RACC Blog

RACC Endorses Oregon House Bill 4040 sponsored by Representative Rob Nosse (District 42) and Senator Akasha Lawrence-Spence (District 18)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 7, 2022 

Portland, OR – 

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) joins fellow arts and cultural organizations, City Councils, the City of Portland, Counties, Legislators, and individuals across Oregon in support of HB4040 during this Short Legislative Session which commenced on February 1, 2022.

HB4040 will “appropriate money to the Oregon Business Development Department to develop and implement a program to award grants to Oregon cultural organizations in response to the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on organizations’ earned revenue.”  

This bill sets $50 million aside through grants that will provide immediate relief to our arts and cultural organizations across the state of Oregon, effective July 1 if passed into law. 

J.S. May, Board President of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon (CACO) states, “We believe creativity is and will be critical for the health and recovery of all Oregonians. The cultural sector will play a large part in reuniting our communities post-pandemic and rebuilding our collective spirit.” 

RACC’s Chief of External Operations, Carol Tatch, reminds us, “The opportunity to continue supporting our creatives and artists is paramount. RACC is leaning deeply into this space to ensure that they are supported and held during this unprecedented moment in history. We are here to ensure that they are here today, and tomorrow, enriching their communities through art and culture.”

In the fall of 2021, RACC endorsed the Arts Education for all Act (H.R.5581) co-sponsored by Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR1). The Arts Education for All Act will support and encourage arts education and programming for our young children, K-12 students, and youth and adults impacted by the justice system. A one-page summary of the Arts Education for All Act can be found here. The text of the legislation can be found here. To endorse, click here.

This is an historic year for arts and cultural funding across the nation. We are proud that Oregon is joining in these efforts to provide advocacy and relief, and to elevate our creative economy. Click here to learn more about all the bills in this legislative session.

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The Regional Arts & Culture Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides grants for artists and nonprofit organizations in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; convenes forums, networking events, and other community gatherings; advocates for a well-rounded arts education and promotes community engagement,  and provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance. RACC advocates for equity, inclusion, and access, working to build a community in which everyone can participate in culture, creativity, and the arts. For more information visit racc.org. 

Regional Arts & Culture Council’s What’s Next Survey Summary

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What’s Next: Connecting artists and creatives to opportunity and access

What's Next Respondents

What’s Next Respondents

Over a year and half ago, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) reached out early on during the COVID-19 shutdown to our community and stakeholders to ask what their needs were during this extremely challenging time. Administered in 2020, the What’s Next survey sought to understand the types of support that the arts community most needed to survive and thrive during the pandemic and what it would need to recover. A total of 392 people responded to our survey, 63% of respondents identifying as artists. (Read the What’s Next Survey Summary for a visual breakdown summary of respondents and findings. Note: the report was published in May of 2021 and contains opinions, language, and information that has since been addressed by RACC. Clarification is indicated by brackets.)

You can read full results and report here.

 

Key Findings and Highlights

The following are key highlights and some findings, along with a summary of the initiatives RACC implemented to address these answers and continue to inform our future plans. Full results from the 2020 What’s Next survey can be found here

The What’s Next survey centered around themes of support, service, engagement, and connection during the early period of the shutdown, a time when the creative sector was hit hard by the impact of the global pandemic and successive shutdowns. RACC was interested in understanding how we could support and build resilience for the challenges, changes, and opportunities that would, and still do, lay ahead of us. With a commitment to equity and access, we intentionally sought to gather information on how best to support artists of color and others marginalized by traditional and mainstream support systems. 

The survey results revealed that the most critical needs across all respondents were as follows (language pulled from the original survey and answers given by respondents, listed here in order of importance determined by the frequency of each response):

  • Funding
    There remains an overwhelming need for arts funding in the region as organizations and individual artists face extreme challenges resulting from the Covid pandemic and struggle to remain financially viable.
  • Professional Development
    Training, professional development, collaboration, and mentorship opportunities remain essential, especially with the need to reinvent and reimagine the ways in which art is presented during and while recovering from a pandemic with limited in-person gatherings.
  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion [and Advocacy]
    More than ever before support is needed for inclusion of local artists from underrepresented groups and those who work in unconventional art genres. Outreach efforts are essential to attract and retain more diverse audiences.
  • Space [both physical and time/ability to work]
    A shortage of spaces, both physical and mental, was highlighted by respondents as a challenge to surviving and thriving in the past and still current environment. Physical spaces have been lost due to rising rents and limitations on in-person capacity. Reductions in mental space for creativity and networking opportunities have been difficult.
  • Connection
    Community-building is essential in the arts and respondents found it lacking here in Portland. It was indicated that collaboration is needed now more than ever. New ways to engage communities need consideration and are required.
  • Marketing Support
    Artists and arts organizations need assistance with advertising, marketing, and promotion in order to help recover from the ongoing pandemic losses. Reaching and engaging an audience is complicated with the ebb and flow of restrictions more than ever.

