Portland, Ore. The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has awarded $693,959 in project grants for calendar year 2015, including 66 grants to nonprofit organizations and schools, and 80 individual artists in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. This year’s project grants are made possible by increased funding from the City of Portland, RACC’s largest funding source, and RACC’s workplace giving program, Work for Art. Clackamas County, Washington County, Multnomah County and Metro also helped fund these project grants. Funding went to organizations like Kukatonon Children’s African Dance Troupe, a recipient of a RACC Project Grant, performing “The Village” at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall in 2014. (Photo credit, Naim Hasan)
RACC supported 49% of all requests with full or partial funding. Among the projects awarded to individual artists, 64% have never received RACC funding before, and 35% of all organizations are receiving project grant support for the first time. The pool of applicants continues to change and evolve as well – 40% of all proposals received this year were from artists and arts organizations that have never before applied for RACC funding.
“RACC made a commitment several years ago to finding and funding more diverse and accessible artistic programs,” said executive director Eloise Damrosch. “These project grants demonstrate that we are indeed reaching new and talented people in our community. The range of projects funded by RACC in 2015 will be deep and broad, and we will continue to improve on this every year going forward.”
To vet the proposals, 44 volunteers served on 11 different panels organized by discipline. Most volunteers (93%) served on a RACC grants panel for the first time. Guided by staff during the months of October, November and December, these volunteers evaluated proposals based on artistic merit, audience development and financial accountability, forwarding their final recommendations to the RACC board of directors for approval on December 17.
A summary of funded projects can be found at www.racc.org/2015projectgrants.Among them:
- First-time grant recipients included Sabina Haque who will premiere her multimedia installation at the Littman Gallery investigating the emotional impact of the “War on Terror” in Pakistan and in the Portland refugee community; Darrell Grant will present a CD release event for his jazz composition “The Territory” including video interviews with other notable Oregon artists; and photographer Larry Cwik will present large scale photographic work depicting the Inupiat, Inuit, and other Arctic communities in northern Alaska, Canada, Norway and Russia revealing recent lifestyle changes and the impact of global climate change.
- Organizations that were awarded project grants for the first time include Historic Parkrose which received funding to support “Summer Nights on Sandy” – a street fair with local entertainment, vendors, and family fun focused on the arts; Friends of Zenger Farm, located in outer Southeast Portland in the Johnson Creek watershed, will work with artist Leon Smith to facilitate the production of a community designed and built living structure at their 6 acre educational farm; and People-Places-Things LLC will develop a series of 52 images by Dominican artist Hampton Rodriguez that make a “Deck of Professions” reflecting the diversity of the city through our occupations and which will be used to teach language classes to immigrants.
- Projects rooted in community participation include a series of writing workshops called “With You On The Journey” culminating in a staged reading led by Carol Imani for family members of people in prison; a program by The Aspire Project which provides tap and classical dance classes and performance opportunities for low-income children and families in North Portland; and a bilingual exhibit at the Portland Mercado titled “El Espiritu del Emprendador”, facilitated by Hacienda CDC highlighting the entrepreneurial spirit of the Latino community.
- Arts-in-Schools opportunities will bring youth from the Oregon Trail Academy in Boring, Oregon to King Elementary School in Portland to collaborate on songwriting and then perform under the direction of One World Chorus; and a project by Laura Leiman involves students at Astor and Cesar Chavez K-8 schools creating unique signatures, monograms & self identifying symbols as they explore what makes each person’s identity special through the art of the letterform.
- In addition, an anonymous donor continues to provide special funding for an annual “Innovation Prize” of $2,500. This year’s award for outstanding, innovative, media-oriented project goes to Kelly Goeller for a film mandala and video tapestry showing a storybook version of the Pacific Northwest titled “Habitat.”
Below is a complete list of funded projects. More detailed summaries of each grant are available at www.racc.org/2015projectgrants.
