RACC Blog

New RACC Emergency Fund for Artists and Creative Workers

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Initial fund provides more than $120,000 in small grants for individuals

Thousands of individual artists and creative workers have already lost contracts, gigs, and teaching work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Performance cancellations, closures and physical distancing requirements are having a devastating impact on greater Portland’s creative community. In Multnomah County alone, more than 900 individual artists responding to a recent survey estimated over $9 million in lost income March through May, 2020.

In the face of this unprecedented crisis, the Regional Arts & Culture Council April 2, 2020 announced a new fund to provide some financial relief to Portland area creative professionals and the region’s cultural workforce. RACC’s Emergency Fund for Artists and Creative Workers, offers financial assistance to cover lost income to artists experiencing economic hardship.

New donations to the fund will be distributed directly to individual artists and creative workers in need along with more than $120,000 in unrestricted funding RACC has redirected from other programs. Applications to the emergency fund open on April 2, 2020 and should be submitted online no later than 5 p.m. Monday, April 13, 2020 for initial consideration. As new funds are donated and identified, RACC will award additional funds.

“Our artist community has lost much but it remains rich with diversity of skills, resources and creativity,” said RACC Executive Director, Madison Cario.  “That’s why it’s essential that in the short-term RACC look at all available resources, ramp up partnerships, and raise money. We will be looking to the arts community to innovate with us to create longer-term solutions and creative ideas that will support our resilience and recovery.”

RACC’s Emergency Fund for Artists and Creative Workers supports individuals who have experienced a financial loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund is open to artists at all levels of their careers, in a broad variety of disciplines. Applicants will be asked to share evidence of their artistic practice, household income, and financial loss in the application. RACC will make awards up to $500 in order to support as many individual artists as possible, prioritizing those without access to other COVID-19 relief funds.

“It’s not just individual artists who are losing out as a result of the pandemic; the whole region risks losing much of our artistic wealth and with it the contributions of individual creators who inspire and uplift us, and who can help our spirits heal from this disaster,” stated Linda McGeady, RACC Board Chair.  “RACC is being nimble and creative, and staff is working hard to get dollars out the door as quickly as possible.”

The picture of the impact of COVID-19 on the arts community came into sharp focus last week as RACC released results from a statewide survey. The survey collected estimated losses from individuals and arts organizations during March, April and May. Statewide, losses were reported at more than $56 million for artists and arts organizations in just a three-month period. The survey did not include a response from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which has subsequently announced it will delay reopening of its 2020 season until September and laid off a majority of staff.

Many artists responding to the survey offered examples of how restrictions on group sizes, public gatherings and requirements for physical distancing during this health crisis are affecting their income and their community.

  • A self- employed visual artist explained, “My galleries are ALL closed – including a major solo show – and my classes are ALL cancelled. I have stopped submitting to future shows. My solo and two-person shows this summer are in limbo. My income is sporadic by nature so I can’t tell you what would have sold had the galleries remained open.”
  • A Saturday Market vendor shared how they rely on tourism to support and sustain their revenue, which currently is reduced to nothing.
  • A local animator, currently employed on a stop-motion feature film being made in Portland, described how their team typically works as a large crew, in close proximity. Initially shut down for two weeks, the film – and team – is on hiatus indefinitely.
  • A musician who makes their income by composing and producing music described how they also own and operate a recording studio, which is now shuttered. “My income not only helps provide food for my family, but also helps keep the lights on at the studio.”

More emergency relief measures for artists and arts organizations are in the works. RACC is currently reviewing all projects and programs as potential relief funds, as well as any new sources anticipated in next fiscal year, starting July 1, 2020. Information about new opportunities will be shared with the community as they are confirmed by RACC staff, board members and funding partners in the coming weeks.

