RACC Blog

$116,000 in Professional Development Grants Awarded to 74 Artists!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Portland, OR – June 25, 2025. RACC is proud to announce that 74 Professional Development Grants totaling $116,000 have been awarded! Of this pool, 55% of these grantees are receiving a RACC grant for the first time.

Our Professional Development Grant Program supports artists and arts administrators by offsetting expenses related to unique opportunities that will significantly impact one’s artistic career or business development. This spring, RACC received a total of 234 applications and 32% of applicants were selected to receive funds.

Grantees will use these funds to attend artist residencies, conferences and workshops; consult with mentors; produce artistic research; and present work in exhibitions outside our region. Of this grantee pool, 34% of grantees identified as BIPOC, 32% identify as living with a disability, and 39% are members of LGBTQIA+ communities.

Examples of funded activities include:

  • Workshops in Irish aerial dance, underwater cinematography, creative coding, digital weaving, signwriting, and copperplate photogravure.
  • Mentorships with experts in Brazilian zouk, lenticular imaging, legal services, and digital marketing.
  • National artist residencies in New York, California, Maine, and Ohio and international artist residencies in Argentina, Mexico, and Spain
  • National conferences in Maryland, North Carolina, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Washington and international conferences in Spain, Norway, and Brazil

Read the full list of grantees here.

This round of grants was awarded through public investment from Multnomah County and Washington County and bolstered with funding from the estate of Harriet Beal Cormack. Harriet Beal Cormack was a civic leader with an interest in urban affairs, social justice, women’s rights, and the arts. She was known as a remarkable patron of the performing, visual, and literary arts, and RACC is pleased to honor her entrepreneurial spirit and artistic interests with this grant program to support the growth of artists and arts leaders across the tri-county region.

About the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC): For decades, RACC has aimed to serve every neighborhood of our region to ensure that arts and culture are accessible to all. Our nationally acclaimed public art program enlivens parks, community centers, government buildings, libraries and health clinics; brings people and communities together; and makes our region a more vibrant and welcoming place to be. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we work to elevate the voices and visibility of individual artists, creative organizations and arts nonprofits – especially those that serve underrepresented communities – amplifying their impact through grants, professional development and other vital resources. Through strategic partnerships, our team works to build coalitions and lead new initiatives, crafting a shared vision for an equitable future for arts and culture in our region. For more information, please visit racc.org.

Two Oregon Artists Chosen to Create Large-Scale, 2D Public Artworks at Portland International Airport

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Left: Portrait of Ryan Pierce by Sadie Wechsler. Right: Portrait of James Lavadour by Walters Photographers, Pendleton, Oregon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Portland, OR —June 23rd, 2025. In collaboration with the Port of Portland, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is proud to announce that Oregon artists James Lavadour and Ryan Pierce have each been chosen to create a large-scale, 2D public artwork for Portland International Airport (PDX), anticipated to be installed in late 2025 and debut to the public in 2026. Both artists were selected by the PDX Terminal Core Redevelopment (TCORE) Public Art Committee.

The renovation of the airport’s main terminal aims to increase the capacity, flexibility, and resilience of the airport, while improving the travel experience and adding more of what people love about PDX–including more art. Pierce’s and Lavadour’s artworks are among several exciting new public art projects RACC is managing within the new PDX.

Lavadour’s work will be featured in the south entry hall, greeting both entering and exiting visitors to PDX. With its contemporary abstraction of landscapes, Lavadour’s painting will become a companion piece to the abstract landscape mural by Louis Bunce originally commissioned for the airport in 1958 that will be displayed in the north entry hall.

Located at the north end of baggage claim, Pierce’s artwork will greet passengers exiting international arrivals and will also be prominently visible from a waiting lounge for travelers to meet family, friends, and colleagues. The work will welcome passengers to Portland, and provide a first impression of Oregon.

