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Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) Celebrates Champions

Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, The Standard’s Greg Ness, and emcee S. Renee Mitchell. Photo by Andie Petkus Photography

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)

Performance by Portland Opera. Photo by Andie Petkus Photography

Umpqua Bank’s Raymond Davis with Portland Center Stage Artistic Director Chris Coleman. Photo by Andie Petkus Photography

The Standard’s Bob Speltz, RACC Board Member Ozzie Gonzalez, and U.S. Bank’s Stacey Dodson. Photo by Andie Petkus Photography

The Standard’s Kazunori Yamauchi and Greg Ness with Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish. Photo by Andie Petkus Photography

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.

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.