More information about RACC’s Emergency Fund for Individual Artists can be found here: https://artsimpactfund.racc.org/covid-19/

Para solicitar asistencia para la aplicación en un idioma que no sea inglés, envíe un correo electrónico a: grants@racc.org

在申请过程中，如果您需要语言上的帮助请发邮件到：grants@racc.org

Oregon Artists and Arts Organizations report $56M lost revenue

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Survey results forecast 3-month financial impact of COVID-19 on arts & culture community

Portland, Ore – Across the world, life has changed dramatically as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. The picture of that impact on the arts community came into sharp focus this week as the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) tallied results from a statewide survey conducted last week.

The Oregon COVID-19 Impact Survey is an effort to measure estimated losses during March, April and May 2020 on individuals working in the arts as well as arts organizations. Reported losses include revenues from lost contracts, shows and teaching work that have all been cancelled in order to comply with restrictions on group sizes, gatherings and requirements for social distancing during this health crisis.

RACC, the nonprofit arts council for the tri-county area including Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties, collected more than 1,200 responses from individuals and more than 260 arts organizations across 25 counties. Multnomah County-based artists provided the bulk of the data with more than 900 respondents reporting a total of $46 million in losses for the single quarter. Initial analysis of the data show impacts increasing month over month. RACC intends to share the data to support efforts at the state, federal and local levels and to lead advocacy efforts and guide resource collection and distribution for individuals and organizations.

“Thank you to the people who took the time to respond to the survey,” said Madison Cario, RACC Executive Director. “They have collectively confirmed that many individuals and organizations working in arts and culture lack sufficient infrastructure and resources to sustain continued financial and social disruptions.” The information is well-documented in the field, Cario added, “The survey data empowers advocates and funders with specific financial details of what is currently being lost as we work towards solutions.”

As part of the response to COVID-19, RACC is relaxing funding restrictions in order to get dollars out the door faster, and partnering with other grant makers to deepen impact. “We are grateful to have the Oregon Community Foundation and the Miller Foundation at the table with the shared goal of relief for the arts community, said Cario.  “This relief is intended as breathing room so we can be creative about possible pivots and planning adaptations for the long haul.”

RACC updates – staff working remotely and resources

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As the country and world respond to coronavirus and the COVID-19 situation, RACC would like to share some information and resources.

First and foremost, RACC is invested in the health and well-being of the artists, arts organizations, and our communities. Please follow all directions and recommendations from your local and state authorities as well as entities such as the CDC and WHO.

Additionally, for information specific to artists and arts organizations, please refer to ArtsReady, the Performing Arts Readiness project, and the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response. These resources are available with best-practices, updated information, and resources specifically for the arts community. Locally, please also see this new opportunity for emergency funding for artists.

For those of you who are currently operating with grants funded by RACC, we are responsive to individual concerns and necessary changes to the originally-proposed activities. Should you need to modify your grant, please contact your program officer to discuss options. More information for grantees can be found here. Starting today, March 13, RACC staff will be working remotely.

We also want to make you aware of campaigns to include artists and the nonprofit arts community in any federal relief funds that are made available. There are currently campaigns being conducted through both The Performing Arts Alliance as well as the American Alliance for Museums. We recommend reading about these campaigns and, should you feel strongly about the causes, informing your legislators. In addition, RACC will also be working closely with local and regional governments, service organizations, and individuals, as well as local funders and businesses, to develop an emergency fund to support artists and arts organizations through these difficult times.

We recognize the impact that this virus and the necessary reactions may cause. Artists, technicians, administrators, and everyone involved in the arts community are facing an unprecedented situation as events get canceled or postponed. Ultimately, we believe that the arts are about bringing people together. We share emotions and ideas. These connections strengthen us. Looking forward, as we work our way collectively through this pandemic, we are hopeful that the artists, arts organizations, and everyone who make up our arts community will come together and be stronger for it.

Here are some additional ways we can help our community:

Check on older neighbors, colleagues and friends with a call or text – older people seem to be particularly vulnerable to contracting coronavirus, according to health officials – but also are likely staying home and not allowing visitors as a precaution.

