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

A total of $2,482,600 in General Operating Support was distributed to 55 organizations in fiscal year 2017-18. Additional information about this program is available on the General Operating Support page. The arts organizations which were awarded General Operating Support in 2017-18 are

• Artists Repertory Theatre – $69,500
• Bag & Baggage Productions – $10,000
• Blue Sky Gallery  – $11,700
• BodyVox – $31,600
• Broadway Rose Theatre Company – $23,000
• Cappella Romana – $13,800
• Chamber Music Northwest – $39,600
• Children’s Healing Art Project – $13,400
• CoHo Productions – $12,800
• Disjecta Contemporary Art Center – $13,900
• Echo Theater Company – $15,300
• Ethos Music Center – $29,600
• Friends of Chamber Music  – $19,000
• Hand2Mouth Theatre – $8,000
• Hollywood Theatre – $38,300
• Imago Theatre – $15,500
• Independent Publishing Resource Center – $10,600
• Lakewood Center for the Arts – $21,000
• Literary Arts – $45,000
• Live Wire! Radio – $15,200
• Metropolitan Youth Symphony – $19,700
• Miracle Theatre Group – $21,000
• My Voice Music – $9,800
• Northwest Children’s Theater and School – $52,300
• Northwest Dance Project – $34,200
• NW Documentary – $8,000
• Oregon Ballet Theatre – $131,000
• Oregon BRAVO Youth Orchestras – $14,600
• Oregon Children’s Theatre – $72,900
• Oregon Symphony Association – $352,000
• PDX Jazz – $17,200
• Pendulum Aerial Arts – $8,000
• PHAME – $13,700
• PlayWrite – $10,100
• Polaris Dance Theatre – $12,300
• Portland Art Museum – $427,000
• Portland Baroque Orchestra – $28,700
• Portland Center Stage  – $225,000
• Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra – $13,200
• Portland Gay Men’s Chorus – $14,700
• Portland Institute for Contemporary Art – $41,900
• Portland Opera Association – $214,000
• Portland Piano International – $20,000
• Portland Playhouse – $23,000
• Portland Youth Philharmonic Association – $23,800
• Profile Theatre – $17,100
• The August Wilson Red Door Project – $12,000
• The Circus Project – $12,800
• The Portland Ballet – $24,100
• Third Angle New Music Ensemble – $8,000
• Third Rail Repertory Theatre – $29,100
• Triangle Productions! – $13,000
• White Bird – $42,100
• Write Around Portland – $13,400
• Young Audiences of Oregon – $46,100

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 36 Professional Development Grants totaling $49,190 on May 23, 2018. (*First time grant recipients)

2018-19 Professional Development Grant awards (Cycle 1):

*Apricot Irving – Travel, lodging, and transportation for book tour to NYC, Boston, Florida, DC, and CA – $1,501

Aremy Stewart – Travel, childcare, and materials for 2-week residency at Sitka Center in Otis – $900

*Arwen Myers – Travel, lodging, and transportation to attend 2-week program at American Bach Soloists Academy in San Francisco, CA – $1,820

*Ayako Kataoka – Travel and lodging to participate in research project in Copenhagen – $1,237

*Barbara Martin – Travel, lodging, and materials to attend 3-week residency at Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts in Saratoga, WY – $766 (Washington County)

*Benjamin Gilbert – Documentation by Aaron Johnson Photography – $600

*Brisa Gonzalez – Travel, lodging, transportation, and registration fees to attend Pocoapoco Residency in Oaxaca – $1,800

*Cambria Matlow – Travel, lodging, and transportation to attend Getting Real conference in Los Angeles, CA – $1,227

*Catherine Egan – Website development and design by graphic designer Noelle Stiles – $1,998

*Chliu-Mie Wu – Travel, lodging, and registration fees to attend 5-day program at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA – $1,930

Cora Pearl – Travel, lodging, and registration fees to attend International Calligraphy Conference in Bellingham, WA – $1,530