Responses from a combination of participants indicated an overwhelming need for funding to ensure viability as well as a sustainable future. Artists needed income and arts organizations needed patrons to survive the pandemic restrictions.

“Without audiences or with limited ones, operational funds are the highest priority, to avoid cultural organizations totally going under and disappearing.”

Apart from asking respondents about the most helpful financial support needs, the What’s Next survey also asked respondents to identify their top future professional development priorities to help RACC focus its resources to best meet the needs of the arts community.

Artists Identified:
Survey participants were given a list of possible professional development, technical support, or other related services and asked to identify which ones would be most helpful in the next 6-18 months.

  1. Social Media and marketing support (35%) 
  2. One-on-one coaching with RACC staff or other professional (28%) 
  3. Skill development workshops (25%) 
  4. Review and feedback of draft proposals (22%) 
  5. Post-decision feedback (22%) 
Artists Professional Development

Artists Professional Development

Arts Organizations Identified:
Survey participants were given a list of possible professional development, technical support, or other related services and asked to identify which ones would be most helpful in the next 6-18 months.

  1. Skill development (34%) 
  2. Coordinated political advocacy (29%) [RACC as guide for calls to action and coordination]
  3. One-on-one or group coaching for staff, board and/or professionals (27%) 
  4. Group info sessions for opportunities (grants, public art calls) (21%) 
  5. Convening discussion around urgent topics (20%)
Arts Organizations Professional Development

Arts Organizations Professional Development

How RACC Continues to Respond

As a result of the What’s Next survey findings, RACC responded by bolstering programming and processes already in place along with stepping into new arenas. Some, of these included:

  • Make | Learn | Build Grants: To increase financial assistance to a greater number of recipients, these flexible awards supported artists, creatives, organizations, and businesses during a time of rapid change and creative innovation. Funds were provided to 317 artists and 99 businesses in FY21, with the programming continuing through the pandemic.
  • Capturing the Moment supported by PDXCARES funding: In response to current social concerns, this initiative called for submissions from Portland artists of color that captured a creative response to the global pandemic, Black Lives Matter movement, racial justice protests, climate crisis, and/or the political environment. Work was purchased from 34 Black, Indigenous, and other artists of color.
  • Capacity expansion for grant funding: By partnering with multiple governmental entities, RACC was able to support Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) funds impact in the community. Additional grants supported projects, Oregon Film, venues, and emergency operational support.

Looking Forward

The Regional Arts & Culture Council continues to be focused on making the greatest impact and aligning its investments with its commitment to community, racial equity, and access. RACC continues enhancing support for the creative community in the tri-county region through investment, centering and lifting up artists’ voices, and promoting connection and collaboration.

We will continue to reach out to engage our community by asking for their thoughts and insights to ensure we are effectively meeting their needs. We look forward to your consideration in participating in our next survey in Winter 2022.

January – March Edition Newsletter 2022

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As 2022 begins, I know we have been working hard to connect and build community in our schools, districts, families, and friend groups. From Comprehensive Distance Learning to hybrid to in-person instruction, these months have been challenging, yet we have found strength and joy together and have been present in moments of sadness. There is no guidebook; however, we have learned to adapt.

We know that having arts and culture in our lives makes us better humans, more compassionate people, and enables empathy. As an arts educator, you have brought out the kid who was quiet, supported the youth who thought they could not succeed, and given the soon-to-be college-bound freshman the courage to take risks and challenge themselves. We applaud you.

Please feel free to share our newsletter with your school community, families, and students. If you have an idea for a story or want to highlight something that is going on in your district or community, please reach out. It is about joy!

