RACC Blog

Creative Workers Back to Work with the Creative Economy Revitalization Act

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Full bill text can be found here.


Read our previous posts about CERA:

Creative Work is Work

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

 

References
www.creativeworkers.net

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

 

#regional411
#artsadvocacy
#ArtsHero
#WPAForTheArts
#PutCreativeWorkersToWork
#CreativeWorkers
#CreativeEconomyRevitalizationAct
#AFTA

Arts Education for All 2021 Act

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On Oct. 15, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR, District 1), Chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services, Chellie Pingree (D-ME), and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) introduced comprehensive legislation to increase access to arts education. Bonamici hosted a virtual rollout and reception of her Arts Education for All Act (H.R.5581), that will address equity gaps in access to arts education for K-12 students and youth and adults in the justice system.

The Arts Education for All Act has been endorsed by more than 300 national, state, and local organizations, including Americans for the Arts, National Association of Music Merchants, and Grantmakers for the Arts. We’ve added our name to the list of supporters and you can, too.

As an arts and culture organization with social justice embedded in our mission, vision, and values, we support arts organizations and artists that make a difference in our community through their impactful engagement in the arts with at-risk youth. The Arts Education for All Act will only enhance these programs.

“Arts and culture education for every Oregonian is our goal because it is critical to our understanding of each other, our healing, and our progress as a country,” said Sue Hildick, Senior Advisor to the Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon. We are beyond proud that our congresswoman has made this a priority.”

The bill covers various aspects of Arts Education including:

Caregiving & Early Education

  • Makes sure Child Care Development Block grant funding can be used for arts programming.

K-12 Access & Supporting Arts Educators

  • Expands Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) plan requirements to clarify how states can support and encourage arts education to improve student achievement in all subjects
  • Guarantees professional development for arts educators and for all educators on arts integration
  • Directs research activities on arts and arts education at the Institute of Education Sciences
  • Provides critical data to assess arts education disparities by reinstating the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the Arts, which was terminated in 2019.

Afterschool & Summer Learning

  • Reinforces that the integration of the arts and arts education can be accomplished by 21st Century Community Learning Centers and other arts nonprofit organizations
  • Incorporates support for partnerships to increase the amount of arts education and creative youth development available in afterschool and summer learning programs in state plans.

Arts Education and the Justice System

  • Requires state plans under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act to describe how the state will coordinate services and activities for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention with arts agencies and arts organizations
  • Facilitates arts education to be used for reentry efforts and to reduce recidivism by connecting adults involved in the justice system to educational opportunities and employment after reentry.

Read the press release from Oregon Representative Suzanne Bonamici here.

Locally, look no further than the Morpheus Youth Project’s mural program and the Multnomah County Court House Youth collaboration to see the importance of creativity in young people’s development. We know that it takes a village to raise, support, and elevate our youth. RACC is proud to promote and support these programs and collaboration with youth in our community.

Our artlook®oregon, a partnership with the Kennedy Center and Ingenuity-Chicago, provides a real-time arts education database platform that connects communities, schools, and families to arts-related resources in their backyard. These partnerships create the opportunity for a well-rounded arts education to be possible for all K-12 youth in our schools.

The Arts Education for All Act addresses the gap in access to arts education and has the potential to improve the lifelong  health and achievement of both children and adults. Arts education and programming can be federally funded under various existing programs, however, currently there is a lack of clarity and information available about how the funds can be used. Unfortunately, as we have witnessed in the Pacific Northwest, this results in limited and inequitable access to the arts for students and adults in underserved communities.

“The Arts Education for All Act will help bring the power of arts education to early childhood programs, low-income K-12 students and systems-involved youth on a scale we haven’t seen before,” said Eddie Torres, President and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts. “By empowering childcare, K-12 schools, and programs serving systems-involved youth, this bill has the potential to enrich lives and expand educational opportunities for millions,” said Eddie Torres, President and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts. “The arts community, but most importantly the children of our nation, owe a great deal of thanks to the innovative leadership of Representative Bonamici for introducing this critical legislation.”

