Nine Portland arts organizations receive additional support from RACC to advance equity work

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded nine Equity Investment grants to arts organizations in Portland. These grants, totaling $239,550, are made possible through funding from the City of Portland’s Arts Education and Access Fund, or Arts Tax.

“Portland taxpayers voted in 2012 to expand arts education and access in Portland,” said RACC’s executive director, Madison Cario. “We appreciate this important funding source, which helps RACC help organizations that are working to make their programs more equitable and accessible.”

RACC Equity Investments grants, established in 2017, provide additional funding to RACC’s General Operating Support partners for initiatives that are expanding access for Portland residents. Organizations may apply for support to build internal capacity to address issues of equity, to engage new audiences, or develop new programming models.

“Collaboration and learning are key when it comes to equity work, and we are excited to be supporting organizations that are doing rich learning with their staff and board related to diversity, equity, inclusion and access work,” said Ozzie Gonzalez, vice chair of the RACC board and chair of RACC’s Grants Review Committee. “We are also eager to support organizations that are expanding their programming and collaborating with community partners to expand Portlanders’ access to the arts.”

Following a panel review process and approval by the board, RACC will invest in the following organizations and projects:

• Artists Repertory Theatre, $25,000 to support a two-day equity workshop for staff, resident artists, and staff of resident companies.
• Independent Publishing Resource Center, $31,050 over three years to support a paid residency program for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
• Oregon Children’s Theatre, $10,000 to continue work with consultants to advance the organization’s work on diversity, equity, inclusion and access.
• PHAME, $20,000 to support partnership programming with other arts organizations.
• Portland Center Stage, $52,500 over three years to support PCS’s  commitment that at least half of the partners hired in community engagement programs will be people of color and/or culturally specific organizations.
• Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, $9,000 to fund an equity assessment with consultants.
• Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, $40,000 over two years to support SPACE program events in 2019–2021.
• Portland Playhouse, $40,000 over two years for the creation of a staff position.
• Portland Youth Philharmonic Association, $12,000 to fund an equity assessment with consultants.

These grants are consistent with RACC’s ongoing commitment to more equitable distribution of resources. Other changes announced by RACC over the last two years include a new structure for project grants with more frequent deadlines; a plan to increase the number of arts organizations that receive general operating support; a capacity building program for organizations that are led by and serving historically underrepresented communities; and a new progressive funding model designed to increase the amount of general operating support provided to small to midsize arts organizations.

RACC will offer a second cycle of Equity Investments in May.  Application materials will be distributed to GOS partners the first week of April and will be due by 5pm on Wednesday, May 8. Funding decisions approved in late June.

Changes to General Operating Support

This post has been updated to reflect the final changes to the GOS program adopted by the RACC Board of Directors on February 6. All current GOS partner organizations have received an email communication from RACC updating them on these changes and indicating Base Award and Investment Award information for FY19-20. If you have questions about how these changes will impact your organization, or if you did not receive an email notification, please contact your Grants Officer. RACC’s Press Release regarding these changes in available here.

Starting in Fiscal Year 19-20, RACC will be adopting a new structure for its General Operating Support (GOS) program. This structure revises the allocation strategy for distribution of GOS funds, and makes us more nimble, inclusive, and strategic. These changes will mean our workplace giving and grants teams work closer together to increase the impact of RACC’s support for GOS organizations. Please see the details below on what is changing, why it is changing, and get your questions answered.

What’s changing?

• Beginning in FY19-20 RACC will be adopting a new structure for the General Operating Support grant program. Grant awards will be split into two parts – the Base Award and Investment Awards.
• The Base Award is a stable, predictable allocation for which organizations can budget and plan. Base Awards are set in tiers based on the size of an organization’s budget. As long as organizations continue to meet eligibility requirements and submit annual reports, they can count on receiving a Base Award. In Fy19-20, RACC expects to award approximately $2 million in Base Awards.
• Investment Awards will be granted through a competitive process in three categories –Community Impact, Operations, and Artistic Work. Each organization will have the opportunity to receive Investment Award funds in addition to their Base Award, depending on how they score in the review process. You can learn more about how the Investment categories will be evaluated here. In FY19-20, RACC expects to award approximately $1 million in Investment Awards.