– Chanda Evans (she/her), Arts Education Program Specialist


Features & Highlights

 

Vincente, Rose Waterfall, logo design 2021

The Arts Education and Access Income Tax is due April 15 

Your yearly payment of $35 helps to support arts education in our six school districts – Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Portland Public, Reynolds, and Riverdale. In 2012, this measure was passed by voters in the City of Portland to fund one arts educator for every 500 students. The Arts Education and Access Income Tax Fund (AEAF) also supports our community arts nonprofits through grants administered by RACC. For more information on the AEAF click here.

The AEAF Oversight Committee is charged with ensuring compliance with the 2012 measure. Their meetings are open to the public. For more information click here.

Remind your neighbors, friends, and family to make their yearly $35 online payment here.

 


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Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR, District 1)

Arts Education for All Act (H.R 5581).

On Oct. 15, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR, District 1), Chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services; Chellie Pingree (D-ME); and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) introduced comprehensive legislation to increase access to arts education. Bonamici hosted a virtual rollout and reception for her Arts Education for All Act (H.R.5581), which addresses equity gaps in access to arts education for K-12 students as well as youth and adults in the justice system. To learn more click here. To advocate for H.R 5581 and to endorse it, click here.  To watch our November 5th interview with the Congresswoman, click here.

 

 

 

 

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Meet Carol Tatch (she/her), RACC’s Director of External Operations and Director of Philanthropic Innovation.
She shares with us a few of her many passions around the arts.

 

What is an early memory you have relating to the arts? Does a particular teacher come to mind?

Well, in the case of literary arts, I started reading very early and my mother ensured that we had excellent books to engage our imaginations. When I was in 4th grade I played the flutophone, and that began my engagement with this musical art form. I now play the flute, oboe, viola, clarinet, and my new instrument friend, Lucinda, who is my cello. I have enjoyed the width and breadth of arts and creativity in a gazillion forms: seeing Rodin’s incredible sculpture at his museum in Paris, chasing original Renoirs to gaze at them (he did incredible work with countenances and light) — well, everything, including needle and culinary arts. If I was influenced by any one teacher the most it was my 6th grade band instructor, who saw greater potential for me musically and moved me from the flute to the oboe, a more challenging instrument.

What brought you to philanthropy? What drives innovation?

A happy circumstance brought me into being a philanthropy professional. My first engagements with service happened with my mother, who was always volunteering and bringing her kids along…and we helped. We grew up caring for others and giving back. I was a volunteer and club leader during high school. Being in service has always been a value of mine. While in college, I started working for an international

Pictured with her is Mimicita, who came with the house!

 undergraduate, graduate, and professional research organization that has field stations in Central America, South America, and South Africa, as I was in a very different academic study practicum. By the time I finished with college, I was a convert from the sciences to being a philanthropic leader. I remain fully taken by how philanthropy, the love of our fellow humans, is a key component of our lives as humans. Innovation is always driven by the need for change and for things to “get better” in our communities. It is fueled by creativity and thinking outside the box—beyond what we know to what we need. It is amazing and humbling to combine the drives of both to create joy, love, understanding, and support.

What brings you joy when you think about arts/culture education?

What brings me joy are the “little things” that have become pivotal in my journey as I sought my own identity. My first instrument was a flutophone in 4rd grade for our school-wide music program. In 5th grade, every student received a recorder. So, by the time I was in 6th grade, I had decided to play the flute in band (my mother played the clarinet in school—hence my own seeking of clarinet proficiency as an adult). It was a natural progression. My band teacher immediately moved me to an oboe, because he needed an oboist and that was that. I was put in a classroom by myself with the double reed, my first, a cup of water to soak it although he said that the mouth was best, and told to practice blowing through it. As an asthmatic, I learned a new way to breathe. It was fantastic. I still remember the first time I blew a true note with no squeaks. He and I were both excited.  I painted, drew, etc. in school. I was fortunate to have full-on engagement with art from kindergarten until I graduated. I am pained that arts education is now a point of negotiation. I want to lean into how this can be relevant here, now. There can be so much joy from arts and cultural engagement. We each have this within ourselves to be so much more.

 

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Arts Education Resources 

A comprehensive curated resource list from RACC’s Arts Education Program is available for download. Click here.

Bruce Orr, The Scrap Mural, 2019

Professional Development: Trauma Informed Care Workshop Series

The Regional Arts & Culture Council in partnership with Trauma Informed Oregon present a series of workshops for arts educators. Please join us for our third workshop this winter. This free event will be held in March and April remotely, as we continue to center health and safety for all. Look for our Eventbrite invitation in your inbox.