“RACC is proud to partner with the Port of Portland to bring James Lavadour’s and Ryan Pierce’s visionary works to PDX. Lavadour’s Conduit honors our region’s landscapes and Indigenous artistic legacy, while Pierce’s Liberated Luggage invites travelers to engage with the resilience and playfulness of our natural world. These installations exemplify RACC’s commitment to ensuring public art reflects the diversity of our communities and enhances our shared spaces,” says Kristin Law Calhoun, Director of Partnerships and Programs at the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

“Our essential partnership with RACC continues to enrich cultural experiences at PDX by providing new opportunities for artists to exhibit their incredible work in public places,” said Wendy Given, Art Program Manager at the Port of Portland. “It is an absolute honor to gain large-scale installations for the Port’s permanent collection from celebrated regional artists James Lavadour and Ryan Pierce. Sharing the spirit, creativity, cultures, and pride of the Pacific Northwest with travelers and visitors is our responsibility.”

About the Artists & Artworks

James Lavadour (Walla Walla; b. 1951, Pendleton, OR) is a self-taught artist whose painting practice is informed by an intimate attention to and deep connection with the natural world. Lavadour’s paintings are created through a process of improvisation, resulting in abstract landscapes of rich colors and broad brushstrokes. His publicly commissioned artworks are carefully considered compositions made up of multiple paintings installed in relationship to one another in linear or grid formations.

Lavadour’s work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and can be found in many collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY), Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, DC), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, AR), Seattle Art Museum (Seattle, WA), Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, WA), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), and University of Oregon (Eugene, OR). Awards and recognitions include a Hallie Ford Fellowship of The Ford Family Foundation, an Oregon Arts Commission fellowship, an Oregon Governor’s Arts Award, the Betty Bowen Memorial Recognition Award, and an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from Eastern Oregon University (La Grande, OR). Lavadour is the co-founder, past president, and past board member of Crow’s Shadow Institute for the Arts (CSIA). Located on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, CSIA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization committed to preserving and promoting contemporary and traditional Indigenous cultural practices and is a nationally recognized studio known for advancing Native voices in contemporary fine art printmaking. Lavadour is represented by PDX Contemporary Art gallery.

For the PDX airport, Lavadour has been invited to create a site-specific large-scale painting composition. Lavadour’s largest public artwork to date, the piece will be composed of 36 individual painted 24” x 30” panels in a grid formation that create one unified, complex painting. Conduit, the title of the painting, represents the idea of a passage or connector. Meaningful in the context of the airport, “conduit” as a theme is also personally significant to the artist: aware of the significant challenges faced by Indigenous artists trying to gain the recognition of mainstream galleries, Lavadour founded Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts in 1989, the only professional printmaking studio on a reservation in the USA, to provide a conduit for Native artists. Painted in Lavadour’s signature expression over a period spanning more than 10 years, the assembled panels represent the depth and breadth of Lavadour’s painting practice, his commitment to uplifting Native artists, and a welcome to visitors. In Lavadour’s words, “I think of this painting as similar to a beaded belt to be given as a welcoming gift to all that pass. This homeland is open and welcome to all.”

Ryan Pierce‘s paintings, prints, and experimental artist books envision a world recovering from human industry amid the throes of climate chaos. He draws on influences from ecological theory, literature, and folk art to create scenes that portray the resilience of the natural world. His work has been shown nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Elizabeth Leach Gallery and Nine Gallery in Portland, and Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder (Trondheim, Norway). His work has also been shown in group exhibitions at the Schneider Museum of Art (Ashland, OR), STREAM Gallery (New York, NY), the Henry Art Gallery (Seattle, WA), and Irvine Contemporary (Washington, DC). In 2019, Pierce was selected to participate in the inaugural exhibition of the Portland Art Museum’s regional triennial titled the map is not the territory…

Pierce received an MFA from California College of the Arts and a BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft. Recognitions and awards include grants from the Joan Mitchell and San Francisco Foundations, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission, and a fellowship at the Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology (Otis, OR). Pierce currently chairs the low-residency MFA in Visual Studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art and is represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery, both in Portland.

