RACC Blog

Oregon Artists and Arts Organizations report $56M lost revenue

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

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

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

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

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

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

Portland’s arts tax is a good deal

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by Jeff Hawthorne, the interim executive director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Published in The Oregonian on October 8, 2017. 

The arts tax is supported by Portland taxpayers because it benefits Portland’s public school students, yields economic dividends and makes our community better. The Oregonian/OregonLive’s recent editorial, “Portland’s arts tax should go back to the ballot,” lacked important context.

Ninety-three percent of Americans believe arts education is critical to a well-rounded education. But when school budgets are squeezed, arts education invariably finds itself on the chopping block. That is why 62 percent of Portlanders voted to tax themselves to ensure that public grade schools in the city have at least one art or music teacher. Mission accomplished.

So then why does The Oregonian brazenly assert that the arts tax “specifies arts for only certain students?” In fact, every K-5 public school student in Portland benefits. Before the arts tax, there were 31 arts specialists. Today there are 92, that’s one teacher for every 381 students, and a vast improvement from the 1:997 ratio that existed before the arts tax. We agree that state government and local school boards should fully fund arts education for every student, but until that happens, the arts tax is the only thing keeping many art and music teachers on staff, plain and simple.

Furthermore, the arts tax provides critical resources through the Regional Arts & Culture Council for Portland’s nonprofit arts and culture sector. Prior to 2012, Portland’s general fund invested about $6 per capita in the council for the nonprofit arts sector. Today, with additional revenue from the arts tax, Portland’s investment is $9.38 per capita. That’s still below the national average and trailing other cities that compete for creative talent, including $12 per capita in Austin, Texas, and almost $14 per capita in Seattle. Portland is still playing catch-up.

Cities across the country understand that investments in artists and arts organizations produce better results in education, a higher quality of life for residents and a more creative workforce. These investments are fully consistent with Portland’s goals to ensure a healthy, prosperous and equitable community.

The organizations funded by the Regional Arts & Culture Council provide an array of programs that bring diverse communities together and enhance the educational experience for tens of thousands of schoolchildren every year. Artists and arts organizations provide services for people experiencing homelessness, bring disenfranchised communities and police together to discuss public safety issues, expand opportunities for people with disabilities and provide $5 tickets for low-income Oregonians through the Arts for All program. Public funding makes all of this possible.

Public investments in the arts yield economic dividends as well. In addition to the tax, the city and Multnomah County last year invested a combined $8 million in the council that was distributed in grants and services. Those investments resulted in more than $294 million of economic activity, supporting 10,146 full time jobs with taxable income that returned $12.5 million back into local government coffers, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 study we recently published with Americans for the Arts. That’s a 156 percent return on investment, supporting other vital city and county services.

Portlanders are getting a great deal through the arts tax. If spending an additional $200,000 from the city’s general fund helps the city collect another $1 million to $2 million, which can be invested in arts education and access initiatives that benefit all Portlanders, I’d say that’s a good deal, too.

NEA Approved for Arts Funding Increase

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Issued by Americans for the Arts on May 25, 2016.

Today (May 25)  the House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations approved a $2 million increase in federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), matching the President’s budget request for a total of $149.8 million for fiscal year 2017. The National Endowment for the Humanities was approved at the same increased funding level as the NEA.

This bill will next be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee and later by the entire House and Senate chambers. Amendments to add or cut funding could happen along the way. We will keep you informed of major legislative developments and/or calls to action.

Check the Arts Action Fund website for details of the proposed increases allocated to the other federal cultural agencies and institutions.

RACC extends the John C. Hampton Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts to The Standard’s Greg Ness

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PORTLAND, ORE — On February 24th the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) will host the annual Arts Breakfast of Champions where it will award The Standard’s Greg Ness with The John C. Hampton Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts. The award has only been given out three times and will be presented to Ness by Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish.

Ness is the Chairman, President and CEO of The Standard, where he started in 1979. He is a strong advocate for The Standard’s giving in the arts sector. He has personally given 16 years of service to Portland Center Stage, six of which he served as Board Chair. Ness has also chaired the Armory Theater Fund Board and was instrumental in securing funds for the acquisition, development and maintenance of the Bob and Diana Gerding Theatre.

Under Ness’ leadership, The Standard consistently ranks in the top five for arts giving, and each year runs an unsurpassed employee giving campaign during which the company matches employee giving dollar-for-dollar. In 2015 alone, The Standard’s employee campaign raised more than $2.2 million for the arts, schools and other nonprofits. They are leaders in the Work for Art program, and Ness’ personal commitment to supporting art is clearly infused throughout his company.

Ness believes that arts and cultural organizations play a major role in vibrant communities and that they have the potential to change the way we look at things. The Hampton Award honors and celebrates his commitment to supporting the arts in the Portland metropolitan region.

John C. Hampton was head of Oregon’s largest lumber manufacturer, Hampton Affiliates. In the early 1980s he took the idea to provide long-term funding for three of Portland’s major arts institutions—Portland Opera, Portland Art Museum and Oregon Symphony—and helped establish permanent, restricted endowments for each.

Hampton has said to business leaders, “The arts are not a frill. The arts are not a luxury. The arts are vital to our existence. Without art, without literature, without theatre, without music, without culture, we are a barren society that will atrophy and die. The arts are essential components of the fabric of our society. The arts stimulate the part of our being that is central to progress. The arts are not peripheral to our existence. They are fundamental to our core values.”

The award is for a business leader who not only gives, but inspires others to give; shares his passion for the arts; encourages his employees to participate in the arts and has chaired arts boards or major fundraising campaigns.