Safely drop off food – particularly to anyone who is under quarantine or isolating from others due to their risk factors. Let folks know you’ll be dropping something by – and leave it at the door or on the porch.

Donate money – lots of organizations including food banks, social services groups and others offer direct help to people in need and may be one of the first places people turn if they are hurt economically by the virus.

Fight discrimination and stigma – fear and anxiety can lead to social stigma when people associate an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, with a population or nationality, even though not everyone in that population or from that region is specifically at risk for the disease (for example, Chinese-Americans and other Asian-Americans living in the United States). Stigma hurts everyone by creating more fear or anger but we can fight this type of discrimination and help others by providing social support.

News For RACC Grantees

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We’ve heard from many of you with concerns about the COVID-19 virus. We want to assure you that RACC is committed to supporting the artists and organizations we work with in this rapidly evolving situation. Our staff is working remotely and you can reach your grants officers by email – see contact information below.

If your planned project or performance needs to be cancelled, rescheduled, or modified as the result of the virus, RACC can be flexible. We’re happy to discuss modifications to your proposed activity as needed—remember that there is no set deadline for completion of your project.

Reminder, there may be some delays in getting grant payments sent out. Direct Deposit (ACH) payments will continue to be sent weekly, but paper checks may take longer to generate. If you need a grant payment quickly, we recommend you email us a completed version of the ACH form to your grants officer.

Helen Daltoso hdaltoso@racc.org

Ingrid Carlson icarlson@racc.org

New art brings a glow to the city’s iconic Portland Building

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Come visit your new art collection at the reconstructed Portland Building

Public art installed in the Portland Building adds a glow to the newly renovated architectural icon. The building has always doubled as a venue to showcase public art and that role has grown with the reconstruction, which includes new pieces commissioned through the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). RACC’s Public Art Program acquires and cares for publicly owned art.

A local panel of artists, curators, community members and city staff worked for several years to commission and purchase these artworks for the Portland Building as part of the City’s 2% for Art requirement. The current installations, located on the first and second floors of the building, are part of the first phase of art selected and created specifically for the building.

Please note, to protect public health, the Portland Building is currently closed to the public.the City of Portland is postponing the grand reopening of the Portland Building scheduled for Thursday, March 19. All Design Week Portland events are rescheduled for August 2020.

New commissioned artworks installed to date in the Portland Building
Refik Anadol Studio, Data Crystal: Portland
One of the most impactful aspects of the building renovation is the addition of a large window wall and gathering space on the east side facing Chapman Square. Today, people passing by on Fourth Avenue can gaze into the building through the double-height wall of glass and see Refik Anadol Studio’s large-scale, 3-D printed, A.I. data sculpture, Data Crystal: Portland, which was designed specifically for the Portland Building.

The artwork is visible to building visitors from both the first and second floor. It represents the material connections that emerge from invisible interactions between fellow city dwellers by combining art, technology, and the interconnected communities of Portland. Anadol was inspired by the last line of Ronald Talney’s poem, inscribed on the plaque that accompanies Raymond Kaskey’s sculpture Portlandia, “This is how the world knows where we are.”

The visuals projected on to the sculpture were conceived by Anadol in partnership with the mind of a machine, utilizing cutting-edge machine learning algorithms trained on a data set of nine million publicly available photographs and digitized archival documents of Portland. The shape of the 3-D printed structure on which the visuals are projected was also informed by the same data set, but created by using advanced robotic 3D printing and A.I. technologies.

For this artwork, Anadol theorized that with today’s technology, it’s nearly impossible to get lost in this world – both geographically and historically.  With every photograph taken, a digital memory is captured, and a virtual record of a specific time and place is recorded.  These memories are “crystalized” when shared publicly.  When aggregated, the repeated acts of sharing digital memories eventually solidifies the collective memory of a specific place.