*Crystal Zingsheim – Website, design, and brand development with Astro and Raffa Rodriguez – $1,500

Damien Gilley – Travel, lodging, transportation, and materials to install exhibition at the Foothills Art Center in Golden, CO – $545

*Emily Miller – Registration fees for 3-day watercolor workshop at Sequoia Gallery in Hillsboro – $300 (Washington County)

*Eric Buchner – Website development with Myles de Bastion – $1,500

*Erik Emanuelson – Transporation and lodging for 23-date band tour in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland – $1,586

*Jea Alford – Travel, registration fees, and materials to attend 1-month residency at Vermont Studio Center – $1,800

*Jennifer Swanson – Registration fees for 3-day Photoshop workshop at ONLC Training Center in Portland – $995

*Jessica (Tyner) Mehta – Travel, lodging, and transportation to attend 1-month residency at Crazy Horse Memorial – $1,750 (Washington County)

*Jo Hamilton – Travel and lodging to install exhibition at Timeless Textiles in Australia – $1,656

*Joshua Flint – Travel, lodging, and registration fees to attend Anderson Ranch Arts Center Advanced Mentored Studies Program – $1,767

*Kate Rafter – Travel expenses to perform in At Your Leisure festival in Scotland – $1,800

*Ken Yoshikawa – Travel, lodging, and transportation to attend Asian American Theater Artists Conference in Chicago, IL – $683

*Lisa Brinkman – Website development and documentation – $1,080 (Clackamas County)

*Maura Campbell-Balkits – Travel, lodging, and residency fees to attend 6-week residency at the Burren College of Art in Ireland – $1,219

*Reid Psaltis – Travel, lodging, and shipping costs for installation at the Guild of Natural Science conference in Washington DC – $1,387

*Robin Bacior Emanuelson – Production costs for full-length vinyl record pressing – $1,428

*Roland Dahwen Wu – Travel and lodging to present documentary work at Fluminense Federal University in Brazil – $1,800

*Sundance Bleckinger – Travel, lodging, and festival fees to exhibit radio play at Hear Now Festival in Kansas City, KS – $1,213

*Taryn Tomasello – Travel and transportation for installation of site-specific work at Halka Art Project in Istanbul – $1,500

*Taylor Long – Travel, lodging, and registration fees to attend Darnstadt Festival in Germany – $1,787

Zoe Keller – Travel, lodging, and transportation to attend 1-month residency at Zion National Park – $485

Boom Arts Inc. – Travel and lodging for founder to attend APAP Leadership Fellows Program in Los Angeles, CA – $1,000

Dance Wire – Website development and design by Payne Media – $1,800

*Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble – Consultant fees and staff time to assess database and communications procedures with Jim Fullan – $1,500

*Street Books – Travel, lodging, and printed materials for first Street Books summit in Austin, TX – $1,800

The Equity Investments program provides additional funding for General Operating Support member organizations to support initiatives which advance their commitment to equity in the arts, with a priority placed on racial equity A total of $149,664 was awarded to nine organizations in FY17-18. The RACC Board of Directors approved these awards on March 21, 2018.

Disjecta Contemporary Art Center – $10,000 – Support for equity-related components of the 2019 Portland Biennial.

Literary Arts – $35,000* – Expansion of Verselandia! Youth poetry slam program to East County high schools.

My Voice Music – $5,990 – Racial equity training for staff with Resolutions NW and Center for Equity & Inclusion.

Oregon Children’s Theatre – $7,500 – Funding for internal equity work including training for staff & board, consulting with leadership, and the translation of materials.

Profile Theatre – $18,750 – Support for In Dialogue and Community Profile programming during the 18 month 2018-19 season.

The Circus Project – $10,508 – Funding for internal equity work including the completion of a Racial Equity self assessment and training for staff.

The Portland Ballet – $20,000 – Collaboration with Kukatonon to create a unified performance piece with dancers from both organizations.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre – $6,920 – Training for staff and leadership with August Wilson Red Door Project and others.

Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington – $35,000* – Recruitment of artists of color for teaching artist roster, convene and provide training for artists of color interested in teaching.

* Two or three year grant.

2017-18 RACC Professional Development Grants (Cycle 2)

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 of Directors approved these Professional Development Grants on December 13, 2017.

Individual recipients:

Avantika Bawa – Development, research and experimentation at NES Artists Residency in Iceland. – $1,750

* Brittany Brock – Penlen School of Craft in North Carolina to study shoe and boot making with Amara Hark-Weber. – $1,000

* Kelly Campbell – Workshops at the Eugene O’Neill Puppetry Conference in Waterford, CT. – $1,700

* Shawn Demarest – Mojave National Preserve artist residency, exploring, photographing, sketching and painting. – $1,600

* Emmeline Eao – Research Khmer history and culture through archival studies with the Documentation Center of Cambodia. – $2,000

* Derek Ecklund – Environmental Sound Recording a residential art center by Fuse Art Space in the French Pyrenees. – $1,875

* Sita Fidler  – Continuing Ed. Typography course at PNCA. – $495

* Aran Graham – 3D drafting software training from a sketch-up tutor to refine and  produce better skills in scenic design.  – $1,000

Midori Hirose – Solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara – $1,600

Tahni Holt – Travel expenses for SPOTLIGHT: USA, a platform of American Dance in Bulgaria.  – $1,980

* Meg Hunt – Evolve portfolio by attending School of Visual Arts Summer Residency Program focusing on Illustration and Visual Storytelling.  – $1,600

* Tiffany Kirkpatrick – Working with weavers and designing textiles in Guatemala. – $1,800

* Carly Knowles – Website, branding and logo design for metal fabrication and casting workspace, Studio Flux. – $1,700

* Béalleka Makau – Research Octavia E. Butler at the Huntington Library in Pasadena, CA.  – $1,200

* Sarah Marguier – Carrer Coaching for Artists from Creative Capital. – $550

* Robbie McClaran – Portfolio reviews at the Houston FotoFest International 2018 – $1,700

* Jamie Minkus – Dance intensive hosted by Danza Contemporanea de Cuba in Havanna, Cuba and studying Afro-Mexican dance in Vera Cruz, Mexico. – $1,500

* Julz Nally – Business coaching w/ Betsy Cordes – $1,500

* Nikole Potulsky – Travel expenses to Nashville for music apprenticeship with Chevy Nash.   – $1,600

* Mary Rose – Action Theatre Improvisation with Ruth Zaporah and teachers from around the world.   – $1,600

* Paul Rutz – Intaglio Etching with European Master in Rome, IT. – $1,500

Willa Schneberg – Poetry Forum of Kathmandu residency in Nepal.  – $2,000

* Sora Shodo – Creating an online presence for Japanese Calligraphic Arts.  – $1,800

* Jennifer Springsteen – Literary conference, Muse & The Marketplace conference in Boston, MA to network, learn, grow and pitch manuscript.  – $1,400

* Eric Stachon – Producing Documentaries for Broadcast, the Web and Businesses is a one week workshop for independent filmmakers in Maine. – $1,750

* Kirista Trask – A professional branding package from Portland based graphic designer Hattie Macleod. – $1,000

* Timothy Van Cleave – Folk Alliance International in Kansas City, MO.  – $1,200

* Daniel Wenger – Digital tools for exploring curated libraries/making tools available to the public by training with two local artists: Hugo Paris and Jessie Mejia – $1,500

Leni Zumas – Travel to NY, Philly, Minneapolis, and DC to give readings and talks on novel Red Clocks. – $1,000

Organization recipients:

Oregon Repertory Singers – Registration and per deim costs for Northwest Regional American Choral Directors Association Conference.  – $450

*Rock Dojo – Travel expenses for the National Association of Music Merchants. – $1,750

*First time Project Grant recipients