Program areas at Regional Arts and Culture Council
Grants - racc distributed approximately $4,285,474 in grant funds in fy22, and currently serves 286 individual artists and 177 Arts organizations, other non-profit organizations, arts-based businesses and schools in the portland tri-county area. The amount distributed includes amounts received in grants as well as those considered agency transactions. Approximately 30 local artists and community representatives serve on panels each year to help assess submissions. Examples of areas of review include: artistic programming, community impact, impact on artist, operations, fiscal responsibility and alignment with racc values.
Communications - racc expanded our scope of communication services to include interviews, diy videos for grant recipients, and live/recorded virtual events for public art call for artists and grant opportunities. We created social media campaigns with narratives to engage, inform, and educate our community. We used a wide range of resource sharing through our website, social media platforms, newsletters, emailings, our online travel calendar in partnership with travel Oregon and our intake opportunity form to promote Regional events, artists, and professional development opportunities.continued on schedule ocontent creation and informing our media within our community of various racc opportunities have enabled us to reach more members of our creative community. Through established partnerships, we promote racc funded Arts organizations and created systems that ensure our community has information they need to attend, support, and share these opportunities. We sent press releases, used video, and other mediums to show the work racc does for the community and the many engagement opportunities we offer for artists, grantees, job seekers, community partners, elected officials, educators, professionals and more.
Public art - racc plays a key role in acquiring and caring for publicly owned or accessible art in the greater portland area. The public art team manages the percent for art programs for the city of portland and multnomah county and is the steward for their respective public art collections. In addition to, and in support of these central tasks, the public art program maintains digital and database inventories; circulates the portable works collection; oversees siting of permanent works; maintains the collection; considers gifts and memorials; and works with private developers through code related art requirements. Continuted on schedule oracc also provides public art management contracting services for a variety of local and national agencies, both public and private; and offers workshops and presentations to artists, schools and the public.
Arts education - in fy22, racc Arts education program continued to coordinate services to school districts funded by the city of portland's Arts education and access fund (aeaf) income tax and support a community vision for an equitable Arts education. The Arts education program advocates for a well-rounded steam education for all k-12 schools in multnomah county. We provide direct resources (artlookoregon) in our region, advocate for increased Arts instruction and opportunities in k-12 schools, support collaboration and partnerships with art partners and others. We continued to offer free professional development through trauma informed workshops, conducted a comprehensive Arts educator's survey to inform our Arts education programming, launched a quarterly newsletter for all k-12 Arts educators, and continue to work to expand our scope of reach through advocacy and engagement. We also work with local, state, and national Arts education leaders to promote access and inclusion of Arts education in k-12 schools in the region. Activities included 1) two virtual workshops for trauma informed care offered to all k-12 Arts educators; 2) six school districts served who are funded through the aeaf with over 100 Arts educators in k-5 and serving over 31,000 students; 3) collaborated with the aeaf oversight committee to produce a two-year report to present to the portland city Council that details Arts education in our six school districts who receive aeaf funds, and 4) #newsforyourheart (our Arts education newsletter) was launched in sept 2021 and distributed to nearly 1000 Arts educators and community members - 5 editions were sent throughout the year.
Advocacy and engagement - racc works at the local, state, and national levels to build awareness, support and resources for Arts and Culture. Racc convenes forums to promote the importance of Arts and Culture and produces research to help illustrate the impact. Racc continues to advocate to state and local governments for continued covid-19 relief support to artists and art organizations in the region as well as generating additional support for Arts and Culture reinvestment, growth, and recovery. As a result of that effort, racc received three national endowment for the Arts (nea) grants focused on investing in the Arts and Culture in our region, including a two-year $500,000 subgranting award with matching funds from counties to redistribute, a two-year our town grant of $75,000 for the creative place-making program, beginning to distribute in the year ended june 30, 2022, and a $34,500 grant to support capacity building of Arts and Culture organizations. Racc also conducts a workplace giving program that introduces thousands of employees, and their employers, to the local Arts community and generates contributions for the region's Arts and cultural organizations, in addition to our engagements with private and public funders.