RACC supports the region’s vital arts and culture community through a variety of grant programs. These grants are made possible through investments from the City of Portland, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Washington County, and Metro. Funding is awarded through competitive processes that includes dozens of community volunteers serving on peer panels and evaluating each request. Artists and organizations who receive public funding through RACC are required to report on the outcomes of their grant-funded work.
RACC accepts grant applications from individual artists, arts organizations, and other non-profit organizations headquartered in our service area – Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington Counties, Oregon.
Learn more about each of our grant programs:
Professional Development Grants
*As part of our effort to support the arts & culture community impacted by COVID-19, please visit our Emergency Relief, Donate and Relief Resource Listings.
Posted July 16, 2018
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 […]
Posted July 16, 2018
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, […]
Posted July 12, 2018
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 […]
Posted May 30, 2018
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 […]
Posted May 29, 2018
Portland, Ore — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $451,037 in project grants to 59 artists and 29 nonprofit organizations in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties. RACC’s project grants provide financial support for individual artists and nonprofit organizations, and align with RACC’s goal of advancing the region’s access to a wide range […]
Posted April 4, 2018
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. […]
Posted March 13, 2018
In January, RACC conducted a stakeholder survey to collect feedback on RACC’s General Operating Support (GOS) grant program. The anonymous survey was distributed to all current GOS program member organizations, more than 150 arts organizations that do not currently receiving GOS support, and to community members. Here is the Executive Summary. GOS is the single largest funding […]
Posted February 20, 2018
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 Proposals in the Professional Development Grant Program cannot be geared toward the creation of a specific art project, but must clearly demonstrate how […]
Posted January 3, 2018
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 […]
Posted December 15, 2017
PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $444,861 in project grants to 43 artists and 45 nonprofit organizations. These grants are funded by a combination of public and private investments, including the City of Portland’s general fund, the city’s Arts Tax, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Washington County and Metro. Additional […]
Posted October 27, 2017
PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has approved the addition of four nonprofit organizations to its roster of “General Operating Support” organizations that receive annual unrestricted funding from RACC in support of their mission. The four new “GOS” organizations are: August Wilson Red Door Project, $12,000 CoHo Productions, $12,800 Oregon BRAVO […]
Posted September 28, 2017
PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is pleased to announce its 2017 Fellows in Literature – Portland writers Samiya Bashir and Rene Denfeld. RACC’s fellowship program honors local artists of high merit. Recipients receive a cash award of $20,000 to sustain or enhance their creative process. Samiya Bashir is a collaborative […]
Posted August 1, 2017
Please note: This post (8/1/17) was updated on October 20, 2017, to correct some award amounts that were originally misreported. A total of $2,430,900 in general operating support was distributed to 51 organizations in fiscal year 2016-17. Additional information about this program is available on the General Operating Support page. The arts organizations which received general […]
Posted July 26, 2017
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 awards on May 24, 2017. (*First time grant recipients) Here are the 2017-18 Professional Development grant awards (cycle […]
Posted July 26, 2017
Arts Equity Grants provide financial support to organizations that are conducting arts and culture projects and programming for communities of color, immigrants, refugees, underserved neighborhoods, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ communities, people experiencing homelessness and houselessness, and other communities that have historically been marginalized. The RACC Board of Directors approved the final 24 grant awards on […]
Posted May 31, 2017
RACC has long offered project grant support to individual artists and organizations in the region, helping to support the creation and presentation of artmaking of all kinds. More than 140 artistic projects were funded last year, ranging from solo dance performances to an audio documentary series exploring gentrification to afterschool Taiko ensemble classes for youth. […]
Posted May 30, 2017
PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $126,540 in Arts Equity Grants to 24 organizations that are advancing RACC’s goals for equity and inclusion. These grants are funded by City of Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund, or arts tax, along with support from Multnomah County. Arts Equity Grants provide […]
Posted April 19, 2017
The Capacity Building Initiative will provide financial and capacity building support to arts organizations serving under-represented populations and whose leadership is majority under-represented individuals, so they may define and meet their needs for appropriate and sustainable infrastructure. Three organizations will be selected for this pilot year of the project. Organizations can expect to receive financial […]
Posted February 15, 2017
The Professional Development Grant Program assists artists and representatives of arts organizations with expenses related to specific, unique opportunities that improve their business management skills and/or help advance the careers of the individual artist or the arts administrator. This grant cycle for Professional Development Grants includes the period between July 1, 2017 through December 31, […]
Posted January 26, 2017
PORTLAND, ORE — With funding from Multnomah County and the City of Portland’s voter-approved Arts Education and Access Fund, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) will invest a total of $100,000 in nonprofit organizations that are providing arts and culture programs and services for marginalized communities, including geographically underserved neighborhoods; communities of color, immigrants, […]