What’s staying the same?

Eligibility requirements for GOS will not be changing. The membership structure of the program will also continue, but be re-framed as partnership rather than membership.

Why is it changing?

These structure changes make us more flexible, inclusive, representative, and strategic in our funding. Over the last six years, the revenue generated from the Arts Education and Access Fund (commonly known as the Arts Tax) has varied widely. While collections have improved significantly over the years, it remains challenging to predict the amount of funding RACC will receive and when it will arrive. In summer 2017, RACC’s Grants Review Committee began a process to revise the GOS program to be flexible and allow us to more quickly and easily invest this fluctuating revenue in the community.

In addition to addressing the instability of arts tax revenue, the new structure will allow RACC to both provide stability through Base Awards, while also offering additional support for organizations based on their operational health, artistic programming, and community benefit.

Finally, as part of our equity work, RACC is committed to acknowledging the historic disparity of our funding model and the changing demographics of our region. The proposed changes to the GOS program will allow RACC to more clearly and effectively encourage equity work in all our partner organizations, and also pave the way for additional organizations led by historically underserved communities to become GOS partners.

When is it changing?

These changes will take effect starting in FY2019-20, which begins July 1, 2019. Current GOS partners will continue to report annually at one of the three reporting deadlines, and as previously communicated, they will receive the same allocation in FY2018-19 as in the past two years. Reports will continue to be accepted in three cycles with deadlines in November, February, and May.

FAQs

When will my organization receive our Base Award? What about our Investment Award?
GOS Partner Reports will continue to be accepted at three deadlines each year in November, February, and May. Base Awards will be distributed as soon as the review of your report is complete – typically 8-12 weeks after the report is due. Investment Awards will be distributed one-time annually at the end of RACC’s fiscal year in June.

Why was my organization placed in this tier?
RACC has placed organizations in tiers based on your average eligible income over your last three fiscal years. Eligible income is your total unrestricted revenue less: revenue for programs outside RACC’s service region, revenue from programs provided in spaces that are not ADA accessible, non-arts earned income, and in-kind revenue. A table of base award amounts by tier is available here.

How much revenue from RACC should I include in my budget?
We strongly recommend that Partner Organizations budget to receive their Base Award each year. The Base Award is specifically designed to be consistent and reliable, and is a good conservative figure to use when creating your organization’s budget. Investment Awards may vary significantly between years and we don’t recommend that organizations budget around them.

How will Investment Awards be determined?
Investment Awards will be determined based on an organization’s score in our three investment areas. You can read more about how we evaluate these areas in the Investment Award Framework. We currently expect Investment Awards to range in size from $5,000 to $40,000. These award amounts will be set entirely based on score and are not related to the budget size of the organization. We will provide more detail and reporting guidelines to partner organizations when updated Partner Report forms are released in summer 2019. If you have questions about Investment Awards, please contact your RACC grants officer for more information.

How will RACC evaluate equity work in GOS partners?
Rather than having a separate Investment Award or category for equity work, RACC will be evaluating equity work in all three Investment Award categories – Community Impact, Operations, and Artistic Work. For example, the diversity of an organization’s staff and board is one indicator of operational health. The GOS report will continue to include demographic questions.

What happened to Work for Art funding?
Work for Art has evolved to become RACC’s Arts Impact Fund. Funds raised through their campaigns will be awarded as part of each organizations annual Investment Award.

How will these changes impact organizations based in Washington or Clackamas Counties?
Organizations based in Washington and Clackamas counties do not receive funding from Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund and will not be impacted by most of these changes. These organizations will see changes to the GOS report forms, but will continue to receive county funding as a Base Award. They will not be eligible to receive Investment Awards.

