Press Release: RACC awards $412,895 for 92 artistic projects in 2010

Regional Arts & Culture Council awards $412,895 for 92 artistic projects in 2010

The Regional Arts & Culture Council announced today that a total of $412,895 will be awarded to artists, nonprofit organizations, and schools in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties as part of RACC’s competitive “Project Grant” program.

Support comes from various sources – first and foremost from the City of Portland. Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Washington County and Metro also provide significant funding, along with Work for Art, RACC’s ever-growing workplace giving program. This year’s project grant budget was $50,000 less than 2008-09 due to shortfalls in hotel/motel tax revenues that are meant to fund arts-related projects in neighborhoods.

 “Now more than ever, it is essential that we invest in the arts,” said Eloise Damrosch, Executive Director of RACC. “Artistic projects like these make our community a better place, and they help support the growing number of creative individuals and organizations in our region.” 

Among the projects that will occur in schools, libraries, theaters, concert halls and galleries next year:

·       Opera Theatre Oregon will present a new operatic soundtrack to “Hercules Vs. Vampires”

·       POV Dance will create a new architecturally-based dance in the Ford Building

·       Theatre in the Grove will offer their Children's After School Theatre (CAST) program in Forest Grove

·       Artists Devon Allen, M.J. Cody, Carlos Alexis Cruz, Alain LeTourneau, Melody Owen, and Joe Schneider will produce new works

·       Artists Kazuyo Ito, Larry Johnson, Melanya Helene, Hunt Holman, and Joseph Sneed will engage students and other community members in a variety of artistic projects

·       Several community festivals also received support this year, including the Portland Bastille Festival, the Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival and the Cascade Festival of African Films

Also this year, an anonymous donor helped RACC establish the “Innovation Prize,” providing an additional $2,500 award for an outstanding, innovative, media oriented project that extends the boundaries of animated, documentary, experimental and/or narrative motion picture arts. The award this year goes to Alain LeTourneau for Empty Quarter, a 60 minute, 16mm, black and white experimental film about the ranching and farming communities in southeastern Oregon.

A record number of applications were received this year – 263 in total, up 24% over last year. All proposals were evaluated by volunteers, including 53 professional artists, teachers, community representatives and arts administrators who served on 12 different panels. The panelists worked with RACC staff to study the applications and rate each application on its artistic merits and the demonstrated fiscal responsibility of the applicant. Panelists also evaluated the extent to which each proposal provided meaningful engagement opportunities for area residents and was accessible to all citizens. Ultimately, 92 projects were recommended for funding to the RACC Board, which approved the final grants on December 16.

RACC funding typically represents 25 to 50% of a project’s total cost, helping make arts events more affordable and accessible to the public; bringing new arts experiences to students and under-served citizens; and supporting the region’s economic recovery. The National Endowment for the Arts recently reported that Oregon has some of the highest rates of arts participation in the United States, and economic impact research reveals that for every ticket that is purchased to an arts event, an additional $24.24 in arts-related spending supports local businesses, including restaurants, parking structures, and retailers. Hotels and restaurants also benefit from cultural tourism generated by a diverse and healthy arts community.

A total of 44 grants, or 48%, was awarded to organizations and individuals who had never before received a RACC Project Grant. The majority of applicants were from Multnomah County. In the listings below, (*) denotes artists and organizations in Clackamas County; and (**) denotes artists and organizations in Washington County.

$186,738 was awarded to 42 organizations: 