Portlandia, Raymond Kaskey
Get up close and personal with the iconic Portlandia statue from a new publicly-accessible balcony, or with a smaller, 3-D print located at the top of the second floor stairs, made with the partnership of local Portland business, Form 3D Foundry. Originally installed in 1985, Portlandia by Raymond Kaskey, is the second-largest hammered-copper (or repoussé) sculpture in the United States, and was rededicated in 2019 as part of the building reconstruction. Tag your photos of either version of this Portland icon to #weareportlandia.

Neither Here Nor There, Shelby Davis and Crystal Schenk
Located on the first floor adjacent to the building’s front entrance, is Neither Here Nor There by husband and wife artist team Shelby Davis and Crystal Schenk. Together the two transformed a huge, 100-year-old silver maple removed from the Laurelhurst neighborhood in 2015. Extracting the tree itself was a labor of love, involving large cranes and slabbing the trunk with a rare ten-foot chainsaw. But the stunning material lives on, reborn, in the renovated building. The installation includes several hand-carved and meticulously crafted wooden benches where visitors can sit, as well as hanging shelves and floating sculptural pieces suspended from the ceiling.

Topography from around the state was computer modeled and fit to some of the biggest boards from the tree’s trunk and then cut to relief on a computer-controlled (CNC) router. Afterward, each piece was carefully glued together, hand carved, and sanded. Glass castings implanted in the floating panoramas, with their shift of scale, create new perspectives on the familiar. Their subtle and grander shapes recall actual time spent in those landscape folds – creating memories and inspiring visitors with a sense of connection and curiosity. Look for local and significant places in Portland and Oregon including neighborhoods, the Columbia River Gorge, Crater Lake, Mount Hood, and more.

Portion of Neither Here Nor There, Shelby Davis and Crystal Schenk

We’ve Been Here by Kayin Talton Davis
In the new Lizzie Weeks room to the north of the front entrance is We’ve Been Here by Kayin Talton Davis. The primary focus is Lizzie Weeks, along with images of other Black women establishing lives in Portland at the turn of the century into the 1930s. Talton Davis describes the significance of creating this large, vibrant panel and the research she did to collect stories about the lives of important, but overlooked, women as part of her process. “I went into city archives, Oregon Historical Society,” she said. “I also reached out to other people within the community to get different pictures and stories.” Additional women portrayed include: Lola Ondine Graham Chandler (with her sister), Frances Josephine Harlow Chandler (a Lakeview midwife), women from the Walker family (Rutherford Collection), Beatrice Morrow Cannady and Thelma Johnson Street.

Small Works Collection
Visitors can also enjoy several locations on the first and second floors hung with smaller-scale artworks made by artists from the greater Portland area. There are three artwork zones, each with its own curatorial focus.
Zone One, First Floor – Sublime Landscape – painting by artist Adam Sorensen (not currently installed)
Zone Two, Second Floor – Cityscape – many artists
Zone Three, Second Floor – Social Landscape of Portland, life experience of living in Portland, the cultures, multiplicity of viewpoints, fun and quirkiness of the residents – many artists

On the second floor, comfortable, modern seating is placed next to the second-story balcony, adjacent to the new artworks. Visitors to the balcony area can enjoy expansive views of the park blocks and downtown buildings through the large, window and views of the hanging sculpture Data Crystal: Portland.

Complete list of artists and artworks featured in the “Small Works Collection,” below.


Zone Three, Second Floor – Social Landscape of Portland (north wall) – many artists

Installation Space
Also on the second floor, visitors will find the building’s new Installation Space. Since its start in 1994 the Portland Building’s Installation Space has hosted more than 200 site-specific exhibitions, showcasing and promoting local contemporary artists and reflecting the creative rigor and diversity of Portland. The Regional Arts & Culture Council curates these rotating exhibitions.

The new space will be programmed with interdisciplinary conceptual art work made by regional artists and is envisioned as a way to energize public dialogue, understanding and exposure of visual art, as well as draw new audiences to the public’s new building.

King School Museum of Contemporary Art – KSMoCA
The inaugural exhibition in the Portland Building’s new Installation Space includes a selection of ephemera curated by the Student Curatorial Committee from KSMoCA’s archive.

