Oregon Arts Commission Awards $1.2 Million to 154 Arts Organizations

Oregon Arts Commission Awards $1.2 Million to 154 Arts Organizations

by | Jan 22, 2022 | Art, Events, Features, News

Salem, OR. “We often hear that operating support is the most important type of award,” said Arts Commission Chair Jenny Green. “Especially now, as arts organizations struggle to recover from losses caused by the pandemic, these awards help relieve a bit of the economic pressure.”

Grants totaling $1,265,166 will be distributed to 154 Oregon arts organizations through the Oregon Arts Commission’s fiscal year 2022 Operating Support Program. Including Artists Repertory Theatre (A.R.T), which received $10,490. Seen above is a photo by Owen Carey of A.R.T’s production of The Miracle Worker. There are six more recipients than in the fiscal year 2021 due to a growing number of eligible organizations. Ranging from $2,000 to $ 25,000, the grant awards are available to nonprofit organizations with arts at the core of their mission and budgets over $150,000.

One of the largest grants was one made to Oregon Symphony for $25,000.

In 2019 organizations receiving Operating Support from the Arts Commission expended $213 million, employed 11,681 FTE and produced events and activities that were attended by close to 3.7 million people. *Organizations with budgets under $150,000 are eligible to apply to the Small Operating Program. This program funds an additional 109 arts organizations.

The fiscal year 2022 Operating Support Grants, in the Portland Metro area were awarded to the following nonprofits:

45th Parallel, Portland: $4,899,

Alberta Abbey Foundation, Portland: $6,147,

All Classical Public Media, Inc., Portland: $11,900,

Artichoke Community Music, Portland: $5,934,

Art In The Pearl, Portland: $4,899’

Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland: $10,490,

A-WOL Dance Collective, Inc., Clackamas: $4,899,

Bag & Baggage Productions, Inc., Hillsboro: $7,531,

BodyVox Inc., Portland: $13,521,

Bosco-Milligan Foundation, Portland: $5,435,

Broadway Rose Theatre Company, Tigard: $11,265,

Caldera, Portland: $13,091,

Camp45 Contemporary, Portland: $5,506,

Cappella Romana Inc., Portland: $7,997,

Chamber Music Northwest, Portland: $13,226,

Children’s Healing Art Project, Portland: $4,899,

Clackamas County Arts Alliance, Oregon City: $8,360,

Clackamas Repertory Theatre, Oregon City: $4,899,

CoHo Productions Ltd, Portland: $4,899,

Corrib Theatre, Portland: $4,899,

Curious Comedy Productions, Portland: $6,657,

Echo Theater Company, Portland: $5,620,

Ethos Inc., Portland: $8,230,

Film Action Oregon dba Hollywood Theatre, Portland: $8,794,

Friends of Chamber Music, Portland: $9,200,

Hand2Mouth, Portland: $4,899,

Imago the Theatre Mask Ensemble, Portland: $4,899,

In a Landscape, Portland: $4,899

Independent Publishing Resource Center Inc., Portland: $7,330

Lakewood Theatre Company, Lake Oswego: $11,535

Literary Arts Inc., Portland: $14,004

Live Wire Radio, Portland: $8,705,

MetroEast Community Media, Gresham: $11,970,

Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Portland: $10,421,

Miracle Theatre Group, Portland: $20,854,

Music Workshop, Portland: $4,899,

My Voice Music, Portland: $6,511 Northwest Children’s Theater & School Inc., Portland: $11,162,