For the PDX airport, Pierce will paint Liberated Luggage, an original panoramic landscape to be translated into kiln-formed glass in collaboration with Glasmalerei Peters Studios (Portland/Paderborn, Germany). The composition is inspired by the question: What if your luggage got to Oregon before you, and your things were already having a good time? The landscape leads travelers on a visual journey through the ecoregions of Oregon from the Coast to The Great Basin. Endemic flora and fauna populate the composition, as do the things travelers carry: roller bags, duffels, and backpacks, whose vacationing contents are representative of international destinations linked to PDX. Those who stop to look closer will discern a story that’s quirky, playful, and rooted in the pride of place that makes travel as rewarding as coming back home.

Please find a folder of images for use here.

About the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC): For decades, RACC has aimed to serve every neighborhood of our region to ensure that arts and culture are accessible to all. Our nationally acclaimed public art program enlivens parks, community centers, government buildings, libraries and health clinics; brings people and communities together; and makes our region a more vibrant and welcoming place to be. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we work to elevate the voices and visibility of individual artists, creative organizations and arts nonprofits – especially those that serve underrepresented communities – amplifying their impact through grants, professional development and other vital resources. Through strategic partnerships, our team works to build coalitions and lead new initiatives, crafting a shared vision for an equitable future for arts and culture in our region. For more information, please visit racc.org.

About Port of Portland:  With three airports, three active marine terminals, and five business parks, the Port of Portland is an economic engine for transforming the region into a place where everyone is welcome, empowered, and connected to the opportunity to find a good job or grow their business. The Port works to pull down barriers and provide access to people and local businesses who have been left out of the region’s economic growth—including people of color, low-income workers, and people with disabilities. Collectively, the Port leads big projects in the region, including building a new PDX with a community-centered approach; transforming a former marine terminal into a site for innovation in the housing construction and mass timber industries; and providing more options for Pacific Northwest businesses to send their products around the world. For more information, visit www.PortofPortland.com.

 

Patricia Rojas to Serve as the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s New Executive Director

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Photo Credit: Lanning Photography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 14, 2025

Contact:

Meech Boakye, Communications Lead, Regional Arts & Culture Council, mboakye@racc.org

Portland, OR – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is pleased to announce that, following a national search, Patricia Rojas has been named its next Executive Director, effective August 1st. RACC received a highly competitive pool of 50 applications. Rojas was selected after an extensive recruitment process led by a 13-member staff-board committee, which included multiple rounds of interviews, in-depth reference checks, and a final interview phase that included community partners.

For thirty years, RACC, an independent nonprofit, has served as the designated arts and culture agency for several regional governments and as a cultural institution throughout the greater Portland Metro area. In response to recent shifts in the political and funding landscape, RACC has refocused its mission on managing public art programs, providing professional development for artists and arts organizations, and strengthening regional arts advocacy. RACC currently has 18 employees (16 FTE) and an annual budget of $5.4M, which includes $1.3M in RACC grant awards to other organizations.

“Patricia Rojas emerged from a highly competitive national search as the clear choice to lead RACC into its next chapter,” said Kathleen Holt, RACC’s Board Chair. “Her demonstrated leadership in public service, commitment to equity, and strength in relationship-building reflect the values that define RACC’s work. We are confident in her ability to steward this organization with thoughtfulness and drive, and we look forward to the impact of her leadership across the region’s cultural landscape.”

Patricia Rojas brings a strong track record in public leadership, with experience in coalition-building, fundraising, and organizational transformation. Most recently, she led strategic housing initiatives at Metro Regional Government, fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders to implement a major public funding initiative. Previously, as Executive Director of El Programa Hispano Católico, she guided the organization’s transition to independent nonprofit status and successfully tripled its operating budget.

“Art is a pillar of strength that binds us as a community, bridges across difference and builds resilience. It is a reflection of who we are and who we dream to be. RACC is nationally recognized for work in public arts, has been a catalyst for elevating the arts and supported artists in our region. I am thrilled and honored to join the RACC team where we will continue to build upon this strong foundation and innovate new approaches that grow the role of the arts in our community.” said Patricia Rojas.

Rojas is known for cultivating strong, values-driven teams and building systems that advance equity across all aspects of organizational practice. Passionate about the value of the arts and culture in fostering inclusive, thriving communities, she brings a leadership style grounded in collaboration, strategic vision, and a deep commitment to social impact. As RACC continues a transformative chapter, Rojas will work with its skilled team and community partners to advance this change, build strategic partnerships, and guide our organization into a newly defined role in the regional arts ecosystem.

