RACC Blog

Arts for All Program Increases Access and Outreach in Community

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The Regional Arts & Culture Council Announces a Relaunch of the Arts for All Program to Increase Engagement and Outreach in Our Community, and Beyond, Ensuring Arts & Culture Are Accessible for All

We envision a community that supports, engages with, and finds joy in arts and culture being accessible by all–not just those who can afford to pay, but also for those with limited resources. RACC wants opportunities to be available for all members of our community. We want people to be uplifted, enjoy arts and cultural events, and be part of the creative fabric of our state. The Arts for All program was conceived by a group of thoughtful arts leaders more than 10 years ago to ensure that everyone receiving assistance through the Oregon Trail Card/SNAP could attend arts and cultural events for $5 a ticket.

While the Arts for All program has flourished and steadily grown, we have seen that there is a need to increase its accessibility. To achieve our goals, we are relaunching the program with renewed engagement and outreach. Our goals include making the information downloadable from our website at www.racc.org and distributing printed materials throughout the region to hundreds of non-profit social service agencies, county and city government offices, schools, health departments and clinics, community centers, arts and culture organizations, and more. Program information will be available in six languages and will be at culturally specific locations.

Friends of Chamber Music was proud to be one of the founding member organizations of Arts for All back in 2011, and I’ve personally had the privilege of continuing to help coordinate the program for the last several years. It’s been so gratifying to see the impact Arts for All has had in making the arts accessible to all parts of our community and see it become a model for similar programs across the country.  – Pat Zagelow, Friends of Chamber Music Executive Director

The Arts for All program enables us to enjoy arts and culture together while ensuring access for all. Without the support and dedication of arts organizations in our community, this program would not be possible. We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Hult Center for Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon. The expansion of the Arts for All program throughout the state ensures better access to arts and culture for all of our residents.

RACC looks forward to hearing the community’s response for this renewed launch and engagement opportunity for Arts for All. Please let us know how we can continue to ensure that access to arts and culture activities is available for all who wish to participate. Let us know how we can make this community-centered program better! – Carol Tatch, Executive Director, Regional Arts & Culture Council

The organizations who have joined RACC to ensure access to arts and culture in our community are listed at racc.org/artsforall. Please support these arts and cultural organizations any way that you can to show your support for arts and culture access for all. For more information, please email us at arts4all@racc.org.

Supporting RACC & Contacting Portland City Council

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The recent announcement by City of Portland Commissioner Dan Ryan to discontinue its 28-year contract with the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has ignited a passionate response within the creative community. RACC, a 501(c)(3) organization, has been a steadfast advocate for artists and creatives in the tri-county region, ensuring equitable access to funding, resources, and opportunities. This decision raises questions about the future of art and culture in our beloved city, and it’s essential that we rally together to ensure our artistic community remains vibrant and flourishing.

As we grapple with this decision, it’s important to remember that our collective voice can drive change. We have the power to advocate for artistic equity and ensure that RACC’s vital contributions continue to enrich the lives of countless individuals in our city. To that end, RACC has provided tools and templates for written and oral testimony that you can use to voice your support and concerns to City of Portland Commissioners.

Taking Action: Making Your Voice Heard
By utilizing the tools and templates provided by RACC, you can draft emails or letters to City of Portland Commissioners, expressing your views and urging them to reconsider the decision. Download the templates at the right, personalize them with your thoughts and experiences, and send them to the provided email or physical addresses. https://www.portland.gov/council-clerk/engage-council 

Email Council Members
Mayor Ted Wheeler: mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov
Commissioner Carmen Rubio Carmen.Rubio@portlandoregon.gov
Commissioner Dan Ryan Dan.Ryan@portlandoregon.gov
Commissioner Rene Gonzalez gonzalezoffice@portlandoregon.gov
Commissioner Mingus Mapps Mingus.Mapps@portlandoregon.gov

Submit Written Testimony
Written testimony may be submitted for specific agenda items by visiting the Council agenda or by mail to: Council Clerk, 1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 130, Portland, OR 97204. Written testimony is not read out loud into the record during the meeting.

councilclerk@portlandoregon.gov
Please submit written testimony by visiting the Council Agenda (testimony is not accepted by email).  Please call 503-823-4082
Reference: Engage with Council Page

Together, let’s paint a future where art knows no boundaries, where diverse voices are celebrated, and where creativity flourishes in every corner of our city. Through our collective efforts, we can ensure that RACC’s legacy endures, enriching our lives and those of future generations through the power of art and culture.