“At a time when students are recovering from the trauma and anxiety of not only the pandemic but the breakdown and failing of many of our institutions, the social and emotional benefits of arts education are more important than ever.” (Art for Life, 2021 Report by the Academy of Arts & Sciences)

 

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RACC will be conducting a spring survey for all K-12 Arts Educators in our six AEAF school districts.  The survey will help inform and shape our professional development opportunities which we offer free of charge.

 

 

 


The Beat: Interviews from the Field

 

 

Kelda Van Patten, a Visual Arts Educator
The da Vinci Arts Middle School, Portland Public School District

 

What inspires you when you teach arts education to your MS students? What makes MS unique in arts education?

Middle School students are definitely unique, in the most wonderful ways! They have a special sense of humor that is infectious. I laugh every day with them. They are energetic, emotional (in a very real way), and lively. As such, I try to keep my curriculum fun and engaging. My class is a time for my students to explore techniques and mediums, while developing their ideas and artistic voice. Adolescents go through so many critical changes as they come in from elementary school, and then, poof, before we know it they are eighth graders getting ready for high school! But really, it’s not “poof.” A lot happens during those three years—educational, artistic, and creative growth, but also social, physical, and emotional changes. It’s a period of intense growth and hormonal changes for many of them, which is just one reason why arts education is so important during these three years. In addition, art is a vehicle to teach so many different subjects in life, and especially a place where students learn that making art is a form of thinking. Art gives my students an outlet, a safe place to express their emotions, ideas, and thoughts. And they have so much to say!

Kelda Van Patten

What have you learned from your students? What do you want them to take away from you?

I learn from my students every day. There are fun facts, like which students would rather be a unicorn or a dragon and why (the why is always very interesting). Over time, I have also learned how important it is to listen to them, and what it really means to listen. There are stereotypes about middle school kids, but really, they are all so unique and different, just like adults. So many of them are mature, responsible, respectful humans, who are very serious about art and learning. However, they are still kids; silly, fun, mischievous, and with so much bubbling energy.

I hope my students remember art in middle school as a place where they could explore a lot of different mediums and techniques; a place where they could freely try out different subject matters that interest them and explore different styles in search of their artistic voice. I want them to think of middle school art as a time where they learned it is okay to fail, and that failure means you tried. I want them to remember how important it is to take creative risks, and what it really means to be mindful and respectful of other people. Even if they take away just one of those concepts, that is big.

What brings you joy when you teach? 

Over time I have learned how it is *everything* when I take the time to build relationships. I really strive to be a positive mentor and I would say this is what matters most in teaching, and it is something I have had to not only learn on an intellectual level but how to truly embody it. In the ’70s and ’80s, most of my teachers did not demonstrate this, so I grew up thinking teaching was more about relaying information and knowledge. Of course, I did have a few teachers who took the time to learn my name, and who were happy to see me, even when I was late or made it clear (with sighs and eye rolling) that it was not my favorite class. When I patiently demonstrate what it means to be mindful, and my students in return are patient and kind, THIS brings me so much joy. Of course, I am also so proud of the art they make, and their willingness to take creative risks throughout the creative and artistic process! As an artist who loves working with materials and learning new things, middle school art is so much fun to teach. Do not get me wrong, it is not easy. In fact, teaching middle school is one of the hardest endeavors I have taken on in my life, but it is also rewarding, especially on those days when I seem to ‘get it right.’ I have had to practice what I preach so to speak, and learn that failure is okay, and that the more I fail, the more I learn. This has really played out for me. LOL.

 

A street mural with whimsical robotic characters in front of a bike rack.

Gary Hirsch, Questions for Humans, 2015

What brings YOU joy?

We would love for you to share your thoughts with this question.

 cevans@racc.org. 

 

Student Art Showcase

 

K-5 Buckman Elementary, Portland Public Schools (thank you for sharing!)

 

 


More Interviews from the Field

Featured Arts Organization

An interview with Brian Parham (he/him), founder.

Mission statement: Rock Dojo is an award-winning online guitar program for kids. We do not just teach kids about the guitar; we teach kids how to rock out on the guitar! We help students.

 

When youth participate at Rock Dojo, what do you want them to take away from their experiences? What programs do you offer?