If this becomes legislation, it will support and encourage arts education and programming for our youngest learners, K-12 students, including youth and adults involved in the criminal court and justice systems. The bill also includes provisions that support rigorous arts and arts education research to continue to inform how elementary and secondary education outcomes are affected by a well-rounded education.

The Arts Education for All Act incorporates support for partnerships to increase the amount of arts education and creative youth development available in afterschool and summer learning programs in state plans. We know art changes lives. We understand that a well-rounded arts education includes arts integration. This Act reinforces that the integration of the arts and arts education can be accomplished by 21st Century Community Learning Centers and other arts nonprofit organizations.

In collaboration with Trauma Informed Oregon, this spring we kicked off a series of trauma-informed workshops for our K-12 arts educators in six school districts in Multnomah County running through the 2021-2022 school year. These workshops are free, virtual, and provide much-needed resources to ensure our arts educators have the tools they need to address the trauma that we have all experienced. We know that the arts enable students to express themselves and navigate through stress and anxiety. The Arts Education for All Act guarantees professional development for our arts educators and arts integration specialists. We are proud to recognize the importance of social-emotional healing and recovery through the arts and provide these valuable workshops in our community.

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

A one-page summary of the Arts Education for All Act can be found here. The text of the legislation can be found here.

For more information please contact Chanda Evans & Mario Mesquita

#regional411
#ArtsEducation
#ArtsAdvocacy
#ArtsCreateHope

Creative Work Is Work

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Creative Economy Revitalization Act

Art has the power to remind us of all we have in common. It’s what turns a group of individuals into a community. As our nation recovers from the pandemic, the Creative Economy Revitalization Act (CERA) offers an opportunity to put Americans to work creating art that brings our communities together.

Our creative sector is a critical and robust part of our economy. As Oregon and the U.S. begin to recover from the pandemic, we have a responsibility to lift up those who were hit the hardest. This includes our creative workers and the communities they serve. Through the Creative Economy Revitalization Act (CERA) we have the opportunity to put Oregonians to work creating art that unites our communities. In a time when our nation is divided, the diversity of our cultures, as well as our differences and overlapping shared experiences, binds us together.

On a teal background in black letters: $.83 of every dollar invested in an artist is reinvested in local economies.

The Creative Sector Drives Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality
$.83
of every dollar		 Invested in an artist is reinvested in local economies in the form of supplies, rentals, supplemental hiring, and other expenses that would not occur without that initial investment
$31.47 Average amount each arts attendee spends beyond the ticket cost on meals, retail, parking, lodging, local transportation, childcare, and souvenirs. That’s over $100 billion each year to support local merchants, energize downtowns, and pay salaries and wages in non-arts sectors directly due to cultural events.

 

 

The creative economy drives our community’s economy! If our local creative economies collapse or are unable to effectively restart, communities across the country could face economic catastrophe, with an even more difficult time recovering and restarting. The 675,000 small businesses within the creative economy anchor highly interdependent local commercial ecosystems that create and sustain retail, restaurants, hospitality, tourism, and transportation. Of those, more than 9-in-10 are solo entrepreneurs. Previously, those businesses employ as many as 5 million people – over a third are independent or gig workers (more than 3.5 times the national average).

Who are Creative Workers?
You probably know a creative worker, now! There are 5.1 million creative workers in the U.S., as identified by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A creative worker is anyone who earns income from creative, cultural, or artistic-based pursuits, whether they earn that income independently (as an independent contractor, solo entrepreneur, or gig worker, for example) or via an employer. Creative workers use the unique human quality of individual expression to produce ideas, content, goods, and services.

As outlined in CERA, job titles that fall into the “creative worker” category include: art director, artist, animator, sculptor, writer, author, poet, photographer, musician, singer, producer, director, actor, announcer, storyteller, comedian, dancer, architect, designer (of any type), programmer, choreographer, technician, backstage or behind-the-scenes staff, curator, or other support staff who make creative work possible.

Creative workers pictured above selected from our “Capturing the Moment” call for artworks of all media created during 2020 pandemic.