Photo by MOE of the Student Curatorial Committee in an exhibition they curated at PSU
(left to right: Roz Crews, Solianna, Isaiah, Rocky, JaMiyah, Ana, and Diana with Dr. MLK Jr. school Community Agent Tiffany Robinson)

The King School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA) is a contemporary art museum inside Dr. MLK Jr. School, an elementary school in Northeast Portland. Creating unusual connections between kids and internationally renowned artists, KSMoCA reimagines the way museums, public schools, and universities can affect people, culture, and perspectives by creating radical intersections for sharing resources across organizations. KSMoCA was founded in 2014 by artists Lisa Jarrett and Harrell Fletcher and is collaboratively developed with the Dr. MLK Jr. School community, PSU students, and a team of artists.

KSMoCA’s Student Curatorial Committee is led by fourth and fifth graders from the school with KSMoCA Program Managers (and artists), Roz Crews and Amanda Leigh Evans. The committee conducts research about local and non-local artists to inform their work as curators of KSMoCA’s MLK Jr. Gallery. As part of this research, students meet with curators, gallerists, and educators to discuss curatorial topics, study books about contemporary artists, and conduct studio visits with local artists. In 2018, this group established a student-run gallery within the museum to display work by their peers in addition to work by local artists in Portland, OR.Learn more: http://www.ksmoca.com/

RACC advocates for public and private investments in the arts, provides grants for artists and arts organizations, manages public art, raises money through workplace giving, conducts arts education in public schools, and provides community services, including workshops for artists, organizational consulting, and a variety of printed and electronic resources. RACC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that receives funding from a variety of public and private partners to serve artists, arts organizations, schools and residents throughout Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. For more information visit racc.org. 

Get Directions

MEDIA CONTACTS:
For information about artworks and artist contacts:
Heather Nelson Kent
Communications Manager, Regional Arts & Culture Council
503-823-5426
hnkent@racc.org

For Portland Building information:
Heather Hafer
Public Information Officer, Office of Management and Finance
heather.hafer@portlandoregon.gov
503-823-6965

Small Works Collection
Zone Two, Second Floor – Cityscape (near Installation Space)

First Name Last Name Artwork Title Year
Akihiko Miyoshi Protocol 2019
Avantika Bawa Coliseum #4 2017
Avantika Bawa Coliseum, Red Sky 2018
Elena Thomas From the Bridge 2018
Ivonne Saed Sellwood Bridge Construction 1 2015
James Allen Portland Trolley Years 2016
Loren Nelson 3600 NW John Olsen Parkway; Hillsboro, Oregon 1999
Marie Watt Untitled 2012
Marie Watt Part and Whole: Ripple, Hoop, Baron Mill 2011
Michelle Muldrow Portland Trailer 2018
Rory ONeal Overpass Glow – PDX 2019
Ruth Lantz Veil of Density 2015
Gabe Fernandez Audi with 356 cover 2018

Zone Three, Second Floor – Social Landscape of Portland (north wall)

First Name Last Name Artwork Title Year
Deb Stoner Hellebore and Pieris Japonica in Winter 2016
Hsin-Yi Huang The Light Within 2009
Katherine Ace Friends and Neighbors (1) (group of 6) 2019
Rebecca Rodela Abuelito y yo reunidos 2014
Sabina Haque New Portlanders 2019
Stuart Allen Levy Cinco De Mayo 2009

Zone Three, Second Floor – Social Landscape of Portland (south wall)

First Name Last Name Artwork Title Year
Emma Gerigscott Dog Party No. 1 2017
Jo Hamilton The Ruth Nebula – 1948 2018
Sabina Haque HALFIE 2010
Samantha Wall 31 Days series 2017
Oriquidia Violeta Madrina 2019
Ralph Pugay Cattle Rave 2013

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State of the Arts annual presentation information

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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).

Executive Director Madison Cario on change and growth at RACC

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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

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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.