January 2007
· IN THIS ISSUE ·
RACC Awards $376, 329 for 97 Arts Projects in 2007
Esther Stutzman (above), a Kalapuya Coos storyteller and
educator, will participate in the 2nd Annual Northwest Native
American Storytelling Festival in Portland, 1/4-6. Visit www.wisdomoftheelders.org.
(RACC 2007 Project Grant) |
The Regional Arts & Culture Council has awarded
$376, 329 to 38 individual artists and 59 organizations who
will be offering artistic programs for the general public throughout
2007. This is the highest amount of Project Grants ever awarded
by RACC in one year, and follows $1,016,600 in General Support
grants that were awarded by RACC in July. Funding comes from
the City of Portland, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Washington
County, Metro, and Work for Art, RACC's workplace giving program.
The
broad array of artistic projects for 2007 will include a Northwest
Native
American Storytellers Festival in January (pictured), the
Portland Jazz Festival in February, a Sculpture Exposition at
Clackamas Community College, a dance concert from Oslund + Company/Dance,
an art exhibit by Dana Lynn Louis, an Arts Summer Festival
in Estacada, an Indian Festival in Pioneer Square, and numerous
other events in schools, libraries, theaters, concert halls
and galleries throughout the year. (A complete description
of funded projects can be downloaded at www.racc.org/grants/docs/2007RACCProjectGrants.pdf)
Fritz Liedtke, one of the Project Grant recipients, had this
to say on his blog upon receiving a grant, "Getting a grant
is exciting and moving, not just to have the money to work with,
but more so to have the recognition from people you respect.
It's more a pat on the back that says, 'What you're doing is
valid and important. Keep moving.'" (www.fritzphoto.blogspot.com)
Earlier this fall, after an extensive outreach effort to arts
organizations throughout the region, RACC received a record number
of Project Grant applications. There are three categories of
Project Grants: Artistic Focus in a variety of artistic disciplines
(RACC received 142 applications); Neighborhood Arts Projects
(RACC received 43 applications); and Arts-in-Schools (RACC received
31 applications). Total amount requested this year for Project
Grants for Organizations and Individuals was $946,388 compared
to last year's requests of $785,863.
11,000 cigarette butts… 1,000 pounds of clay… 16
animal hides… tire tread, rose petals, fake fur, and
leaves. These are some of the things encountered upon entering Second
Skin, a life-size installation by Anne Thompson and
J.D. Perkin at the Portland Art Center from 1/4-2/24. See www.portlandart.org.
(RACC 2007 Project Grant) |
During the months of October and November, 41 community volunteers
served on 9 panels, reading the applications and rating the proposed
projects for artistic merit, audience access, and fiscal responsibility.
These panels were composed of professional artists, teachers,
community representatives and arts administrators from throughout
the tri-county region.
Each peer panel reviewed both Organizational and Individual
grants together based on discipline. After a thorough panel discussion,
reviewers submit scores for each application and panel rankings
are then calculated by RACC staff from these scores. Based on
these rankings and the amount of funds available for 2006-07
Project Grants, 97 grantees (45% of those who applied) were recommended
to the RACC Board of Directors. The final grants were approved
by the RACC Board on December 6, 2006. It is noteworthy that
24 of the 38 individual artists who received funding are first-time
RACC project grant recipients. In addition, 25 out of 59 organizations
are receiving their first-ever RACC project grant.
"I am really looking forward to what promises to be an
exceptional year for arts and culture," said Eloise Damrosch,
Executive Director of RACC. "We received strong applications
from some of the most promising artists and exciting nonprofit
organizations our community has to offer. Together, their creative
endeavors will enrich the cultural landscape of the Portland
metropolitan area, provide arts access for more of our citizens,
and enhance our children's learning through increased arts education
activities."
Tri-county artists and organizations are encouraged to apply
for these grants when guidelines and applications for 2008 will
be available in May, with deadlines in August, 2007.
To learn more about RACC, its various grant
programs, visit www.racc.org/grants.
Download a PDF of the complete listings of Project Grants in
2007 at www.racc.org/grants/docs/2007RACCProjectGrants.pdf.
From RACC Executive Director:
Eloise Damrosch
Happy New Year!