Alliance Francaise of Portland - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,286 Audubon Society of Portland - Visual Arts Project, $5,100 A-WOL Dance Collective - Multi-Discipline Project, $5,463 BaseRoots Theatre Company - Theatre Project,  $3,935 Beaverton Arts Commission** - Dance/Movement Project, $5,700 Beaverton Civic Theatre** - Theatre Project, $4,208 Cinema Project - Media Arts Project, $4,789 Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon - Theatre Project, $3,581 Cleveland High School - Theatre Project, $3,858 defunkt theatre - Theatre Project, $4,445 Disability Rights Oregon - Theatre Project, $5,580 Disjecta Interdisciplinary Art Center - Visual Arts Project, $4,240 Estacada Area Arts Commission* - Multi-Discipline Project, $5,273 Fir Grove Elementary** - Visual Arts Project, $3,722 Hand2Mouth Theatre - Theatre Project, $4,800 India Cultural Association - Presenting Project, $3,868 Jewish Theatre Collaborative - Theatre Project, $4,712 Justseeds - Visual Arts Project, $4,403 Kukatonon - Dance/Movement Project, $5,700 Media, Arts & Technology Institute (MATI) - Media Arts Project, $4,347 MetroArts, Inc. - Music Project, $4,500 My Voice Music - Music Project, $922 Northwest Photography Archive - Visual Arts Project, $4,750 Opera Theater Oregon - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,007 Oregon Cultural Access (ORCA) - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,712 and Dance/Movement Project, $1,826 Orlo - Literature Project, $5,510 Oslund + Company/Dance - Dance/Movement Project, $4,624 PDX Pop Now! - Music Project, $3,961 Portland Community College Foundation - Media Arts Project, $5,700 Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival - Media Arts Project, $5,388 Portland State University Department of Art         - Visual Arts Project, $3,530 Portland Theatre Works - Theatre Project, $2,160 POV Dance - Dance/Movement Project, $4,028 Print Arts Northwest** - Visual Arts Project, $2,066 Providence Elder Place at Glendoveer - Visual Arts Project, $4,500 Sojourn Theatre - Theatre Project, $4,800 The Art Gym* - Visual Arts Project, $5,100 Theatre in the Grove** - Theatre Project, $5,400 Theatre Vertigo - Theatre Project, $1,380 Third Angle New Music Ensemble - Music Project, $5,686 Third Rail Repertory Theatre - Theatre Project, $5,700 Water in the Desert - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,478                     

$226,157 was awarded to 48 individuals: 

Devon Allen - Theatre Project, $3,975 Abra Ancliffe - Visual Arts Project, $4,102 Michael Beach - Music Project, $4,432 Everett A. Beidler - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,731 Barbara Bernstein - Music Project, $4,050 Rose Bond** - Media Arts Project, $5,700 Jedidiah Chavez - Visual Arts Project, $3,660 Varinthorn Christopher - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,800 M.J. Cody*  - Literature Project, $5,626 Bruce Conkle - Visual Arts Project, $4,604 Carlos Alexis Cruz  - Theatre Project, $4,463 Dicky Dahl  - Media Arts Project, $3,846 Laura Di Trapani**  - Media Arts Project, $4,500 Daniel A. Duford - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,800 Tamara English  - Visual Arts Project  $1,715 Colleen M. Flanigan - Visual Arts Project, $5,397 Alexis Gideon - Multi-Discipline Project, $4,800 Chris Harder - Theatre Project, $5,691 Angelle Hebert - Dance/Movement Project, $4,782 Melanya Helene  - Theatre Project, $2,254 Lauren Henkin - Visual Arts Project, $4,498 Helen Hiebert  - Visual Arts Project, $4,155 Hunt Holman*  - Theatre Project, $2,380 Tahni Holt - Multi-Discipline Project, $5,610 Sarah Horowitz - Visual Arts Project, $5,444 Kazuyo Ito  - Music Project, $5,381 Lawrence Johnson - Media Arts Project, $4,490 and Multi-Discipline Project, $4,211 Agnieszka Laska  - Multi-Discipline Project, $5,099 Alain LeTourneau - Media Arts Project, $4,313 and Innovation Prize, $2,500 Matt McCormick  - Media Arts Project, $4,718 Jenene Nagy  - Visual Arts Project, $4,434 Andrew Oliver  - Music Project, $5,700 Melody Owen - Visual Arts Project, $4,500 Heather Perkins  - Music Project, $4,500 Jayanthi Raman**  - Dance/Movement Project, $5,605 Dmae Roberts  - Media Arts Project, $4,680 Ethan Rose - Music Project, $5,400 Michelle Ross  - Visual Arts Project, $3,638 Bobby Ryan - Theatre Project, $4,630 Kaia Sand - Multi-Discipline Project, $3,615 Joe Schneider - Visual Arts Project, $5,399 Heidi Schwegler - Multi-Discipline Project, $5,364 Joseph Sneed  - Visual Arts Project, $5,553 Barbara Tetenbaum - Media Arts Project, $5,400 Mary-Sue Tobin  - Music Project, $2,925 Maro Vandorou  - Visual Arts Project, $4,745 Jessica Wallenfels  - Theatre Project, $5,098 Kelly M. Williams**  - Visual Arts Project, $4,244

RACC is the local arts agency of record for the Portland tri-county area, including Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties, and works to create an environment in which the arts and culture of the region can flourish and prosper. To learn more about RACC and its various grant programs, visit www.racc.org/grants.  For descriptions of each project, visit www.racc.org/2010ProjectGrants.pdf.

Mary Bauer

Communications Associate

Regional Arts & Culture Council

108 NW 9th Avenue, #300

Portland, OR 97209

503.823.5426

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