applicants, totaling $126,540. The RACC Board of Directors approved the final grant awards on May 24, 2017.

Here is a brief summary of the 24 Arts Equity Grants awarded (*First-time RACC Grant recipient):

  • Autism Society of Oregon – Art workshops for adults on the autism spectrum. $1,250
  • Cinema Project – Social justice film screenings at correctional facility in partnership with Liberation Literacy. $1,480
  • Cymaspace – Oregon Arts & Accessibility Festival to showcase the work of deaf and hard of hearing artists. $6,500
  • Fuse Theatre Ensemble – OUTwright Theatre Festival, celebrating the contributions of the LGBTQI+ community to the art of theatre. $5,000
  • Girls Inc of the Pacific Northwest* – Five week summer documentary filmmaking program that inspires girls to share the stories of Portland women. $6,500
  • Hmong American Community of Oregon* – New Year Celebration at Glenhaven Park. $6,000
  • Instituto de Cultura y Arte In Xochitl In Cuicatl – Dia de los Muertos ceremony and accompanying workshops/programming. $5,000
  • Jim Pepper Native Arts Festival* – 5th Annual Festival featuring and supporting Native American/First Nations artists, activists, and vendors. $6,000
  • Kukatonon Children’s African Dance Troupe – After-school African dance and drumming program, including partnership with The Portland Ballet. $6,500
  • Latino Network – Multi-media video art project with Latino youth in East County. $6,500
  • Morpheus Youth Project – Breakdancing workshop in partnership with Department of Community Justice, Juvenile Services.  $6,500
  • NAYA Family Center – Neerchokikoo Honoring Powwow, an annual celebration honoring Native American Cultural Arts. $5,000
  • New Expressive Works – Weekend of workshops and activities highlighting the experiences of urban South Asians. $6,500
  • Outside the Frame* – Intensive filmmaking workshop and subsequent weekly programming for youth experiencing homelessness. $6,000
  • Portland Art & Cultural Center* – Annual Chinese New Year Cultural Fair. $6,000
  • Portland Interfaith Gospel Choir* – Free community concert at St. Andre Bessette Catholic Church. $4,500
  • PreSERVE Coalition* – 12-week collaborative arts series with The Geezer Gallery for older African Americans. $6,500
  • Public Annex* – Two terms of art classes for people with disabilities and arts community. $5,000
  • Right 2 Survive – Support Ambassador Project to host writing and art workshops integrating housed and homeless people. $6,500
  • ROSE CDC* – Comprehensive music education, production, and performance program in partnership with Holla Mentors. $6,500
  • Slavic Community Center of NW* – Cultural music event for Slavic immigrants featuring local musicians performing music by Russian composers. $5,000
  • The Giving Tree – 4 session class for residents to explore their mental health diagnosis in relation to their creativity and art-making. $1,810
  • The Rosewood Initiative – Role Models Apply Positive Peer Pressure (RAPP) Music Program. $4,000
  • World Stage Theatre – Imagination Express Arts Education mobile outreach program in East County. $6,000

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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.

Williams Avenue Artwork Community Celebration

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Williams Ave. was once the vibrant heart of Portland’s Black community. Formerly known as the “Black Broadway,” the corridor included a concentration of Black churches, businesses, social service organizations and nightclubs that were thriving and active community institutions.

Although the landscape has changed, there is much to remember, celebrate and build upon. In 2012, the Williams Ave. Safety Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee recommended to the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) that these stories be honored through an art history project that would have a prominent place on the corridor. Thus, the community-led Honoring History of Williams Ave. Committee and the Historic Black Williams Project were born.

Since then, local artists Cleo Davis and Kayin Talton Davis have been collecting stories, memories and histories from Black community members. Their artwork is now complete and ready for installation. We hope that this project will serve as both a visual archive and an inspiration for future community efforts. Please join us on June 3rd as we honor this history and project contributors. During this event we will have a brief speaking program and then launch group and self-guided walks of the corridor to view the art pieces. A map of the art walk will be available at the event and online post-event.

ART UNVEILING + COMMUNITY WALK

Saturday, June 3, 2017
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM (Program at 12 PM; community art walk to follow)
Dawson Park, N. Williams Ave. + N. Stanton St.
Portland, OR, 97227

RSVP: historicblackwilliamsproject@portlandoregon.gov or (503) 823-4239