Who to contact with more questions:

Ingrid Carlson, Grants Officer | icarlson@racc.org | 503.823.5417

The Professional Development Grant program assists artists or arts administrators with opportunities that specifically improve their business management development skills and/or brings the artist or the arts organization to another level artistically. The RACC Board approved these 34 Professional Development Grants totaling $45,400 on December 12, 2018. (*First time grant recipients)

2018-19 Professional Development Grant awards (Cycle 2):

*Alexandra Czyzewicz – Attend NafME NW Division Choral Conference in Portland and ACDA National Choral Conference in Kansas City, MO – $900

*Alison Thomas – Study circus skills in private instruction with Jack Stocklynn – $1,000

*Bonnie Ratner – Study contemporary dramatic writing with playwright and consultant E.M. Lewis – $1,500

*Charles Purvis – Study bookbinding with artist and bookmaker Rory Sparks in Portland – $630

Darrell Grant – Study with composer Gabriel Lena Frank in two intensive workshops at Creative Music Academy in Boonville, CA – $1,920

*Ellen Lesperance – Present work in “Still I Rise” group exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary and give artist’s talk in Nottingham – $960

*Heather Binns – Attend 4-day Photolucida Portfolio Reviews in Portland first time – $900

*Jade Novarino – Attend 1-month at 2727 California Street art residency in Berkeley, CA – $1,200

*Jake Simonds – Study clown performance in workshop intensive with Phillippe Gaulier at Ecole Internationale de Theatre Philippe Gaulier in Paris – $1,750

*Jenelle Steele – Study French bow making with bow maker Tom Goering in 2-week intensive workshop in Topeka, Kansas – $1,740

*Jody Ake – Attend 4-day Photolucida Portfolio Reviews in Portland first time – $900

Julie Perini – Hire graphic designer for brand development and artist coach – $820

*Kim Taylor Blakemore – Attend 3-day Historical Novel Society North America Conference in National Harbor, MD – $1,700

*Kristen Miller – Attend 3-month Kemijarvi Artist Residency in Iceland – $2,000

*Lacey Monroe – Attend 4-day Photolucida Portfolio Reviews in Portland first time – $900

*Lauren Hare – Attend 4-day Photolucida Portfolio Reviews in Portland first time – $900

*Lauren Sinner – Attend 1-week Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Pentaculum residency in Gatlinburg, TN – $900

Lisa Chang – Hire web designer to create mobile-friendly website for Tahitian and hula dance – $1,700

Marlana Hayes – Representation, documentation, and shipping of paintings to AIR Gallery in NYC – $1,500

*Maya Vivas – Present work and perform at 4-day The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts Conference in Minneapolis, MN – $2,000

*Melinda McKinley – Attend 2-week residency at Red Lodge Clay Center in Red Lodge, MT – $1,300

*Mia Ferm – Present curated film series “Not Sorry: Feminist Experimental Film from the 1970s to Today” at Anthology Film Archives in NYC – $1,000

*Michael Galen – Study of Tama drumming and Sabar dance with Griot Massamba Diop and Alima Dion in Dakar, Senegal – $1,950

*Michael Sanchez – Attend 52-hour Train Jam from Chicago to SF – $810

*Pamela Chipman – Attend 4-day Photolucida Portfolio Reviews in Portland first time – $900

*Rodolfo Ortega – Present composition & sound design work at 10-day Prague Quadrennial – $1,700

*Sage Brown – Attend 4-day Photolucida Portfolio Reviews in Portland first time – $900

*Sarah Brahim – Study choreography with mentor Tracey Durbin in Durham, NC – $1,650

*Stephanie Adams-Santos – Attend one-month writing residency at Vermont Studio Center – $1,370

*Yoonhee Choi – Hire photographer and videographer to document artistic process and installed work – $1,200

*Yuan-Chen Li – Present new composition at the Grande Luxe Hall in Vancouver BC – $800

*Yukiyo Kawano – Attend 2-month residency at Santa Fe Art Institute – $2,000

CymaSpace – Hire web developer to upgrade website and filmmaker to produce marketing/development campaign for nonprofit serving DHH community – $2,000

*Urban Art Network – Hire consultant to upgrade website for mobile compatibility for nonprofit independent artist directory – $2,000

Three arts organizations were selected to become Partner Organizations in RACC’s General Operating Support program. These awards were approved by the RACC Board of Directors on December 12, 2018.