“It is a privilege to welcome Patricia Rojas as the next Executive Director of RACC,” said Greg Netzer, RACC’s Interim Executive Director. “Her record of strategic leadership, coalition-building, and advancing equity in complex public and nonprofit environments positions her well for this moment. I admire her ability to navigate systems with clarity, compassion, and purpose and I have full confidence in her capacity to lead RACC with integrity and vision.”

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About the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC): For decades, the Regional Arts & Culture Council has worked to serve every neighborhood in the Portland Metro region, ensuring that arts and culture are accessible to all. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, RACC supports artists, creatives, and arts organizations through advocacy, grants, professional development, and strategic resources. RACC’s nationally recognized public art program enlivens parks, community centers, libraries, health clinics, and government buildings—fostering connection and creativity throughout the region. Learn more at racc.org.

Two Artists Chosen to Create Large-Scale, 2D Public Artworks for Portland International Airport’s Main Terminal

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Left: Portrait of Dyani White Hawk courtesy of the artist / Copyright Dyani White Hawk. Right: Portrait of Kate Newby ©Atsushi Nakamichi, Nacása & Partners Inc./ Courtesy of Fondation d’entreprise Hermès

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 25, 2025

Portland, OR — In collaboration with the Port of Portland, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is proud to announce that Dyani White Hawk and Kate Newby have been chosen to create large-scale, 2D public art works for Portland International Airport (PDX), anticipated to be installed in late 2025 and debut to the public in 2026. Newby and White Hawk were selected through a competitive process by the PDX Terminal Core Redevelopment (TCORE) Public Art Committee from an applicant pool of over 110 artists and artist teams from across the United States.

The renovation of PDX’s new main terminal  aims to increase the capacity, flexibility, and resilience of the airport, while improving the travel experience and adding more of what people love about PDX–including more art.. White Hawk and Newby’s artworks are two of several exciting new public art projects RACC is managing during the airport’s redevelopment.

The unique works will be located on walls along the north and south exit routes for travelers, where greeters wait after security, with each spanning over 50-feet long. Not only will they provide natural wayfinding cues for travelers, but the works will also be an impactful, beautiful welcome to PDX for locals and visitors alike.

“The selection of artists Dyani White Hawk and Kate Newby reflects our commitment to curating impactful public art—works that resonate with our region’s landscapes, histories, and communities,” said Kristin Law Calhoun, Director of Partnerships and Programs at the Regional Arts & Culture Council. “Guiding a committee of artists, community members, and Port employees through this thoughtful selection process reinforced the power of collaborative decision-making in shaping public spaces. These works will create a uniquely  PDX experience as enduring landmarks that will welcome and inspire visitors and residents alike.”

“We are honored to have work from Kate and Dyani as part of the airport’s permanent collection, which aims to celebrate everyone’s life experiences, voices, and cultures,” said Wendy Given, Art Program Manager at the Port of Portland. “The proposals from each artist retain their unique voices, are strongly tied to the Pacific Northwest region and our community, and will further enrich PDX’s forest-inspired design.”

About the Artists and Artworks

Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota) is a visual artist based in Minneapolis, MN. White Hawk earned a MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2011) and BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM (2008). Her artistic work is multidisciplinary, drawing from her cross-cultural experiences as a woman of Sičangu Lakota and European American ancestry raised within Native and urban American communities.

Support for White Hawk’s work includes a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital grant, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship along with many others. White Hawk’s work is in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art,  among other public and private collections. She is represented by Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis, MN.

White Hawk’s 55-foot long symmetrical glass and natural stone mosaic draws on the materiality of beading and weaving traditions as well as her own abstract painting practice to realize an abstracted view of the majestic silhouette of Mt. Hood reflected and situated in day and night cycles. The  artwork incorporates rich colors, lines, and patterns that prioritize Indigenous practices of abstraction within contemporary artistic expression.