The Rock Dojo is an award-winning online guitar-learning platform for kids. We arose from my passion for sharing guitar with children. I believe in the power of rock inspiration. Our award-winning music education program offers students three paths to a black belt in rock: live online private guitar lessons, live online group guitar lessons, and video-on-demand guitar lessons. In addition, we offer live streaming concerts for school assemblies.

When students participate in the Rock Dojo, the number one skill they walk away with are transferable life skills because learning to play the guitar is challenging. Fortunately, the process of overcoming the challenge of learning to play guitar improves self-esteem and self-discipline, and gives kids transferable skills to last a lifetime. Plus, rocking on a guitar is just plain cool.

How can schools help encourage students to include more music (ROCK!) in the arts?

This past school year left many students isolated from their favorite music activities, but Rock Dojo is here to change that! The discipline that comes with playing the guitar influences positive youth development, engages life skills, and teaches youth the importance of academic resiliency, all of which are proven to help students make academic gains. The Rock Dojo ensures that music education is equitable for all students and those students have access to music education despite the challenges of distance learning. All you need is an internet connection, and students will become rock ninjas in no time!

Brian Parham

To that end, I invite schools to invest in music education for all of their students. Whether it is my arts organization, or any other music program, schools can do a better job of making music education more equitable and accessible to all of their students. They can invest in many ways, including innovative online music programs like Rock Dojo, live performances, and musical instruments for their student body.

When you think of art, what inspires you? (And who are your favorite guitarists?)

I grew up one of five children in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. My father worked in a coal power plant, and a single mother raised me. Suffice to say, I did not have many opportunities for personal development as a child.

Thankfully, learning to play the guitar changed all of that. The learning process taught me how to set goals and put in the work to achieve those goals. After beginning my guitar studies at the age of 29, I applied those same skills to every other area of my life. Since then, I have gone on to publish eight books, compose an album, build an award-winning small business, win a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, and so much more!

And that’s what I love about art. Art breaks down barriers. Whether sociological, economic, or cultural barriers, art can overcome any obstacle because creativity is the ultimate superpower. That is why I created the Rock Dojo, and that is why I dedicated the last decade of my life to pass that gift to the next generation of young musicians.

My top three all-time favorite guitarists change all the time, but I would have to say as of right now they are: Albert King, Slash, and Jimi Hendrix.

If any school officials are interested in learning more, they can book a Q&A with me at here.

 

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Public Art & Arts Education: Feature Part 1, Fresh Paint Temporary Mural Project 

By Salvador Mayoral IV, (he/him), RACC Public Art Senior Specialist

 

Over the past three decades, Portland has seen a proliferation of murals pop up throughout the city. Adding another dimension to the city’s public art landscape, murals provide a number of benefits to this region such as establishing a location’s identity, preventing unwanted tagging, and providing a platform for community expression. For example, last year’s temporary murals that appeared on the boarded-up windows of stores in the wake of pandemic lockdown and protests of George Floyd’s murder were a great example of this kind expression. Murals provide an opportunity to witness, to feel, and sometimes to heal our collective emotions.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council’s Public Art Murals Program contributes to the city’s public art ecosystem by providing permits and funding to artists, property owners, businesses and community organizations to create murals. My role as a Public Art Senior Specialist is to oversee this distribution of resources and identify other opportunities so that we can continue to support those interested in growing their mural-making practice.

Maria Rodriguez, Bizar Gomez, and Anke Gladnick, 2019

Molly Mendoza 2017

Munta Mpwo, 2019

One such opportunity that launched in the last few years is Fresh Paint, a professional development initiative aimed at offering emerging artists of color the chance to create a temporary mural. Fresh Paint is a partnership between RACC and Open Signal, a media arts center carrying a vision for community-driven media focused on creativity, technology, and social change. This partnership provides artists the space to explore working in the public art sector and incorporate new approaches and skills in their artistic practice and experience.

Since the program’s inception in 2017, ten artists have painted murals on Open Signal’s west-facing wall along busy Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Many of these artists work in different artistic practices beyond painting, such as graphic design, collage, illustration, and even breakdancing. The imagery these artists chose to present touches upon topics and themes of cultural identity, traditions, family, community, technology, and the empowering of youth. Some of these concepts are lighthearted, others are serious; but all carry a sense of joy and hope.