• Boom Arts – $10,500
• PETE (Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble) – $8,000
• Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls – $10,500

RACC’s Project Grant Program provides financial support to individual artists and not-for-profit organizations in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas Counties, for project based arts programming. Grants are awarded up to $7,000 and are available in three categories: Artistic Focus, Arts Equity & Access, and Arts Services.  The following 52 Project Grants were approved on September 17, 2018 and total $295,030.

For more detailed descriptions of each project, please see this PDF listing.

2018-19 Project Grant awards (Cycle 1):

RACC is distributing $3,389,000 in a special disbursement of recently accrued Arts Education and Access Funds (AEAF), also known as arts tax funds. These funds will be disbursed in line with RACC’s contract with the City of Portland and will be allocated as follows:

• $2,464,000 in special one-time allocations to General Operating Support (GOS) partner organizations.
• $300,000 to RACC’s Project Grant program to fund proposals in the Arts Equity & Access category.
• $275,000 to RACC’s Equity Investments program, which provides supplemental funds to General Operating Support organizations for equity programming and organizational development.
• $250,000 to RACC’s Capacity Building program for Culturally Specific Organizations, which provides funding and technical assistance to organizations led by historically underserved communities.
• $100,000 to RACC’s arts education coordination work, including staffing and a new arts education inventory and mapping project.

Keep reading to get more information on why this is happening, get your questions answered, and see the full list of allocations.

Why is this happening?

RACC receives its primary allocation of AEAF funds from the City of Portland in January of each year. This primary allocation is followed by a series of unpredictable allocations throughout the spring that primarily contain revenue from past tax years. This spring, as a result of the City’s ramped up collection efforts, RACC received an unusually large and unexpected allocation of back taxes totaling $3.3 million. The RACC Board of Directors has adopted a new policy allowing RACC to hold some AEAF revenue in reserve, up to one year of anticipated expenses, as mitigation for future AEAF volatility. All additional funds will be distributed annually, through a one-time special allocation if needed. As a result RACC will be distributing an extra $3,289,000 through several different grant programs throughout FY19, as well as $100,000 for Arts Education coordination work at RACC.

When will this happen?

Most General Operating Support partners will receive a payment for their AEAF Special Allocation in August. Organizations with outstanding reporting obligations will receive their payments when those obligations are met.

We’re making changes to our grants program that will affect GOS organizations. Please click here to read the changes.

FAQs

How has RACC accumulated so much Arts Tax revenue?
Because of past volatility with the Arts Tax, RACC has been conservative in how it budgeted Arts Tax allocations over the last two years. Meanwhile, the city has been aggressive in collecting overdue taxes over the past year. The combination of these two factors resulted in RACC receiving $3.3 million more than anticipated in Arts Tax revenue from the City of Portland this spring.

Why is RACC holding Arts Tax money in reserve?
RACC holds some AEAF funds in reserve for a several reasons. In order to ensure that RACC could meet the pledges we have made to GOS partners in 2016, it was important that we saved any excess funding from some years as mitigation for revenue shortfalls in other years. Fortunately, collections have exceeded expectations in each of the last two years.

RACC will continue to hold one year’s worth of AEAF funding in reserve in case there are significant changes to AEAF funding in the coming year. For example, City Council is considering increasing the AEAF’s poverty exemption level, which would reduce RACC annual revenues by $1 million or more. In addition, now that the city has collected most back-due taxes, it is unlikely that RACC will receive as much, if any, unanticipated revenue next year.

RACC is committed to providing stable and predictable funding for the community and our GOS partners. Maintaining a healthy reserve allows us and our grantees to weather changes in the funding we receive without immediately reducing funding levels for our partners.