Here are other ways how you can make your voice heard and stand up for RACC’s important work:

Donate to Support RACC

Your financial support can make a tangible difference in sustaining RACC’s programs and initiatives. As a 501(c)(3) organization, RACC leverages public and private funding to champion artists and creatives. Your contribution ensures that their crucial work continues to flourish. Form can be found here.

Participate in City Council Meetings

City Council meetings offer a platform to share your thoughts and experiences. By providing written or oral testimony, you can influence the decision-making process and highlight the importance of RACC’s role in fostering artistic diversity and inclusion. RACC’s Advocacy Hub provides templates and tools to help you prepare effective testimony.

Arts Oversight Committee- Arts Education & Access Income Tax Fund

These meetings are open to the public and convene virtually. The committee is comprised of a group of Portland volunteers who are passionate about arts and culture in our community and work to ensure the AEAF monies are spent according to the ballot measure passed by the residents in the City of Portland in 2012. For more information go here.

Engage in Open Dialogue

Communication is key during this pivotal time. Please join us for our Community Engagement Series, happening now at various community spaces around the region. If you have questions, concerns, or insights regarding the situation, don’t hesitate to reach out to RACC at advocacy@racc.org. Your feedback and engagement are vital in shaping the direction of their advocacy efforts.

Apply for the Arts3C Grant

If you’re an artist or creative looking to contribute to the cultural landscape, consider applying for the Arts3C Grant. This grant program, now open for Fall 2023 applications, offers invaluable opportunities to bring your artistic visions to life and contribute to Portland’s thriving arts scene.

Shaping a Brighter Future for the Arts
As we stand united in support of RACC, we’re not only advocating for an organization; we’re advocating for the very heart and soul of our creative community. RACC’s dedication to equitable access, representation, and artistic enrichment has transformed countless lives and empowered artists to express themselves authentically.

 

Arts Education and Access Fund 2021 Logo Design Winner

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Rose City Park Elementary third-grader selected

Vincente, Rose Waterfall, logo design 2021

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2021 Arts Education and Access Fund (AEAF) Logo Competition. The competition challenged students to reimagine the original logo to illustrate how the fund supports the community and showcase students who benefit from arts education in school.

Arts education helps children develop the skills they need in order to communicate effectively, expand their analytical thinking, and engage with their community. In traumatic, turbulent times like these, art can be a literal lifeline for social, emotional, and mental health.

Arts Education and Access Fund 2021 Logo Design Competition

Winner

Vincente, a third-grader at Rose City Park Elementary School

Finalists

Edison, a fifth-grader at Rose City Park

Cate, a seventh-grader at Sunnyside Environmental School

All students attend Portland Public Schools.

The design competition was open to all students from kindergarten to eighth grade who receive arts education in Portland’s six school districts: Portland Public, Parkrose, Reynolds, David Douglas, Centennial and Riverdale. The design challenge was to for students create a new AEAF logo over Winter Break 2020. The competition was a collaboration between RACC and the City of Portland’s Arts Oversight Committee.

A panel of judges including professors and officials from Reed College, University of Portland, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland State University, Portland Art Museum, Echo Theater Company, Office of Commissioner Dan Ryan and the City of Portland Department of Revenue reviewed the submissions and selected the winner.

Read Vincente’s interview with RACC’s Arts Education Access Fund Specialist, Chanda Evans.

Vincente, AEAF Logo Design Competition 2021 Winner

Vincente, why did you decide to submit your art for the AEAF Competition?
Because I wanted to see how good at art I am. I tried my best.

