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RACC Awards $693,959 for Arts-Related Projects in 2015

PHOTO CAPTION: 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: Naim Hasan)

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

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.