Does RACC anticipate special allocations like this in the future?
No. We do not anticipate that special allocations will be a regular occurrence, and partner organizations should not plan to receive additional funds in the future. However, if collections do continue to exceed expectations, RACC has policies to ensure those funds are distributed promptly to the community.

How were the award amounts for GOS partners determined?
Partner organizations were grouped into seven tiers base on their FY2017 eligible income, which is a calculation of revenue from ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible programming provided in RACC’s service area. All of the organizations within each tier will receive the same award amount. The award amounts range from $14,000 to $200,000.

Do GOS partners need to do anything to receive these funds?
If your organization has completed all outstanding reporting requirements you will automatically receive a payment in August. A handful of organizations who have not yet completed FY2017 reporting requirements, or submitted reports late, will receive their payments once their report is approved. Not sure if you have outstanding reporting requirements? Contact your Grants Officer and we can let you know!

How will RACC use the funds for Arts Education coordination?
AEAF legislation allows RACC to retain 3% of Arts Tax revenues for staffing and materials that advance RACC’s ability to support art and music teachers that are funded by the Arts Tax, and coordinate arts education activities in public schools. These funds will support more professional development for certified arts specialists, and the mapping of arts and culture resources that are available to all Portland students.

What do the funds allocated to the Capacity Building program support?
RACC’s Capacity Building program provides multi-year financial support and technical assistance to arts organizations led by under-served communities. Currently four organizations  are receiving support — Kukatonon, Instituto de Cultura y Arte In Xochitl In Cuicatl, PassinArt, and Portland Taiko. The additional arts tax funds will allow us to support five additional organizations over the next several years.

What is the Equity Investments program? How can my organization apply?
The Equity Investments program provides additional funding to General Operating Support partner organizations for initiatives which advance their commitment to equity in the arts, with a focus on racial equity. The program provides one-time and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to $75,000. Including the funds from the special allocation, a total of $425,000 will be awarded in spring 2019. General Operating Support partners will receive notification when applications become available this fall.

We’re making changes to our grants program that will affect GOS organizations. Click here to get your frequently asked questions answered.

Who to contact with more questions

Jeff Hawthorne, Interim Executive Director| jhawthorne@racc.org | 503.832.5258

List of allocations

Changes to the Work for Art program

Over the past 18 months, the Work for Art team has been deeply evaluating the 12- year- old program with an end goal of transforming our work into something that will yield greater impact and scalability. At the end of August, we’ll retire the Work for Art brand, and run our workplace giving as a part of Arts Advocacy at RACC. This is a nod to our growing collaborative work with RACC’s Grants and Communications teams over the past year. Although the City of Portland eliminated its annual $200,000 matching challenge contribution to the campaign, we view this as a prime opportunity to build and promote a stronger public-private movement – in partnership with you – to advocate for our arts and culture community in more meaningful ways. Read more about the changes we’re making to our workplace giving program here.

RACC’s grants program is implementing changes alongside with these Work for Art changes that will affect GOS organizations. Click here to see those changes.

What’s changing?

• RACC will continue its workplace giving program. The Work for Art brand will retire on 8/31/2018.
• The Work for Art team will be part of Arts Advocacy at RACC. This team will collaborate with RACC Grants and Communications staff to build and promote a public-private movement in support of our region’s arts and culture ecosystem.
• Donors through RACC’s workplace giving program will have the option to contribute to the Arts Impact Fund, which replaces the Arts Community Fund and the Arts Education Fund.
• Fall 2018 will be the final separate allocation of workplace giving donations to GOS groups. Beginning FY19-20, workplace giving donations will no longer be a separate allocation from the amount that RACC distributes as grant awards. RACC will collect donations to the Arts Impact Fund over a full campaign/fiscal year, then disburse these funds to the spectrum of RACC grant programs that support arts organizations, including General Operating Support and Project Grant awards.
• As a part of City Council’s approval of 5% reductions across bureaus, beginning FY18-19, RACC will no longer receive the $200,000 donor match incentive from the City of Portland.

