RACC Blog

RACC will deliver its “State of the Arts” report on April 21

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On Thursday, April 21st at 2:00 p.m., arts advocates will gather at Portland City Hall for RACC’s annual “State of the Arts” presentation to Portland City Council. The event is designed to demonstrate the impacts of the city’s investments in arts and culture through RACC. The event is free and open to the public, and we encourage you to attend!

RACC has celebrated several milestones since our last report to City Council, including the 35th anniversary of percent-for-art programs in Portland, and the 10th anniversary of Work for Art. A summary of other accomplishments and all grants awarded in the past year can be found in RACC’s year-end report for 2015.

Notwithstanding these accomplishments, public funding for arts and culture in Portland is at a critical juncture. The voter-approved Arts Education & Access Fund (or arts tax) has created enough revenue to guarantee at least one art or music teacher for every elementary school in Portland, but has not yet delivered on its promise to provide 5% funding for general operating support organizations, and only a fraction of the envisioned funds are available for expanding arts access for every Portland resident. Also, Mayor Hales has asked all bureaus and city partners (such as RACC) to budget for a 5% cut in FY17, which would certainly impact the arts community that are working hard to grow Portland’s creative economy, enhance our children’s education, and improve the quality of life for every Portland resident.

We invite artists, arts administrators, arts educators and arts advocates from every corner of the city (and beyond!) to join us for this special gathering. Please help us fill council chambers for a discussion with our elected officials about the importance of public investments in the arts, and the impact that arts and culture can have in our communities. Portland City Hall is fully accessible for people with disabilities, and interpretation services are available upon request.

“State of the Arts:” RACC’s annual presentation to Portland City Council
Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
Portland City Hall, 1211 SW 4th Avenue

FREE

Eight company bands head to Battle on May 12

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Preparations are underway for our first annual Battle of the Bands, a celebration of employee creativity and a benefit for Work for Art! The event takes place Thursday, May 12 at the Crystal Ballroom. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the competition begins at 7:00.

Eight employee bands, sponsored by their companies, are currently tuning up their ten-minute sets.

Brothers Jam, featuring Jamey Hampton of BodyVox and Hampton Lumber, will open the show.  Seven other bands will perform in a variety of genres to vie for the title of “Best Company Band,” as determined by our panel of celebrity judges. The judges will also award a “Best Showmanship” prize, while everyone else gets to select an “Audience Favorite” by voting for their favorite band with cash. The competing bands include:

  • Burgerville, Dystopia
  • Kaiser Permanente, Members Only
  • KeyBank, The Red Keys
  • Portland General Electric, Larry and the Lightbulbs
  • The Standard, Smoke Before Fire
  • Tonkon Torp, The Legal Limit
  • ZGF Architects, Pencil Skirt Paula and the Straight Edge Rulers

The Portland Timbers Army band Greenhorn will also perform.

Tickets are just $10 each, available at the Crystal Ballroom Box Office or online at http://bit.ly/WFABattleOfTheBands. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $100 each and include hosted food and beverage, table seating area, validated parking and a complimentary concert t-shirt.

All proceeds benefit Work for Art’s 10th Anniversary Campaign to raise $1 million for local arts and culture organizations. This is an all-ages event, accessible for people with disabilities. For more information visit http://workforart.org/battle-of-the-bands/.


Battle of the Bands

A benefit for Work for Art

Thursday, May 12 at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00)

At the Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, Portland

General Admission $10, VIP $100

workforart.org/battle-of-the-bands/

First Thursday Night Lights

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Thirteen multidisciplinary artists enrolled in the University of Oregon’s BFA Digital Arts program in Portland, Oregon who call themselves Sunny Side Up, will project their work for the April 7, 2016, First Thursday Night Lights. Their work spans several medias, including graphic design, illustration, programming, animation, interactive design, photography, drawing, installation and beyond. They say, “We are visual communicators who use our imaginations to make the world a better place, one art experience at a time. After all, life is always better served Sunny Side Up!”

The group includes Jiana Chen, Kathleen Darby, Anthony Hou, Jonny Kim, Sam Lillard, Clara Munro, Anna Pearson, Alex Prestrelski, Brandon Rains, Marion Rosas, Deandra “Sweet Dee” Stokes, Justus Vega, Kendall Wagner.

First Thursday Night Lights
April 7, 2016, Sundown to 9:00p.m.
411 NW Park Ave- North Wall, facing Glisan Street

It’s Advocacy Season!

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Eloise’s Blog:

Clearly spring is here and with its glorious arrival come our annual rounds of budget advocacy. Over the past five months a highly convincing group of arts leaders and advocates from the private sector, ably led by Chris Coleman, has visited with Mayor Hales, Commissioners Fish, Novick, Fritz and Saltzman as well as the two leading contenders for our new Mayor, Jules Bailey and Ted Wheeler. These meetings focused on the vital role the arts play here and the need to fill the gap in the Arts Tax funding so that all the benefits voters supported actually come to fruition.

This same group also met with Multnomah County Chair, Deborah Kafoury, and soon RACC will be checking in with our other friends at the County during their budget process. We were thrilled last year when the Chair included in her budget (with urging from Commissioners Shiprack and Bailey)an increase to RACC to support the Right Brain Initiative and arts services to underrepresented communities.

In Washington County interest is high to coordinate arts services better going forward, to clarify funding processes and sources, and to increase the County Commissioners’ investments in arts and culture, through RACC and several key arts organizations in the county.

The main thrust in Clackamas County is to restore a $20k cut from several years ago in order to strengthen arts education and specifically the Right Brain Initiative, a favorite program of this Board of Commissioners.

And last but not least we are meeting with Metro Councilors to hopefully invigorate our relationship and mutual interest in the region whose footprint we share.

This is time consuming work, but rewarding to have meaningful discussions with the talented people who are serving in elected office.

What can you do to help? Please mark your calendars and join us for our annual State of the Arts presentation to Portland City Council! Thursday, April 21 @ 2:00 pm. We promise a lively event if you will help us pack City Council Chambers once again!  Thank you.

Coming to the Portland Building Installation Space: “Radical Positivity,” an installation by Larry Yes, April 25 – May 20.

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Picked for its punch of color and upbeat message, the Installation Space selection panel said “yes” to Larry, an artist whose work focuses on love and human connection, and can be described as a meditation on color and joy. The exhibition will cover the walls from floor to ceiling with “positive words” and symbols rendered on wood planks in the artist’s signature style—a combination of hand inscribed text, graphics, and color that scans the rainbow.

The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland and is open 8 am to 5 pm, Monday – Friday.

For more information on the Portland Building Installation Space, including images, proposals, and statements for all projects dating back to 1994, go to http://racc.org/installationspace.