On a teal background in black letters: 76% of artists have used their art to raise morale and create community cohesion during the pandemic

Creative Workers and Businesses Stand Ready to Aid Recovery
76% Of artists have used their art to raise morale and create community cohesion during the pandemic.
83% Of creative workers are ready today to put their creative practice to use as part of the national recovery.
89% Of arts nonprofits boosted morale through their art during the pandemic.

 


Creative Workers to Help Community Recover
CERA is a $300 million program that will mitigate creative worker displacement, stimulate local creative workforce growth, strengthen connections for local creative small businesses and networks, create a pipeline for new creative jobs, enrich communities, increase access to culture, and invest in creative workers and local economies that have been harmed by COVID-19.

The presence of arts and culture sparks additional spending on local businesses, restaurants, and hotels. It can increase property values, improve education outcomes for students, boost community pride and social cohesion while inspiring political and social activation. In addition to driving 4.3% of the country’s gross domestic product, arts and culture have significant local economic, social, and individual impact.

At the height of the pandemic, two-thirds of all creative workers (2.7 million people) were completely unemployed. Today, creative workers are 3-4 times more likely to be unemployed compared to the national rate. Nationally, creative economy jobs dropped by 53% between the end of 2019 and the middle of 2020, and have only recovered about half of that to date. The emergence of new variants of COVID-19 continues to threaten the fragile, partial re-opening of the creative sector that has begun. CERA seeks to employ artists/creatives and strengthen local economies by incentivizing investment in civic infrastructure fueled by creative workers and a recovering creative workforce.

CERA calls for the authorization of $300 million to the new grant program to be housed and administered at the Department of Labor, with advice and collaboration from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grants will go to local, state, and tribal agencies, workforce investment boards, and public or private nonprofit entities that can hire local creative workers and produce creative projects that meet local needs and priorities. These projects could include public artworks, festivals, performances, written works, anthologies and narrative collections from first responders and historically marginalized communities, and arts education work.*

*Adapted from creativeworkers.net

Click here to send an Action Alert to your representatives telling them to co-sponsor and vote for the Creative Economy Revitalization Act.

Read our previous blogpost about CERA.

#regional411
#artsadvocacy
#ArtsHero
#WPAForTheArts
#PutCreativeWorkersToWork
#CreativeWorkers
#CreativeEconomyRevitalizationAct
#AFTA

Reference Links
www.creativeworkers.net

Arts and Culture 2021 Legislative Priorities

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A message from Madison Cario, Executive Director, Regional Arts & Culture Council

Play the video.

2020 was a year like no other in RACC’s 49-year history. Through the lens of a devastating pandemic, we learned anew that arts, culture, history, heritage, and humanities are, and will continue to be, essential in our state, our nation, and around the world. Humanity has had to adapt to survive – changing the faces of communities throughout the world. Too many people have paid far too high a cost. We know the value that creative expression brings to us all and that public investment helps to ensure deeper access for all of our residents. Through this, we continue to stand strong as a community of creative providers.

2021 is a crucial legislative year for Oregon’s vital cultural sector. We are urging our state policymakers to prioritize arts, culture, heritage, and the humanities in order to encourage creativity, contribute to Oregon’s economic recovery, and rebuild community. Investing in Oregon’s creative and cultural life supports Oregonians’ values, promotes whole person health, strengthens communities, and attracts and retains workers in an innovation economy.  

RACC’s mission is to enrich our communities through arts and culture and our vision is a thriving region, powered by creativity, with arts and culture in every neighborhood. To do this, RACC promotes equity, diversity, inclusion, and access and uses a racial equity lens to advocate for the equitable distribution of resources and the creation of public policies that will provide support for the arts ecosystem now and into the future. 

Find out more and register for virtual Advocacy Day on April 23, hosted by many arts and culture organizations from around the state, and the Cultural Advocacy Coalition. Keep reading to learn about our shared legislative priorities and alignment with our coalition partners. 

ADVANCE EQUITABLE ACCESS TO A WELL-ROUNDED ARTS EDUCATION FOR OREGON STUDENTS  
RACC supports and will monitor the specific recommendations of the Joint Committee on Student Success for funding arts and music specialists in elementary schools as they are closely linked with work across the six Portland school districts receiving Arts Education Access Fund dollars.   