What’s staying?

• Donors will still be able to designate a portion or all of their gift through RACC’s workplace giving program to any 501(c)(3) arts organization based in Clackamas, Multnomah, or Washington County. RACC will continue to distribute designated gifts quarterly.
• Donors who contribute $60+ annually will continue to receive The Arts Card.

We’re also making changes to our grants program that will affect GOS organizations. Please click here to read the changes.

Why is it changing?

The Work for Art team spent the last 18 months deeply evaluating the 12 year old program with an end goal of transforming our work into something that will result in greater impact and scalability.

Retiring the Work for Art brand empowers our Arts Advocacy, Grants, Community Engagement, and Communications teams to unite and strengthen RACC’s role in supporting our arts and culture ecosystem.

Workplace giving as a whole is changing due to technological advancements and generational shifts. We have already begun our work to attune to these changes, streamline our processes, and expand our capacity to grow. Our current projects include

• a new pledge site that immediately sends donors acknowledgement and tax receipt information
• an online artist directory that directly connects partner companies with arts opportunities and experiences
• phased progress toward a digital Arts Card to enhance user experience
• strategic and collaborative work with our combined campaign colleagues at Black United Fund, Children’s Trust Fund, EarthShare, Habitat for Humanity, and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, to advance our relevancy and marketability in the business community.

We understand RACC can do more to provide value and resources beyond money to help you better serve your communities. Working with you, we aim to demonstrate how crucial arts and culture organizations are to the livability of our communities.

In addition to changes to the Work for Art Program, we’re making changes to our grants program that will affect GOS organizations. Please click here to read why these changes are happening.

FAQs

How are Fall 2018 workplace giving allocations looking?
Although we have yet to complete reconciliation of FY17-18 donations, we estimate that the campaign total decreased by about 24% from FY16-17. Our Fall and Spring campaigns were generally down across the board. While it fostered a positive buzz, we retired the Battle of the Bands in 2018 as we realized the amount of money and awareness raised did not substantiate the staff time and resources used to produce the event. We are eager to partner with you to advocate for our arts and culture community in more meaningful ways.

How about beyond Fiscal Year 18-19?
The combination of several internal changes and external factors (detailed above in “Why is it Changing?”) makes it challenging for us to accurately project our future workplace giving campaign totals at this time. We believe that the new direction we are taking will contribute to the growth of our workplace giving and arts advocacy efforts. We also believe it will open the door to other ways that we can add value and measure our success – beyond a campaign total. We will be testing, measuring, and evaluating new strategies as we partner with you to build a public-private movement in support of arts and culture.

Why is the Arts Education Fund going away?
Donors will continue to have the ability to support arts education under the new model. We decided to channel donations into one fund that benefits a wide variety of arts and culture organizations, which include those that provide substantial arts education programming. The Arts Education Fund constituted a small percentage of our annual campaign totals. We believe that this is largely due to the functional limitations of donor pledge portals that many of our partner companies use. For example, our two largest campaigns use an online giving platform that does not provide donors a straight forward way to select from multiple funds under one organization.

Should my organization remove Work for Art recognition?
Please remove all Work for Art logos and related text. However, please continue to recognize RACC in accordance with your current GOS acknowledgement requirements.  We understand you may have already printed some materials with Work for Art recognition for your upcoming season – that’s ok! Our new printed and online materials will clearly demonstrate the sunset of the Work for Art brand, and we will have online re-directs in place. We are thinking about how to best include credit to our workplace donors and partner companies through your RACC recognition, and we will update you on any changes prior to FY19-20 grant allocations.

What about the Work for Art pens?
Perhaps the time has finally come to get some cool RACC branded pens.

We’re making changes to our grants program that will affect GOS organizations. Click here to get your frequently asked questions answered.

Who to contact with more questions:

Alison Bailey, Business Partnership Manager | abailey@racc.org | 503.823.5424