Rob Lewis 2018

Alex Chiu, 2018

Andrea de la Vega and Damien Dawahare, 2018

Limei Lai, 2020

One of our most recent artists, Limei Lai, said of her mural, Together, depicting three generations of women within a family: “The world is extremely beautiful and fun in the kid’s eyes; it is a complex chaos in the woman’s eyes; it is where the loved ones live in grandma’s eyes. The present and the past, the here and there, we are all in this world together, weeping and smiling and hugging, celebrating women’s lives and the world community. We dance with the unknown, changes, and aging, in the dark and in the sun, with the flowers and with the birds.”

For a database of public art in the Portland region, click here.

 

 

Workshops • Events • Lectures*  

Sign-up for alerts about lectures, workshops, events, and conferences from local colleges and universities. Here are a few highlights:

Liz Tran, A Heaviness

January-February-March 2022

Serving Portland artists and audiences, the 2022 Fertile Ground Festival, a program of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA), will be held January 27-February 6, 2022. Fertile Ground 2022 will be in a virtual format, and uncurated.

32nd African Film Festival, February 2022 (various venues).

7thAnnual Portland Winter Light Festival, February 4-12 (free). Walking tour of light installations across the city. Click here for more information.

 

The Kennedy Center, national partnerships convening. February 7-8, 2022, Any Given Child; February 8-9, 2022, Partners in Education Annual Meeting.  VIRTUAL.

2022 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival February 17-26, 2022 (various venues).

Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism open at the Portland Art Museum, February 19-June 5, 2022.

Educator Workshop: Look Club at the Portland Art Museum, February 26, 2022. Subsequent dates will be: March 12, April 30, and May 14. 

Free days at the Portland Art Museum March 20th and April 24th ( Heart of Portland with Portland Public Schools).

National Art Education Association National Convention, March 3-5, 2022, virtually and in person in New York City.

45th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF), March 5-14, 2022.

 

If you know of an event, workshop, lecture, or art exhibition that is coming up please go here to submit an opportunity.

*Please note: Some workshops/events/lectures might have changed due to COVID-19. Please check before you make plans.

The Scoop – Grow your Brain

We are often curious of what research is happening behind the scenes in the space of arts education. Take a look by clicking the images!

 

 

Thanks to all of our partners, supporters, and funders supporting arts education.

Log4j Vulnerability: What to know

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On December 10, 2021, a serious vulnerability in the commonly used Java-based software called “Log4j” put the cybersecurity community on alert. Although our Information Technology (IT) team has not detected any indication of exploitation of the Log4j vulnerability (also known as Log4Shell) on Regional Arts & Culture Council systems, we are actively monitoring the situation and working with all our vendors to ensure systems are patched and protected. Should we become aware of any unauthorized access to our systems or data, we will the take appropriate actions to address any issues that arise. 

If there are any important updates on this issue, we will update this post and our community accordingly. 

For questions or concerns, please contact us. We appreciate your continued support of the arts and culture community – donate here today!

National Endowment for the Arts awards $500,000 grant to Regional Arts & Culture Council

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Funding will enhance RACC grantmaking for Clackamas, Washington county artists, and art organizations

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) will receive a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the American Rescue Plan Grants to Local Art Agencies for Subgranting. The funds will deepen RACC’s commitment to equitable funding in communities responding to impacts from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. RACC has effectively administered consistent and reliable grantmaking for more than 20 years to individual artists and creatives and smaller organizations serving culturally specific and diverse communities with enriching and accessible arts and culture programming.

“RACC has helped foster a vibrant and diverse arts landscape in Oregon, and this federal grant award will build on and expand that work,” said Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR). “I’m a staunch advocate for the arts because they enrich our communities in many ways. Yet despite the broad benefits of the arts, organizations like RACC often do not have the funding they need. I’m grateful to the NEA for recognizing RACC’s amazing work and for supporting the arts across the country.”

RACC provides grants and operating support to artists and arts organizations funded by a mix of public and private investments including grants from national, state, and local foundations, corporations, and private donors to the region. Unlike other NEA funding programs that offer project-based support, Rescue Plan funds are intended to support day-to-day business expenses and operating costs, and not specific programmatic activities.  Grants made with funding from this NEA award will be made to eligible organizations to support their own operations with an emphasis on Clackamas and Washington County.

“This grant enhances our ability to provide needed support to currently underfunded arts organizations throughout the three-county Metro area, ensuring they can continue enhancing the quality of life in our communities, and increasing public access to the arts,” said RACC Executive Director Madison Cario.

