Multnomah, Washington & Clackamas Counties, among other artistic interpretations.

This grant program is designed to be fully responsive to what artists and art makers in the community need grant funding to support. Rather than have separate programs for projects or professional development opportunity, or have separate categories to make, learn or build your career or business, you can apply for funding for what you need and make the case.

RACC will accept applications from individual artists, arts organizations, arts or other businesses, or other nonprofit organizations who are working on art projects. We will accept applications to this grant from schools. You must be headquartered/legally residing in our service area of Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington Counties. General Operating Support arts organizations and arts students are not eligible, and you cannot have a current open grant with RACC. Further eligibility is outlined in the guidelines.

No. IRS 501(c)3 status is NOT required. However, if you are applying as an organization or a business, please verify in your Applicant Eligibility Profile how you are organized and be prepared to provide a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). RACC makes grant awards to nonprofits, Limited Liability Companies (LLC), partnerships, and other legally organized entities, in addition to individuals.

Individual artists are welcome to create an account and apply on behalf of a collective or organized project that does not have its own FEIN. The applicant artist would write about the work of the collective and the collaborators within the application, but accept the grant funds as income to their Social Security Number and be responsible for the administration.

A: No, you must complete your Final Report on all past RACC grants to be eligible. An open grant is one that is either in Grant Agreement or Final Report stage in the RACC Opportunity Portal.

A: No. You may apply to be a Community Reviewer, if that role interests you. If you are hired as a Community Reviewer, you will not be eligible to apply for your own grant while under contract. If you are not hired, you are welcome to apply with your own grant proposal in a future cycle, and if you are hired as a Community Reviewer, you will be eligible for future RACC grant opportunities after your contract is complete. If you have an open grant with RACC, you are welcome to apply to be a Community Panel Reviewer.

A: Yes, but it is unlikely. Most likely, if you receive a grant, it will be for the full amount that you have requested. However, we are giving the Community Panel Reviewer the option to recommend a lower award amount, if it suits the review process.

A: Yes, if you have completed the previously funded activity or phase, finished all your required reporting, you are welcome to apply for a RACC Arts3C for the next phase.

A: Yes, the applicant/grantee must legally reside or be headquartered in the RACC service area, but you can hire or work with artists, vendors, or other contributors from all over.

A: For many artistic projects or disciplines, this is the final presentation of the artwork with an audience or community. This can a formal performance, screening, exhibition, or other way to share the work with an audience. Some projects engage with community as participants, such as students or arts learners, and the public engagement would be the ongoing work with community without the need for a formal final presentation. Public engagement can be a plan to share work through online or digital means, but the plan for distribution should be specific.

A: The applicant will define the start date and end date of their proposed opportunity. The end date should be after the grant award announcements are planned as noted in the guidelines and on the RACC website. The award announcement date is essentially the beginning of the grant award cycle.

A: If you receive a grant, you will receive the full amount after you submit your Grant Agreement and financial documentation. You need to claim the funds within one year of the award, or the grant will be forfeit.

There is no requirement for using the claimed grant funds within a calendar year or any specific time period, as long as you stay in communication with RACC. You should submit your Final Report when the activity is complete. We recommend that you submit your report within 45 days of finishing your activity, but there is no deadline for your activity or end of a “grant cycle”. Instead, please keep in mind that you will be issued a 1099-NEC at the end of the calendar year in which you claim the grant funds, so keep track of your expenses for tax purposes and note that you will not be eligible for future grant awards until your activity is complete and your Final Report is submitted.

A: You can submit one application in a grant cycle. If you receive an Arts3C grant, you will not be able to apply again within a year (12 months). One grant per year per applicant. If you are not selected for a grant, you are welcome to apply for the same or different activity in a future cycle. There is no limit to the number of times you apply for a RACC grant.

A: You can mark as many Request Categories to “tag” your application for consideration in different groups for paneling. This includes both discipline specific elements of a proposal and general categories. For example, a Media Arts Film/Video proposal would select Art Project and either Live Screening or Digital Distribution, or all three request tags if they are all part of the proposal. These will be used to group applications into panels that address the same elements in their proposals, so select the categories that represent your work and connect with your proposal. The more categories that you select, the less likely you will be grouped with the applications that make the most sense.

A: No, this question is optional. Many proposals will be for projects that have a Working Title. Other opportunities might be easy to title, such as a formal artist residency or attending a specific festival or conference. Other opportunities do not need a Working Title for clarity or reference.

A: RACC Grants Team is available to support applicants and grant recipients at every stage of the grant process. Details are listed in the grant guidelines, including help with the online system, translation services, accessibility, info sessions, and draft review. You are welcome to contact individual staff directly with your specific questions or email all of us at grants@racc.org to request support.

A: Technology has glitches. If you notice anything acting differently than expected, please first check to make sure you are using a compatible browser that is up to date (Chrome is preferred, Firefox and MS Edge work smoothly, Safari and Internet Explorer are not supported). Next, make sure that you are using the correct account and your Applicant Profile is up-to-date. Not every grant program is open to all applicants based on criteria you have entered in your profile, and many applicants have inadvertently created more than one account, as well. Finally, make sure you have submitted all Final Reports for past grants. If you haven’t found a user error, send us an email through our feedback form or email grants@racc.org and we’ll try to sort out the issue for you and other users.