RACC project grants for individuals, calendar year 2015
Note: (*) denotes Clackamas County applicants, and (**) denotes Washington County based applicants. All other applicants are based in Multnomah County.
| Individual Artist |
Category/Discipline |
Amount |
| Tori Abernathy |
Visual Arts |
$ 1,921 |
| Abra Ancliffe |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,215 |
| Sean Andries |
Theatre |
$ 4,050 |
| Johanna Barron |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,400 |
| Matthew Berger |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 5,978 |
| Tracy Broyles |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 3,799 |
| Ben Buswell |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,007 |
| Matthew Carlson |
Music |
$ 4,796 |
| Robin Chilstrom |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 5,991 |
| Adriene Cruz |
Community Participation |
$ 5,279 |
| Larry Cwik |
Photography |
$ 5,332 |
| Amber Dawn |
Media Arts |
$ 3,735 |
| Shawn Demarest |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,757 |
| Suniti Dernovsek |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 5,693 |
| Brenan Dwyer |
Media Arts |
$ 3,680 |
| Alex Falcone |
Theatre |
$ 2,090 |
| Michelle Fujii |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 3,990 |
| Mario Gallucci |
Photography |
$ 4,110 |
| Nicole Georges |
Literature |
$ 6,000 |
| Erik Geschke |
Visual Arts |
$ 3,360 |
| Kelly Goeller |
Media Arts |
$ 4,514 |
| Darrell Grant |
Music |
$ 5,955 |
| Sabina Haque |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,935 |
| Jen Harrison |
Music |
$ 5,700 |
| Elijah Hasan |
Media Arts |
$ 4,563 |
| Bethany Hays |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,410 |
| Justin Hocking |
Literature |
$ 6,000 |
| Kurtis Hough |
Media Arts |
$ 5,400 |
| Nathaniel Hulskamp |
Music |
$ 5,787 |
| Carol Imani |
Community Participation |
$ 3,593 |
| Raina Imig |
Community Participation |
$ 5,429 |
| Abraham Ingle |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,134 |
| Katharine Jacobs |
Photography |
$ 4,640 |
| Dawn Jones |
Media Arts |
$ 5,950 |
| Kelly Kendziorski |
Media Arts |
$ 5,661 |
| Theresa Koon |
Music |
$ 4,800 |
| Horatio Law |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,800 |
| Laura Leiman** |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 5,951 |
| Alain LeTourneau |
Photography |
$ 5,860 |
| Katherine Longstreth |
Dance |
$ 4,307 |
| Joaquin Lopez** |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 5,499 |
| Bertha Marin |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,950 |
| Tere Mathern |
Dance |
$ 5,700 |
| Matt McCormick |
Media Arts |
$ 4,456 |
| Brenna McDonald |
Dance |
$ 4,966 |
| Marc Moscato |
Literature |
$ 5,310 |
| Pepe Moscoso |
Photography |
$ 4,408 |
| Lena Munday |
Visual Arts |
$ 2,309 |
| Travis Neel |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,584 |
| Travis Nikolai |
Visual Arts |
$ 3,848 |
| Eric Nordstrom |
Media Arts |
$ 4,800 |
| Caroline Oakley |
Community Participation |
$ 6,000 |
| Liz Obert |
Photography |
$ 2,558 |
| Ann Marie O’Malley |
Literature |
$ 5,343 |
| Stephen Osserman |
Music |
$ 5,581 |
| Roger Peet |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,054 |
| Kajanne Pepper |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 3,563 |
| Judith Pulman |
Literature |
$ 4,732 |
| Joanne Radmilovich Kollman |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 3,312 |
| Jayanthi Raman** |
Dance |
$ 5,400 |
| Kirsten Rian |
Literature |
$ 3,960 |
| Dmae Roberts |
Literature |
$ 4,760 |
| Ethan Rose |
Music |
$ 4,780 |
| Heidi Schwegler |
Visual Arts |
$ 6,000 |
| Shalanda Sims |
Community Participation |
$ 4,732 |
| Ilana Sol |
Media Arts |
$ 5,700 |
| Pablo Solares-Rowbury** |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,280 |
| Anne Sorce |
Theatre |
$ 3,602 |
| Jack StockLynn |
Theatre |
$ 4,402 |
| Ellie Stuckey |
Media Arts |
$ 4,648 |
| Kate Szrom |
Photography |
$ 5,230 |
| Barbara Tetenbaum |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,405 |
| Chanel Vivian |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,710 |
| Kimberly Warner |
Media Arts |
$ 4,160 |
| Katie Watkins |
Theatre |
$ 3,447 |
| Claire Willett |
Theatre |
$ 4,475 |
| Brandon Woolley |
Theatre |
$ 4,800 |
| Jennifer Wright |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 4,750 |
| Lucy Yim |
Dance |
$ 4,394 |
| Leni Zumas |
Literature |
$ 5,225 |
RACC project grants for organizations, calendar year 2015
Note: (*) denotes Clackamas County applicants, and (**) denotes Washington County based applicants. All other applicants are based in Multnomah County.