We at RACC are looking forward to another year of growth
and great art and wish the same to each of you.
January signals the start of advocacy season (as if it
ever stops) and exciting opportunities are on the horizon
in Salem, which have the potential to affect positive statewide
change in arts and culture funding. Governor Kulongoski
has in his budget the Creative Oregon Initiative developed
by the Oregon Arts Commission to reinvigorate state support
for arts and culture in important ways.
The package that will be considered by the Legislature
includes a $2,900,000 increase to the OAC budget over the
next biennium. These dollars would significantly increase
grants to arts organizations, provide technical assistance
and training to artists and arts organizations, and strengthen
promotion of the Cultural Trust, as well as strengthening
OAC staff capacity to support this work.
We will actively and enthusiastically advocate for this
initiative, as it would benefit the organizations and artists
we serve in this region, and look forward to partnering
with the OAC to increase our technical assistance program
-- already in growth mode. We will keep you informed of
progress as the session unfolds and may well ask for your
help in convincing lawmakers in Salem to support this critical
package.
We look forward to a dynamic and productive year ahead
with all of you.
Eloise can be reached at edamrosch@racc.org.
State of the Arts Report to City Council
Charlie Crabtree, Madeleine Rogers, and Nandi Vanka pose
with Portland Mayor Tom Potter as they prepared to give testimony
to City Council about their involvement in the arts during
RACC's State of the Arts Report at City Hall on 12/13. |
On December 13, RACC staff delivered a State of the Arts report
to Portland City Council, with a summary of grants that were
awarded, public art that was commissioned, and Work for Art money
that was raised in calendar year 2006. As part of RACC's presentation,
three students (pictured) testified about the importance of arts
education, and three RACC grant recipients explained how they
served the community this past year. Copies of RACC's 2006 Annual
Report will be available in mid-January.
Antoinette Hatfield
Hall Dedicated
Antoinette and Senator Mark Hatfield |
Nineteen years after its splashy opening, the "new" theater
building of the Portland Center for Performing Arts that houses
the Newmark, Winningstad and Brunish theaters finally acquired
a name 12/13: the Antoinette Hatfield Hall. Attending the naming
tribute, Mrs. Hatfield said she was both surprised and thrilled
to learn that her name would adorn the building, which opened
across from the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in 1987.
2007 RACC Artists Workshop Series Begins
1/19 Artists Wanted: Public Art from A to Z. RACC's
public art managers Peggy Kendellen and Kristin Calhoun review
the process of applying for a commission from the City of Portland's
2% for Art Program and Multnomah County's 1.33% for Art Program.
Participants will be guided through successful application examples,
reviewing budgets, timelines, and architectural issues associated
with publicly funded capital construction projects. 9am-12pm,
Portland Building, 2nd Floor Auditorium, 1120 SW 5th, Portland.
Fee: $15. Next workshop, 2/16, focuses
on marketing - The Balancing Act: Making Art and
Making Money. Register at www.racc.org/workshops.
RACC Professional Development Grants Awarded
RACC Awarded $19,453 in Professional Development Grants (Cycle
2) to 14 individuals and 2 organizations in early December (94%
are first-time RACC recipients). These Grants assist arts organizations
and individual artists in the tri-county with activities that
that improve their business management development skills and/or
brings them to another level artistically. For a listing and
description of awards visit www.racc.org/grants/grantawards.php#ProfDev2.
Current RACC Opportunities
Public
Art
- McLoughlin Blvd. Enhancement Project. Oregon
City, the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, and
the Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland, Oregon,
invite artists/teams residing in Oregon or Washington to
submit qualifications for a public art design team opportunity
in Oregon City. The total art budget is $160,000. Request
for Qualifications form will be available at www.racc.org on
1/3. Deadline: 1/29/07.
- Visual Chronicle of Portland. RACC is
seeking works on paper -- prints, drawings, paintings and
photographs -- to purchase for the Visual Chronicle of
Portland collection. The budget for the purchase and framing
of artwork is $3,800. Prospectus at www.racc.org. Deadline:
2/2/07.