Grounded in White Hawk’s identity as a Lakota woman and artist, the piece honors the aesthetic traditions of her own lineage while also honoring the land in which the work is situated. By drawing on motifs, patterns, and symbolism found within artistic languages of tribes indigenous to the Oregon region that are akin to the  aesthetics of her own lineage, she is able to speak to multiple and intersecting histories of Indigenous abstraction.

Kate Newby (b. 1979, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand; based in San Antonio, TX) is a sculptor known for her site-responsive installations, architectural interventions, and material-driven explorations. Working primarily with glass, ceramics, and found materials, Newby engages with space’s physical and atmospheric qualities, creating sculptures that emerge from sustained engagement with a place. Her work incorporates elements reflecting a site’s social and environmental rhythms—wind, light, rain, and human and non-human activity traces.

Newby has had solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney; Klosterruine, Berlin; and the Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, among others. She has participated in group exhibitions at venues including Mori Art Museum, Tokyo,  Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris.  In 2018 she was included in the 21st Biennale of Sydney and currently has work in the Sharjah Biennial 16.

Kate has participated in numerous residencies, including The Chinati Foundation Artist in Residence in Marfa, TX; Artpace in San Antonio, TX; and Fogo Island Arts in Newfoundland. She won the Walters Prize, New Zealand’s most significant contemporary art award in 2012 and in 2019, she received a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant.

“The Sound of Trees,” is a 76 foot long mural that evokes Oregon’s forested landscape through a richly textured surface of glazed ceramic tiles. The work will conjure up a distinct color palette drawn from the state’s diverse vegetation with a focus on the season of fall.

At a distance, The Sound of Trees will give the impression of a large-scale abstract landscape. Textures and shapes from Oregon’s native foliage, impressed and incised into the clay, will create a sensory touchstone for PDX visitors. The work connects seamlessly with the interior landscaping and design of the new PDX Terminal, while creating a direct connection between airport visitors and Oregon’s majestic forests.

Community Engagement 

As part of The Sound of Trees, community members are invited to participate in urban foraging workshops led by Kate Newby in partnership with the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Participants will collect discarded glass, which will be embedded into clay and fired, becoming a permanent part of the mural. Interested in learning more? Sign up to be notified about the urban foraging opportunities.

In addition, Newby is also collaborating with students at The Cottonwood School of Civics and Science. Through art and science curriculum, students will imprint mural tiles with natural elements gathered from the local environment, integrating hands-on fieldwork with classroom learning.

Find additional images of the artists’ work here

Contact Information

About the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC)

For decades, RACC has aimed to serve every neighborhood of our region to ensure that arts and culture are accessible to all. Our nationally acclaimed public art program enlivens parks, community centers, government buildings, libraries and health clinics; brings people and communities together; and makes our region a more vibrant and welcoming place to be. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we work to elevate the voices and visibility of individual artists, creative organizations and arts nonprofits – especially those that serve underrepresented communities – amplifying their impact through grants, professional development and other vital resources. Through strategic partnerships, our team works to build coalitions and lead new initiatives, crafting a shared vision for an equitable future for arts and culture in our region. For more information, please visit racc.org.

About Port of Portland

With three airports, three active marine terminals, and five business parks, the Port of Portland is an economic engine for transforming the region into a place where everyone is welcome, empowered, and connected to the opportunity to find a good job or grow their business. The Port works to pull down barriers and provide access to people and local businesses who have been left out of the region’s economic growth—including people of color, low-income workers, and people with disabilities. Collectively, the Port leads big projects in the region, including building a new PDX with a community-centered approach; transforming a former marine terminal into a site for innovation in the housing construction and mass timber industries; and providing more options for Pacific Northwest businesses to send their products around the world. For more information, visit www.PortofPortland.com.

1.2 Million in Arts Funding Awarded to 275 Portland Artists and Organizations

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Portland, OR — February 20th, 2025. In collaboration with the City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $1.2 million in arts funding to 275 Portland-based artists and arts and culture organizations. Of these recipients, 185 awardees are individual artists, 90 awardees are arts and culture organizations, and 131 awardees stated that they’ve never received a grant award from RACC. From performing and visual arts, to film and literature, art forms from every medium are represented among selected grantees.