The program will be carried out through one-time grants to eligible organizations including, but not limited to, nonprofit arts organizations, local arts agencies, arts service organizations, units of state or local government, federally recognized tribal communities or tribes, and a wide range of other organizations that can help advance program goals.

An Interview with Congresswoman Bonamici about the Arts Education for All Act

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Last week we were fortunate to catch up with Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) on Zoom to talk about the exciting new legislation she has introduced ensuring equitable arts education for students. Watch the video of our conversation with Rep. Bonamici, Chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services and Co-Chair of the STEAM Caucus, and read on to learn more about the Arts Education for All Act she introduced on Oct. 15, 2021.

Congresswoman Bonamici is a passionate advocate for the importance of a well-rounded education that includes arts integration and instruction as a part of every child’s school experience. Her mother was a painter and piano teacher and she knows first-hand the value of creative expression. As she explained on our call, “I know what a difference it makes for students to have arts education and arts in their lives, and that’s true regardless of what path they take in life. It helps students learn and grow in important ways.”

As of today, the Arts Education for All Act (H.R.5581)  is being co-sponsored by 25 Congressional Representatives and has been endorsed by more than 350 national, state, and local organizations. This includes the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Americans for the Arts, National Association of Music Merchants, Grantmakers for the Arts, and hundreds more regional and statewide arts organizations and schools. The Arts Education for All Act will support and encourage arts education and programming for young children, K-12 students, and youth and adults involved in the justice system. It will help close existing gaps in access to arts education, which has the potential to improve the lifelong health and success of both children and adults.

We hope you will join us in supporting arts education in our schools. With our focus on social justice and equity in all aspects of arts and culture, we know it is critical that this bill includes programs that benefit our at-risk youth, provide opportunities and professional development for our arts educators and arts specialists, and solidify a STEAM education in the Every Child Succeeds Act. We know that the arts create a pathway forward, provide hope, stimulate our creative economy and give us a voice. The Arts Education for All Act will only enhance these endeavors.

Support the Arts Education for All Act by signing up and showing your individual and/or organizational support today!

Find a one-page summary of the Arts Education for All Act here. Full text of the legislation can be found here.

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Creative Workers Back to Work with the Creative Economy Revitalization Act

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Graphic image states 91% of all arts, culture and recreation businesses are solo entrepreneurship, and millions of creative workers are independent workers.How It Works
The Creative Economy Revitalization Act (CERA) would: 

                  • Get creatives working by creating competitive workforce grants program within the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act;
                  • Administer grants to eligible government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations, as well as state and local workforce boards through the Department of Labor, in coordination with the National Endowment for the Arts;
                  • Require that grantees create art that is accessible to the public such as free concert series, large-scale murals, photography exhibits, published stories, or dance performances. 

To rebuild and reimagine the United States post-pandemic, we must put creative workers to work.
Looking to the future, and to recovery post-pandemic, CERA proposes to leverage our creative power, putting creative workers to work rebuilding, reimagining, unifying, and healing communities in Oregon and every state, every region, and within tribal lands.

“Millions of artists and creative workers have lost jobs during the past year. In Native communities, the loss of income and work has been dramatic with shuttered arts and cultural venues, cancelled festivals and gigs, and rescheduled fairs and events. The Creative Economy Revitalization Act will provide a lifeline to artists and the creative economy unlike anything seen since the WPA of 1933. Getting artists and creatives back to work creating public art is critical, and there is no greater power than the arts to unite, heal, and empower people and communities.”

–T. Lulani Arquette, President & CEO, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

In 1935, facing 20% unemployment, President Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1973, at a moment of similar crisis, President Nixon signed the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). These federal policy efforts—one by a Democrat, one by a Republican—sparked national recovery at two crucial moments and can inspire action now.

Investment in the creative economy has proven essential in each previous workforce effort. Similar investment now can be a basis to foster unity, expand and improve infrastructure, address community health issues, and drive innovation, recovery, and reimagination. The next Administration must draw upon the creative energies of the country’s 5.1 million creative workers to energize our collective communities, reimagine how communities can thrive, and improve the lives of all.

