Portland, February 24, 2016. 340 arts and business leaders gathered at the Portland Art Museum to celebrate some of the region’s strongest champions for the arts. The event was adopted by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) following the dissolution of its previous producer, Businesses for Culture & the Arts (BCA) last year. At the event, Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, The Standard’s Greg Ness, and emcee S. Renee Mitchell posed for a photo. (Photo credit, by Andie Petkus)
This year’s honorees included:
Top corporate donors to the arts, including The Standard, U.S. Bank, Portland General Electric, Umpqua Bank, Wells Fargo, The Boeing Company, Vulcan Inc., Nordstrom, Chipotle Mexican Grill, KeyBank, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Wieden+Kennedy, Nike, Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission and Stoel Rives.
The John C. Hampton Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts: Greg Ness, CEO, The Standard
Inspirational creative partnership: Umpqua Bank and Portland Center Stage
Small business champion: Bill Dickey, Owner, Morel Ink
Work for Art champions: Portland General Electric, Burgerville and the Oregon Cultural Trust
RACC also saluted Oregon’s own congresswoman, Representative Suzanne Bonamici, for her support of arts education at the federal level and for incorporating the arts into STEM education as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act which President Obama signed into law in December of 2015.