Portland Arts Project Grants are a new funding initiative to support innovative artistic projects in the city of Portland. The program invites applications from Portland-based artists and organizations seeking to advance their work through programming, presentations, events or artistic development that engages and benefits the public. Grants between $1,000 and $5,000 have been awarded to support arts programs and activities that show community impact.

At RACC, we believe art is a public good—a force that binds communities, challenges perspectives, and reimagines what’s possible. This partnership with the City of Portland underscores our shared commitment to equitable access: ensuring artists and organizations in every neighborhood have the resources to create boldly. An investment in arts and culture is an investment in Portland’s future—because when artists thrive, our communities thrive.

Greg Netzer, Regional Arts & Culture Council Executive Director.

“The City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture is so proud to partner with RACC to provide funding for the new Portland Arts Projects Grants. Creating more space for more artists and arts organizations to explore, hone, and share their work across Portland, from downtown to the city’s farthest reaches, is one of the most important arts and culture investments the City can make.”

Chariti Montez, Office of Arts & Culture Director.

This grant program continues RACC’s decades-long relationship with the City of Portland, serving our region with grant programs that celebrate community engagement among diverse creative disciplines. Funding is awarded through a competitive process wherein arts community members serve on peer review panels, separated by discipline, to evaluate each request.

RACC received 514 applications for consideration in this cycle. Applications were assigned to 15 panels according to their discipline and evaluated by 35 community reviewers from the local arts community. Reviewers scored the applications against criteria including: project concept, quality of artmaking and experience, impact on the applicant, engagement with an audience and/or community, and financial readiness. In addition, reviewers were asked to consider how each application aligned with both RACC’s core values and the City of Portland’s commitment to inclusively serving the community.

I’m so excited that RACC has been able to continue to partner with the City of Portland on grantmaking to support such a breadth and scope of arts projects. I am proud of the work the team and community have done to get funding out to creatives and artmakers. Now the truly exciting part where the community can start engaging with realized artistic projects can begin.

Ingrid Carlson, Senior Programs Officer at RACC.

RACC continues to collect demographic information, including the leadership and anticipated project audiences of organizational applicants in order to help fulfill the intentions of the Arts Access Fund, one funding source for this grant. Around 46 (or 50%) of the organizational projects will serve youth in their audiences or participants and 80 (or 89%) will reach other identified underserved communities. Of the artist applicants who provided information, over 43% of the grant recipients identified as people of color, 53% identified as LGBTQIA+, and 38% identified as low income.

In addition to Portland Arts Project Grants, two other grant opportunities were made available to  Portland creatives over the past six months, as detailed on the Office of Arts & Culture ’s website at portland.gov/arts-grants. RACC was contracted by the City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture alongside MusicOregon and Friends of IFCC to provide grantmaking services to our communities.

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Contact:

Meech Boakye

Communications Lead, RACC

mboakye@racc.org

Kelly Knickerbocker

Communications Coordinator,

City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture

kelly.knickerbocker@portlandoregon.gov

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About the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC): For decades, RACC has served every neighborhood of our region, ensuring arts and culture are accessible to all. Our nationally acclaimed public art program enlivens parks, community centers, government buildings, libraries and health clinics; brings people and communities together; and makes our region a more vibrant and welcoming place to be. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we work to elevate the voices and visibility of individual artists, creative organizations and arts nonprofits – especially those that serve underrepresented communities – amplifying their impact through grants, professional development and other vital resources. Through strategic partnerships, our team works to build coalitions and lead new initiatives, crafting a shared vision for an equitable future for arts and culture in our region. For more information, please visit racc.org.

About the Office of Arts & Culture at the City of Portland: Arts and culture are integral to our community and vital to Portland’s identity as a center of creativity. Artists and creative workers help define our culture, fuel our economy, and enhance our quality of life. We celebrate creativity in all its forms so that communities can connect, companies can flourish, and students can succeed in school and in life. The Office of Arts & Culture supports Portland’s arts and culture ecosystem and expands opportunities for Portlanders to participate in creative experiences. We do this through arts education coordination, cultural planning, grantmaking, public art and the Percent for Art program, and more. Our vision: arts at the center of public life in Portland.