Creative workers are a part of our local economy and everywhere across the United States. Like others who are unemployed and underemployed, creative workers have much to offer in healing, recovery, and beyond. Paying artists and other creative workers for their contributions to the health, equity, and well-being of our communities rebuilds our economy. These workers uniquely engage communities to contribute to well-being and connectivity, reflecting back local history, amplifying the unique character of places, and renewing the civic and social lives of community members through their work. To thrive tomorrow, we must create a jobs ecosystem for creative workers today.

“The National Alliance of Community and Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) is happy to support the Creative Economy Revitalization Act. We found most compelling that this Act would support creating local projects that tell community stories and bring forward community identity, particularly in the places, and among the people, most impacted by the pandemic.”

–Frank Woodruff, Executive Director, National Alliance of Community and Economic Development Associations

Creative workers, and the hundreds of thousands of creative businesses they drive, have been devastated by COVID-19, more than almost any other sector. One study pegs the creative worker unemployment rate at 63% and a collective income loss of more than $60 billion. Creative workers stand ready to heal, strengthen, rebuild, and reimagine our communities.

Arts and culture are crucial components of civic dialogue, and research shows that in the primary areas of concern for recovery—including racial justice, health, education, community cohesion, and public safety—the integration of creative workers improves outcomes and sets up the community for success. Through a suite of efforts coordinated via a centralized office housed in the West Wing, artists and creative workers can be put to work addressing pressing issues of the day.

Read more on 16 specific actions that the next Administration can take to activate the creative economy within a comprehensive national recovery strategy at www.creativeworkers.net 

To see more detail on the proposed actions to take to address these policies, which together would put 300,000 creative workers back to work, click here. These actions were arrived at through focus groups with the signatories to the Put Creative Workers to Work proposal.

This proposal was collaboratively developed by more than 100 partner organizations and individuals, and has been endorsed by more than 2,300 creative businesses and creative workers.

“Americans for the Arts, in partnership with the nation’s 4,500 local arts agencies, 56 state arts agencies, 5.2 million creative workers, and the state arts alliances that advocate for them, endorses this bill to invest in the creative economy. Supporting creative workers makes strong business sense as the arts drive economic and community transformation in American cities and towns. The Arts are a national asset, and our country thrives because artists and creative workers are a part of the collective workforce helping our citizens recover and grow from the trauma of COVID-19 and racial inequity, restart stalled local economies, and reimagine our shared way forward.”

– Nolen V. Bivens, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts  

The creative engine can power America’s economic recovery
Any investment in infrastructure, community, and workforce recovery must include the creative economy.

Additional Relief for Creative Workers and Companies Restart Funds & Hiring/Retention Incentives Federal Investment in Residencies, Commissions
To address the devastating longer-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the creative economy, and to preserve cultural infrastructure and capitalize on the economic and social rebuilding benefits of the arts, creative workers and creative businesses seek additional investment in relief efforts to support the sector. Both directly and by redistribution to local and state government, the creative sector seeks financial runways to allow cash-strapped creative businesses to restart and produce new sellable creative products and incentives for businesses and schools to accelerate rehiring and encourage retention of creative workers. Echoing previous federal works programs, the creative sector seeks artist and creative worker residencies within federal departments, direct commissioning of individual artists and cultural organizations, and the integration of creative workers into health, safety, education, and community development programs.
Improved Conditions for Independent Contractors Changes to Inequitable Federal Policies Stronger Representation within Government
91% of all arts, culture, and recreation businesses are solo entrepreneurs and millions of creative workers are independent workers. This locks them out of unemployment benefits, affordable health insurance, and access to capital–which must change to ensure a sustainable living. At no additional cost to the government, the creative sector seeks adjustments to various existing federal policies that disallow or discriminate against creative workers and other independent workers. To coordinate the policy relevant to the creative economy, with a particular focus on recovery and relief, the creative sector recommends the installation of an Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy senior advisor to maximize the impact and recognition of creative enterprise.

Adapted from the Put Creative Workers to Work platform, Oregon COVID-19 Impact Survey.

What Can You Do?
Advocates, use the E-alert on the CERA bill to quickly contact your members of Congress and request they join on to the legislation as a Co-Sponsor.

Click here to view an infographic to further explain this legislation.

Full bill text can be found here.


Read our previous posts about CERA:

Creative Work is Work

What is the Creative Economy Revitalization Act (CERA)? Why Do We Need It?

 

References
www.creativeworkers.net

https://www.wpaforthearts.com/get-involved 

 

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