| Organization |
Category/Discipline |
Amount |
| 45th Parallel |
Music |
$ 5,696 |
| Agnieszka Laska Dancers |
Dance |
$ 4,760 |
| Architecture Foundation of Oregon |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 6,000 |
| Beaverton Arts Commission** |
Community Participation |
$ 5,650 |
| Beaverton School District** |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 522 |
| Beaverton Symphony Orchestra** |
Music |
$ 2,344 |
| Benson High School |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 4,743 |
| Big Horn Brass* |
Music |
$ 3,126 |
| Boom Arts |
Theatre |
$ 6,000 |
| Cinema Project |
Media Arts |
$ 1,712 |
| Circus Cascadia |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 2,640 |
| CoHo Productions |
Theatre |
$ 5,697 |
| Conduit Dance Inc. |
Dance |
$ 5,700 |
| Creative Music Guild |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 5,400 |
| Disability Art and Culture Project |
Community Participation |
$ 4,215 |
| Ecotrust |
Media Arts |
$ 5,615 |
| Estacada Area Arts Commission/City of Estacada* |
Community Participation |
$ 5,840 |
| Fear No Music |
Music |
$ 4,905 |
| Friends of Zenger Farm |
Community Participation |
$ 4,796 |
| Hacienda CDC |
Community Participation |
$ 4,689 |
| Hand2Mouth |
Theatre |
$ 4,800 |
| Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre/Northwest |
Dance |
$ 4,800 |
| Historic Parkrose |
Community Participation |
$ 5,039 |
| India Cultural Association** |
Community Participation |
$ 4,228 |
| Irvington PTA |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 5,700 |
| Jewish Theatre Collaborative |
Theatre |
$ 5,197 |
| Kukatonon Children’s African Dance Troupe |
Community Participation |
$ 6,000 |
| Late Night Library |
Literature |
$ 5,166 |
| Lewis & Clark College Hoffman Gallery |
Visual Arts |
$ 6,000 |
| MediaRites |
Theatre |
$ 4,608 |
| MetroArts Inc |
Music |
$ 4,612 |
| My Voice Music |
Community Participation |
$ 4,800 |
| NAYA Family Center |
Community Participation |
$ 6,000 |
| Nomadic Theatre Co |
Theatre |
$ 4,784 |
| Northwest Animation Festival |
Media Arts |
$ 5,883 |
| Obo Addy Legacy Project |
Community Participation |
$ 5,400 |
| One World Chorus* |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 5,140 |
| OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon |
Community Participation |
$ 3,650 |
| Oregon Potters Association |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,860 |
| Orlo |
Literature |
$ 5,400 |
| Pacific Northwest College of Art |
Visual Arts |
$ 4,800 |
| PDX Pop Now! |
Music |
$ 5,250 |
| People-Places-Things, LLC |
Visual Arts |
$ 3,375 |
| Portland Children’s Museum |
Community Participation |
$ 5,700 |
| Portland Community College Foundation |
Media Arts |
$ 6,000 |
| Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble |
Theatre |
$ 5,400 |
| Portland Playhouse |
Theatre |
$ 5,400 |
| Portland Symphonic Choir |
Music |
$ 5,400 |
| QDoc |
Media Arts |
$ 5,950 |
| Raphael Spiro String Quartet** |
Community Participation |
$ 4,401 |
| RECESS |
Visual Arts |
$ 2,396 |
| Resonance Vocal Ensemble |
Music |
$ 3,577 |
| Resonate Choral Arts* |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 4,455 |
| Risk/Reward |
Multi-Discipline Performance |
$ 5,995 |
| Siren Nation |
Community Participation |
$ 3,654 |
| Southwest Charter School |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 2,600 |
| Tavern Books |
Literature |
$ 4,160 |
| The Art Gym at Marylhurst University* |
Visual Arts |
$ 5,700 |
| The Aspire Project |
Community Participation |
$ 2,700 |
| The Circus Project |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 5,700 |
| The Library Foundation |
Community Participation |
$ 5,400 |
| The Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival (POWFest) |
Media Arts |
$ 5,700 |
| triangle productions! |
Theatre |
$ 5,188 |
| Venerable Showers of Beauty Gamelan |
Music |
$ 3,380 |
| Vibe of Portland |
Arts-in-Schools |
$ 1,656 |
| Yale Union |
Visual Arts |
$ 6,000 |