Northwest Professional Dance Project, Portland: $11,245,

Old Church Society, Inc., Portland: $7,353,

Open Signal, Portland: $15,965,

Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland: $11,114,

Oregon BRAVO Youth Orchestras, Portland: $9,670,

Oregon Center for Contemporary Art, Portland: $11,010,

Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, Portland: $6,116,

Oregon Children’s Theatre Company, Portland: $14,975,

Oregon Repertory Singers, Gladstone: $5,400,

Oregon Symphony, Portland: $25,000,

Outside the Frame, Portland: $5,630,

Pacific Youth Choir, Portland: $7,512,

PHAME Academy, Portland: $9,318,

Polaris Dance Company, Portland: $7,833,

Portland Actors Conservatory, Portland: $4,899,

Portland Art Museum, Portland: $25,000,

Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland: $11,637,

Portland Center Stage, Portland: $19,018,

Portland Columbia Symphony, Portland: $4,899,

Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, Portland: $4,899,

Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Inc., Portland: $7,490,

Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland: $13,489,

Portland Jazz Festival, Inc. dba PDX Jazz, Portland: $9,072,

Portland Opera Association, Portland: $22,309,

Portland Piano International, Portland: $6,442,

Portland Playhouse, Portland: $11,431,

Portland Street Art Alliance, Portland: $5,131,

Portland Symphonic Choir, Portland: $4,899,

Portland Youth Philharmonic, Portland: $7,642,

Profile Theatre Project, Portland: $7,477,

Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland: $25,000,

Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, Portland: $4,899,

Shaking the Tree Theatre, Portland: $4,899,

Stumptown Stages, Lake Oswego: $4,899,

The Circus Project, Portland: $8,966,

The Portland Ballet, Portland: $8,667,

The Red Door Project, Portland: $7,939,

Third Angle New Music Ensemble, Portland: $5,217,

Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Portland: $8,611,

triangle productions, Portland: $6,178,

Vibe of Portland, Portland: $4,899,

Western Alliance of Arts Administrators, Portland: $6,972,

White Bird, Portland: $11,124,

Write Around Portland, Portland: $9,822,

Young Audiences of Oregon, Portland: $8,192,

Young Musicians & Artists, Portland: $4,899,

Youth Music Project, West Linn: $6,390,

From The Oregon Arts Commission:

The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of Business Oregon (formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department) in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon legislature moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining operations and making use of the Commission’s expertise in grantmaking, arts and cultural information and community cultural development. The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust. More information about the Oregon Arts Commission is available online at: www.oregonartscommission.org.

The Circus Project Celebrates 10th Anniversary

The Circus Project Celebrates 10th Anniversary

by | Nov 3, 2018 | Events, Features, News

Portland, OR. The Circus Project, a Portland non-profit dedicated to transforming lives through the circus arts, celebrated its tenth anniversary with Change(d) Together, a multi-media event incorporating storytelling and performances by world-class aerialists and acrobats. Circus Project coach and dancer Alicia Cutaia performed on an aerial bungee during the cocktail hour. The event took place on October 11th at Peter Corvallis Warehouse on North Randolph. The Circus Project converted the expansive venue into a heaven for trapeze, silks, lyra and acrobatics. The Circus Project was created with the mission of empowering homeless and traditionally underserved youth and young adults through the development of innovative, skilled circus productions.

Performer Ty Vennewitz entertains guests.

Featured artist Zoe Stasko, who also presented the ask, performs on aerial straps.

Circus Project students and invited guest performers perform in the final bows.

Circus Project coach and aerialist Alison Lockfeld pours champagne for guests from an aerial trapeze.

Guests were welcomed with a cocktail hour during which they could have their champagne poured by an aerialist upside-down on a trapeze. Entertainment included circus classics like a stilt-walker and juggler, alongside unusual images such as a bouncing aerial dancer and a giant aerial birdcage. Guests also had the opportunity to experience feats of strength by professional strong-woman Tera Nova Zara for a small donation.

A live band led a parade to bring the guests into the main dining area, where Crown Paella provided family-style paella. The entertainment continued, with roving entertainment such as a special bottle delivery by jugglers and a maître’d on rollerskates. Live Brazilian music was provided throughout dinner by POPgoji.

After opening remarks, the main program began. The show included video interviews with students sharing how their lives have changed through their time at the Circus Project, and complemented those with live circus performances by the video interviewees. A lively raise-the-paddle ensued, including a dramatic game of last-man-standing and a celebratory moment of strongwoman Tera Nova Zara breaking a wineglass with just her voice when the group reached a matching grant!

After the raise the paddle, we returned to the circus show, where a collection of national and international professional circus artists performed high-level, innovative acts and took the event out with a festive bang.

The event was the first fundraising gala the team had put on in seven years, and raised over $100,000.

From the Circus Project:

The Circus Project believes in art as a powerful vehicle for transformation, which cuts across social barriers to inspire new perspectives and creative solutions to conflict.  We believe that art is most relevant and evocative when the process through which it is created reflects the diversity of our community.

Thus, the Circus Project strives to foster an atmosphere of diversity, creativity, and respect in which people feel able to participate, express themselves, and be heard independently of their gender, race, religion, physical abilities, mental diagnosis, national or ethnic origin, social status, income, age, size, sexual orientation, or gender identification. 

Further, the Circus Project strives to cultivate a deeper level of dialogue and inclusiveness that makes space for all people as well as various and competing views, tensions, feelings, styles of communication, and earth spirits – in a way that supports awareness of relative rank, power, and privilege, and the potential of these forces to marginalize other views, individuals, groups, and species. 

Through outreach to underserved and marginalized populations, attention to imbalance, acceptance of people from all walks of life, and a commitment to eradicating both internalized and externalized oppression, the Circus Project strives to expand the definition of art beyond that of the various disciplines to encompass a way of looking at the world, appreciating diversity, and building sustainable communities.