More on Portland’s Arts Education Access Fund explained here.  

EXPAND OREGON’S INVESTMENT IN ITS CULTURAL AGENCIES AND PARTNERS  
SB 5023 – Business Oregon Budget Bill; SB 5025 – Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Budget Bill  
Increased state funding of cultural agencies and partners leverages the full potential of Oregon’s creative and cultural resources to attract and retain business, increase tourism, improve education and enrich the lives of Oregonians through greater opportunity to access meaningful experiences in the arts, heritage, and the humanities, statewide. Now more than ever it is essential that the cultural sector be supported as Oregonians recover from the economic strains imposed by the pandemic. The statewide partners include:   

  • Oregon Arts Commission   
  • Oregon Cultural Trust   
  • State Historic Preservation Office and Heritage Commission   
  • Oregon Humanities   
  • Oregon Historical Society   

PROTECT TAX POLICIES ALLOWING THE CULTURAL SECTOR TO SERVE ITS PUBLIC MISSION, INCLUDING HISTORIC PRESERVATION OF OREGON’S GEMS 
SB 108 – Historic Property Tax Credit Extension for 10 Years  
Critical this year is renewal of the Historic Property Special Assessments which assist owners of commercial properties. We support an extension of at least ten years, through 2031, to provide time for local governments, preservation advocates, and others to update Oregon’s approach to current preservation needs.   

EXTEND OREGON FILM AND VIDEO OFFICE TAX CREDIT  
SB 43 – Tax Credit Extension for Six Years  
We support extending the sunset for labor rebates for qualifying film production and the tax credit for certified film production development contributions.   

CONTINUE TO INVEST IN CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE  
HB 5534 – Lottery Bonds  
By creating the Cultural Resources Economic Fund in 2013, the State established its role in expanding and strengthening cultural infrastructure by leveraging lottery bonds to invest in arts, heritage, and humanities infrastructure projects.  

WORK WITH KEY LEGISLATORS AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES TO REIMAGINE THE STATE SONG  
RACC supports legislative deliberations on revising the lyrics to the state song or starting fresh. We applaud suggestions for a broad participatory process grounded in equity and inclusion. To date, the Cultural Advocacy Coalition, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Humanities, and the Oregon Community Foundation have led these conversations. More information on the State song can be found here. 

PROTECT ITEMIZED DEDUCTIONS FOR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS  
HB 2255 – Limits Itemized Personal Income Tax Deductions for Charitable Contribution  
While tax policy is an important tool to incentivize activity and fund government services, the nonprofit sector is a partner in the service of public policy goals and should be promoted and strengthened through tax policy where possible. RACC does not support tax policy that discourages charitable giving by individuals.   

You can find more details on the Cultural Advocacy Coalition’s  legislative session priorities.   

Advocacy Day | Friday, April 23 

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SAVE THE DATE & REGISTER TODAY

Image description: a blue rectangle with a green silhouette of the state of Oregon sits under a green banner at the top that reads: “Advocacy Day, Friday, April 23rd.” Credit: Cultural Advocacy Coalition.

Join with us, many arts and culture organizations from around the state, and the Cultural Advocacy Coalition, for this year’s virtual Advocacy Day.  

Advocate for the arts from wherever you call home. Find links to the lineup of special guests, a fabulous training, and the premiere of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition’s new look. Register today and stay tuned for more details! 

We are urging our state policymakers to prioritize arts, culture, heritage, and the humanities in order to encourage creativity, contribute to Oregon’s economic recovery, and rebuild community. Investing in Oregon’s creative and cultural life supports Oregonians’ values, promotes whole person health, strengthens communities, and attracts and retains workers in an innovation economy.  

Learn more about our legislative focus for arts and culture advocacy in Oregon.

Questions about Advocacy Day? Write to Jamie Painter at jamie@oregonculture.org.  