Portland City Hall Candidates Show Strong Support for Arts and Culture in Recent Survey

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**For Immediate Release**   

October 21, 2024   

As the City of Portland’s November 2024 election approaches, the results of a comprehensive survey reveal that many candidates for mayor and City Council positions are committed to fostering arts and culture in the city. Conducted by a coalition of Portland arts leaders and organizations, in partnership with Oregon ArtsWatch, the survey drew responses from 47 of the 117 candidates running for office, reflecting the growing recognition of arts and culture as essential to economic recovery, neighborhood vitality, and downtown revitalization.   

The candidates who responded shared their thoughts on key arts policies, including support for the city’s 10-year cultural plan, **“Our Creative Future,”** which emphasizes equitable access to arts experiences and sustainable funding. A significant number of candidates endorsed the plan’s vision for arts integration at the neighborhood level, highlighting the role of creativity in fostering a vibrant community and a key strategy in the revitalization of downtown Portland.   

 “This survey shows that candidates understand the critical role arts and culture play in shaping Portland’s identity and economic vitality,” said Kandis Brewer Nunn, a co-initiator of the coalition’s effort. “As we enter this new chapter of city governance, it’s essential to ensure that these priorities are discussed and funded at a level that is commensurate with the benefit they are capable of providing.”  

 The survey followed a six-month effort by the group to develop and share fact based documents to help further candidate understanding of current conditions for art and culture, locally and nationally. The group desired to help ensure incoming council members will be as up to speed as possible when seated in January as policy and budgetary discussions and decisions begin across many sectors, including arts and arts education.  They, and many of the candidates, hope policies will be prioritized to expand access to creative experiences throughout Portland, ensure adequate funding for arts education, and support artists and arts organizations that deliver these benefits. 

This comes at a pivotal moment for the city, following the Portland City Council’s recent unanimous vote to renovate the Keller Auditorium and develop a second performance venue in partnership with Portland State University. Candidates also weighed in on the possibility of replacing the current $35 annual arts tax with a combined levy support for arts and parks programming.   

A number of candidates emphasized the need for neighborhood-based cultural programs as well as events and activities that would bolster the revitalization of downtown Portland.Others advocated for creating grant programs for community arts projects and “cultural districts.”   

About the Survey   

The survey, conducted between August 28 and September 30, invited candidates to share their positions on arts funding, cultural planning, and economic development. ArtsWatch coordinated the survey aspect of the project with the coalition of arts leaders and organizations across Portland. To view the full survey results, visit Oregon ArtsWatch. 

About the Informational Resources, Documents, and Communication with Candidates 

Information was drawn from several recent surveys on public opinion on the value of arts and culture, nationally, statewide and locally.  To access the baseline documents, visit the following links: 

Arts and culture 2024 Summary 

Our Creative Future: A Regional Framework to Advance Arts & Culture for All 

Local Arts & Economic Prosperity Study 6 

Oregon – Arts & Economic Prosperity Study 6 

Members of the coalition include:  

City of Portland Arts Leaders:  Meagan Atiyeh, Arts Consultant; Converge 45; Elizabeth Leach, Elizabeth Leach Gallery; Randy Gragg; Mike Lindberg, Civic Leader; Jennifer Cole, Jordan Schnitzer Dean, Pacific Northwest College of Art; Mack McFarland, PTSTMM Studio, Mario Mesquita, Manager of Advocacy & Engagement, Regional Arts & Culture Council; Schnitzer Properties, LLC; Kandis Brewer Nunn, Strategic Resources, LLC, Reuben Roqueni, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA); Karen Whitman, Karen Whitman Projects 

Reconfigurations: a New Public Artwork Installed Along Recently Developed South Tabor Access Trail

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Join us for a Celebratory Poetry Reading at Mt. Tabor Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 25, 2024

Meech Boakye, Communications Lead, RACC, mboakye@racc.org

Kristin Calhoun, Director of Public Art, RACC, kcalhoun@racc.org

Portland, OR — Join the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) on July 31st at 7 pm to celebrate the recently installed public artwork, Reconfigurations. The evening will take place beside the artwork located on the newly completed multi-modal trail South Tabor Access Trail, at SE 64th Avenue and Division Street to SE Sherman Street.