What inspires you about art?
Happiness. I have a sign in my room “Build Yourself Up and Never Give Up” I want people to become happy when they see my art.

Did you have fun doing the drawing? What is the title of your piece?
Yeah – the name is The Rose Waterfall. Because there is a waterfall behind the rose.

How do you feel about your logo design used by different School Districts and Arts Organizations across the Portland Metro region?
Excited! I thought I would never win!

Your Art Teacher is Ms. Vang, what is your favorite part of having art at Rose City Park Elementary?
She helped me in first grade making faces – so she helped me learn art. She is nice.

If you could give advice to a budding artist, someone who is just starting to draw or paint, what would you tell them?
Become yourself. Draw any art in the future – what you do is art. All art. Just be true.

 

Learn more about Portland’s Arts Education and Access Fund.

The Arts Education & Access Fund Oversight Committee seeks new members. Commitments include quarterly meetings, with a variety of projects in between.

Current Chair Laura Streib explains the committee’s purpose, “The committee engages with City of Portland officials, the Regional Arts & Culture Council and school districts to make sure the AEAF is doing what the charter set out for it to do – ensure funding for K-5 Arts Education teachers and support for accessibility and access to the arts and arts organizations.” Find out more.

Give Because There Is A Need

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by Carol Tatch, Director of Philanthropic Innovation

What a pleasure to join the staff of RACC in August 2020. Already I have had a whirlwind of opportunities, learning more about our creative community, connect with folx, and work with my colleagues to envision our “next”!  In this new role, Director of Philanthropic Innovation, I am thrilled to be charged with helping to imagine new and renewed ways to harness resources for this region’s incredible arts communities. As RACC repositions itself to increase support for artists, the creative economy, and arts organizations, we also look to steward and expand community investments by working with local partners across sectors as an advocate for this work. I am grateful for those who worked diligently over RACC’s 47 years, 25 years as a 501(c)(3), to make this moment possible for me.

Dana Paresa, Under Quarantine II, 2020, new acquisition to the Visual Chronicle of Portland

I look forward to each conversation and engagement that helps this happen. I encourage your participation and your challenge to RACC to serve our community – and our partners – in thoughtful, forward-thinking, and life-affirming ways. Without our creativity, we are not whole. Let’s embrace the change we want to see and make it happen for our creative community and for each of us. Supporting Arts and Culture supports us all.

As some funding opportunities are receding, we are seeking to new opportunities to gather partners to invest in the artistic and cultural expressions that bind us all together and help to shape the better world we want to live in. From every level of our communities, artists are using their powers of self-expression to radically change the prevailing narrative. They are creating new stories and imagining new frameworks for how we continue the work of social justice, social change, and racial equity reform that starts at the community-level and reaches high into political spaces where deep conversations make real change.

When (RACC) pivoted its grantmaking focus this spring to support artists and creative impacted by COVID-19, we knew it was the right thing to do. As a part of that effort, our Emergency Fund for Artists and Creative Workers was launched in an effort to support the most vulnerable amongst of creative community during this time. The over 800 applications we received from creatives in our community let us know it was the correct action.

Thanks to our wonderful donors and community partners we are able to report that we have met the need of over 50% of these requests. Our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to every person who saw or heard our request and responded to help anchor our artists so strongly. Each award is $500 and the application process is simple—let us know that you have need.

“What absolutely extraordinary news!! I am so grateful for this critical assistance. It feels so good to be held-up a bit by my community. Thank you again.” – Emergency Fund grant recipient

We would like to keep this outlaying of direct community funding going, so please consider a gift to our Emergency Fund for Artists and Creative Workers. Every penny goes to support the incredible artistic and cultural expression we love to embrace and share.

We accept gifts via credit card, direct debit (sign up to become a sustainer!), and stock. Click this link to support your creative community today! You can also send your support via U.S. Postal Service to our office: RACC, 411 NW Park Ave., Suite 101, Portland OR 97209-3356.