RACC’s mission is to enrich our communities through arts and culture, and our vision is a thriving region, powered by creativity, with arts and culture in every neighborhood. An independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, we support greater Portland’s creative economy by providing equitable funding and services to artists and art organizations; managing and growing our diverse, nationally-acclaimed public art program; and developing long-lasting public and private partnerships. For more information visit racc.org. 

Montavilla wine shop bets on jazzy future

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Vino Veritas, located in Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood, features live jazz music

In mid-November, the day that Governor Brown’s 4-week “freeze” in Multnomah County went into effect, Vino Veritas General Manager, Trevor Gorham called RACC. Trevor was anxious to learn when his wine shop, Vino Veritas, would receive their grant funding. In business since April 2017, Vino Veritas is a small wine bar and bottle shop located in the Montavilla neighborhood of Southeast Portland with a devoted following thanks, in part, to their live music. They started offering music when the owner’s son asked if his band could play at the shop one-night a week. Customers liked it and before long, they had a robust rotation of jazz trios and other small groups playing live sets throughout the week. Because they normally provide a performance space, Vino Veritas was eligible for a portion of the $2.5 million in PDX Cares Venues funding administered through a partnership between Prosper Portland and the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

Jazz Concert – Eunice Parsons, 1984

After the initial shut down order in March, Vino Veritas pivoted their business model. They kept their doors open by focusing on phone and on-line orders bottle sales and offering curbside pick-up or delivery. As summer approached and restrictions loosened, they resumed more of their regular operations. Continuing to innovate, they added virtual programming, including on-line wine tastings. They also brought back the music. “At first our outside area could only hold a solo musician or a duo,” Trevor explained. Their customers responded, returning to Vino Veritas to enjoy the music and regain a feeling of normalcy. They expanded the covered area to hold a trio and a larger audience. “It meant so much to the musicians – and to the customers – to have live music again,” he added.

In April, Vino Veritas received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan but decided not to take the full amount. Like many, they underestimated the impact the virus would have on their business and were unsure of all the strings attached. “We also wanted to be sure other businesses like us had access to the funds,” Trevor explained. “When we first got the news (about the PDX CARES grant) we were speechless. This additional money helps us so much. We can now see the end and see how we are going to get through this.”

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.

Two new supports announced for our artists and art organization partners

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Arts and culture organizations, individual artists and creative workers need support now – we have been uniquely impacted and are among the first folks hurt financially by the limits on public gatherings and physical distancing requirements. 

That is why RACC moved quickly to advocate for and provide relief to the arts community. Our first actions included setting up the Emergency Fund for Individual Artists and bringing together arts funders from around the state to create a one-stop, pooled fund for nonprofit arts organizations administered by the Oregon Community Foundation. 

Last week, more than 200 artists were awarded emergency funds of up to $500. Next week, awards will go out to another 100+ artists – thanks to generous community support (donate here). 

We’ve been asking – what other support can we offer to artists and art organizations right now? 

I’m pleased to say we announced today two new efforts:  

Two new calls for public art – $85,000 total to invest in artists from Oregon and Southwest Washington, including new acquisitions of art for The Visual Chronicle of Portland. Find out more on our website – submissions due end of May. 

Distribution of $800,000 from RACC reserves directly to our local arts organization partners this fiscal year. These additional funds will go to the 68 arts organizations already receiving annual awards of general operating AND capacity building support from RACC. The reserve funds are available thanks to Portland residents that voted for and paid into the Arts Education and Access Fund also known as the “arts tax”. In 2018 RACC was given an unexpected allocation of arts tax revenue collected by the city. While much of that windfall went directly to our partners, placed a portion of those funds in reserve for the unexpected – such as we are now facing. 

We know the toll this pandemic is taking on our creative community and arts organizations. That is why we’ve moved quickly to provide emergency relief – collecting data, mobilizing resources and collaborating with other funding partners on behalf of artists and our arts nonprofits.  

We must also be strategic about what will follow, planning for the future and how to fortify and rebuild the region’s arts ecosystem. I look forward to continuing our work together on behalf of the artists and arts community that will help all of us build and heal our City.

-Madison Cario, Executive Director, Regional Arts & Culture Council