- in situ PORTLAND-
On the Streets. RACC will issue a call for qualifications
in early 2007 for a new temporary outdoor installations
program in neighborhoods around Portland. Interested
artists should put themselves on the RACC Public Art
List Serve http://www.racc.org/subscribe/pa or
contact Kristin Calhoun, kcalhoun@racc.org.
Put in situ PORTLAND in your subject
line to make sure it gets through.
Jobs
- Public Art Preparator (20 hours/wk) responsible
for all aspects of packing, handling, installation and transporting
of Public Art Portable Collections. BA/BFA, 2+ years of professional
art handling and preparation experience required. See detailed
description at www.racc.org/news/opportunities.php#PAjob. Deadline:
1/8/07.
Grants
- The New RACC Opportunity Grant Program,
funded by the City of Portland, is designed to provide grants
to nonprofit arts and cultural organizations to help meet special
opportunities or assist organizations with emergencies that
arise and that are not part of the applicant's annual budget
or regular programming. It is meant to supplement but not be
a substitute for any other existing RACC grant. There will
be multiple cycles of this grant throughout the fiscal year.
More details and online applications can be found at www.racc.org in
early January. First Deadline for Letter of Intent:
2/5/07.
January Events Funded in
part by RACC
Portland Under Construction:
Photographs by Patrick Stearns
January 7-February 14
The Art Gym at Marylhurst University, 17600 Pacific Hwy
(Hwy 43), 503.699.6243
www.marylhurst.edu
Patrick Stearns has photographed two major Portland construction
projects extensively - the Westside Light Rail Tunnel and the
Portland Aerial Tram (pictured). In addition, as one of the photographers
of the Portland Grid Project, Stearns has also chronicled construction
in Portland's Pearl District, suburban neighborhoods, and occasionally
noted the smaller scale remodels and repairs that are ongoing
in the city's established neighborhoods.
This project was funded in part by a RACC Project Grant
Miracle Theatre Group: Frida,
un retablo
January 12-20
Miracle Theatre, 525 SE Stark, Portland, 503.236.7253
www.milagro.org
Legend and cult figure, Frida Kahlo is a sorrowful heroine
whose obsession with death provided her with an unquenchable
thirst for life. Born a Mestizo of European and Mexican parents,
art became a retreat from polio, a bus accident and innumerable
surgeries that left her in constant pain. Her work became her
life as she reinvented herself into a timeless persona that was
mirrored in her art.
Miracle Theatre receives General
Support funds from RACC
Photo by Lake Oswego Photographers |
Lakewood Theatre Company: Where's
Charley?
January 12-February 18
Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368
S. State Street, Lake Oswego, 503.635.3901
www.lakewood-center.org
A Tony Award-winning musical packed with Frank Loesser hits,
this finely crafted comedy of manners offers a deft send-up of
etiquette and propriety. Book by George Abbott, based on Brandon
Thomas' Charley's Aunt.
Lakewood Theatre Company receives
General Support funds from RACC
Portrait of Zen Parry with her work |
Zen Parry's Engagement: White Light
January 13-March 11
Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery, 3934
SW Corbett Ave., Portland,
503-223-2654
www.contemporarycrafts.org
Zen Parry's mixed-media installation incorporates traditional
craft media and techniques―clay, fiber, glass, metal
and knitting, crocheting, origami―as well as coroner's
plastic, plastic toys, sound and light into an environment
where the viewer and their movement through space is an integral
component of the work. Australian and world traveler Parry's
installation stems from her observation that American culture
seems to dispose of meaning in pursuit of convenience, particularly
in terms of its society's relationship with death.
This project was funded in part by a RACC
Project Grant
Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery receives General
Support funds from RACC
Photo by Owen Carey |
Oregon Children's Theatre: Miss
Nelson is Missing
January 14-28
Keller Auditorium, SW 3rd & Clay, Portland, 503-228-9571
www.octc.org
Miss Nelson is Missing, a witty, wacky musical,
is about an absent teacher and her bratty class which is taken
over by Miss Viola Swamp, the Substitute Teacher! Based on
the books by Harry Allard & James Marshall; adapted with
songs by Joan Cushing.
Oregon Children's Theatre receives
General Support funds from RACC
For
a listing of many more events in the
metropolitan Portland area funded in part by RACC see
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