The Arts Breakfast of Champions was started in 1995 by Northwest Business for Culture and the Arts as an annual celebration of corporate philanthropy. As NWBCA closed its doors in the summer of 2015, RACC adopted this important event and established a new Business Committee for the Arts that is continuing this breakfast.

In addition to the John C. Hampton Award, the event will honor Business Champions for the Arts,  Work for Arts Champions, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, a Small Business Champion and an Inspirational Creative Partnership.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council serves artists, arts organizations, schools and residents throughout Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. RACC values a diversity of artistic and cultural experiences and works to build a community in which everyone can participate in culture, creativity and the arts.

Event details:

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
8AM event, with pre-event coffee and networking starting at 7:30AM

Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave.
Portland, OR 97205

Tickets are $125 at www.regonline.com/2016ABOC.  

Issued by RACC on 2/17/16

The Right Brain Initiative and Work for Art release reports

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PORTLAND, ORE — Two programs of the Regional Arts & Culture Council – The Right Brain Initiative and Work for Art – have published summaries of their accomplishments and finances for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015. 

The Right Brain Initiative’s 2015 Progress Report illustrates RACC’s unique approach to supporting K-8 educators in the Portland tri-county region. Through workshops, coaching, and collaboration with artists, Right Brain helped 1,220 Portland area educators integrate the arts into their teaching during the 2014-15 school year. The report features profiles of teachers who are served by the program, all of whom describe how Right Brain has helped them and their colleagues learn to teach differently.

“Supporting and training teachers helps us catalyze a new relationship between public schools and the arts, making creative thinking a fundamental part of the learning process for all kids,” said Marna Stalcup, director of arts education at RACC. “We haven’t always talked a lot about this aspect of our work, but it’s part of our DNA.”

The Right Brain Initiative benefited 19,324 students last school year, 55% of whom qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. This school year, Right Brain is growing to serve 63 schools in seven Portland area school districts. Read more by downloading the full report.  

The Annual Report for Work for Art provides a summary of RACC’s 9th workplace giving campaign for the arts. A total of $750,350 was raised between July, 2014 and June, 2015, and the report includes the names of all campaign donors – including nearly 2,000 employees at 75 companies in the region. Work for Art donations are matched dollar-for-dollar by a public-private matching challenge fund, and proceeds are distributed to approximately 100 arts organizations every year.

“Over the past nine years, Work for Art has distributed more than $6.2 million in grants and direct gifts to arts and culture organizations based in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties,” said program manager Kathryn Jackson. “Their work plays out every day in theaters, concert halls, galleries, hospitals, libraries, classrooms and community centers throughout the region.”

Earlier this year, Work for Art announced that it has set an ambitious goal to raise $1 million in celebration of its 10th Anniversary Campaign that began in July, 2015 and runs through June 30, 2016. Mike Golub, President of Business Operations at the Portland Timbers, and Dave Lofland, President of KeyBank Oregon and SW Washington, are co-chairing the campaign. To learn more and contribute, visit workforart.org.

In late December, RACC will publish its “Year in Review” for all programs along with audited financial statements for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015.

Americans for the Arts presents national award to Jeff Hawthorne

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PORTLAND, ORE – Americans for the Arts, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America, announced six recipients of the 2015 Americans for the Arts Annual Leadership Awards. Among this year’s honorees, Jeff Hawthorne, director of community engagement for the Regional Arts & Culture Council, will receive the Michael Newton Award. 

For the past 25 years, the Michael Newton Award has recognized exemplary leadership skills and extraordinary dedication to supporting the arts through a united arts fund, which is a combined effort to raise money on behalf of multiple arts institutions in the community (like Work for Art), and through other unique and powerful partnerships with the private sector.

In his position with RACC, Jeff Hawthorne collaborates with community partners to increase funding and visibility for the local arts community. He is responsible for strategies to secure public and private funds that compose RACC’s annual budget, which has grown from $3.8 million in 2003 to $10.2 million in 2015. Hawthorne designed and implemented Oregon’s first united arts fund, Work for Art, which has raised $6.2 million over the last nine years, mostly through workplace giving campaigns. Hawthorne also oversees RACC’s outreach and communications efforts, and manages research projects that help quantify the value of the local arts community. He graduated cum laude from the University of Portland with a B.A. in theater management, and currently serves on the boards of the Northwest Regional Re-Entry Center and Oregon’s Cultural Advocacy Coalition. 

“All of our Leadership Awards honorees have distinguished themselves as tremendous leaders and passionate advocates for the arts and arts buycialisquality.com education,” said Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “These leaders have implemented innovative and transformative programs to strengthen the communities they serve, and their unwavering commitment to local, state, and national support for the arts is deserving of this recognition.”

Honorees will be presented their awards at the Americans for the Arts 2015 Annual Convention in Chicago during the Opening Plenary session, Friday, June 12, 2015 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

The five other recipients are: 

•           Association for Public Art, Pennsylvania: Public Art Network Award

•           Eric Booth, New York: Arts Education Award

•           Lara Davis, Washington: American Express Emerging Leaders Award

•           Richard E. Huff, Texas: Selina Roberts Ottum Award

•           Ann Marie Miller, New Jersey: Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award

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Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education in America. With offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, it has a record of more than 50 years of service. Americans for the Arts is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. Additional information is available at www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council, a local arts agency, serves Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties. RACC provides grants for artists, schools and nonprofit organizations; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; advocates for public and private investments in the arts; provides technical assistance; produces printed and web-based resources for artists; and helps artists and classroom teachers integrate the arts into other K-8 subjects. Online at www.racc.org.