A collaboration between artists, writers, stones, and trees

Three configurations of stones, poetry and trees are set out along this path.

As the trees grow, the reconfiguring will continue…

Walk slowly. The person you are today will be different than the person you are tomorrow.

Reconfigurations began in 2016 when artist Adam Kuby was selected from the RACC Design Team Roster to join the design team of OPSIS Architecture and Lando Landscape Architecture for the Parks Replacement Bond project at Mt. Tabor Yard and the new access trail. The project took many twists and turns, eventually landing on the idea of three pairs of stones engraved with written text each with a tree in the middle which will eventually move (reconfigure) the placement of the stones over time.

Public Art Director Kristin Calhoun introduced Kuby to Dao Strom of de-canon as a potential collaborator for the written aspect of the work. Alongside Strom, a cohort of six poets was curated including Samiya Bashir, Trevino Brings Plenty, Sam Roxas-Chua, Anis Mojgani, Stephanie Adams-Santos.

Each poet was given the prompt to respond to the word reconfigurations in a poem of 30-40 words. Once they had each written their poems, they mutually decided to blend what they had done individually into a new poem that was then laid out & engraved on the six split stone faces set in three locations along the path.

On July 31st, the poets will read their poem aloud, walking the path alongside artist Adam Kuby and the audience. We hope to see you there! For more information, and recorded readings of the poems, please visit our website.

About the Regional Arts & Culture Council:

The Regional Arts & Culture Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides impactful and transformative funding for artists and nonprofit organizations in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties; manages an acclaimed public art program; leads an advocacy and arts education program; and offers a wide range of technical and professional development workshops. RACC advocates for equity, inclusion, and access, working to build a community in which everyone can participate in culture, creativity, and the arts. We remain steadfast in our mission to enrich every neighborhood we serve.

Greg Netzer Appointed Interim Executive Director at the Regional Arts & Culture Council

Written by

Six New Members Join RACC’s Board of the Directors

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

  • Meech Boakye
  • Communications Lead, RACC
  • Email: mboakye@racc.org

Portland, OR — May 1, 2024. The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Greg Netzer as Interim Executive Director. With over three decades of strategic consulting and leadership experience, Netzer steps into this role committed to fostering an equitable and thriving creative ecosystem in the Tri-County area.

Greg has been an active member of the arts community as the Executive Director of Wordstock now known as The Portland Book Festival. He was previously involved with RACC as a grant recipient, a panel reviewer, and an advocate for RACC offering testimony before the Portland City Council. As Interim Executive Director, Greg will collaborate closely with the staff, board, and community partners to assess and enhance how RACC serves its stakeholders.

Netzer’s diverse experience ranges from leading Fortune 100 companies to advisory roles in startup nonprofits. His extensive background positions him to lead RACC, providing him with deep insights into effective arts administration, strategic innovation, community engagement, and cultural advocacy.

“Greg Netzer is uniquely equipped to lead RACC during this pivotal time. His vast professional experience and personal dedication to the arts are exactly what RACC needs as we look to the future,” says Kathleen Holt, Interim Board Chair. “We are confident that his leadership will invigorate our new initiatives and strengthen our contributions to the region’s cultural landscape.”

RACC is also excited to announce the appointment of six members to our Board of Directors: Toni Tabora-Roberts, Tammy Jo Wilson, Matthew Landkamer, Mayra Arreola, Carla Pilar Salazar, and Bob Deasy. Jointly, these new members bring a rich spectrum of expertise spanning organizational management, artistic and cultural programming, policy implementation, and financial oversight.

“I’m excited to join the RACC Board of Directors at this inflection point in its history, and I look forward to supporting the staff in re-envisioning the future of RACC and identifying innovative and impactful approaches to continue to foster a lively future for arts and culture in the Metro area,” says newly appointed Matthew Landkamer.

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About the Regional Arts & Culture Council:

The Regional Arts & Culture Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides impactful and transformative funding for artists and nonprofit organizations in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties; manages an acclaimed public art program; leads an advocacy and arts education program; and offers a wide range of technical and professional development workshops. 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 www.racc.org.