|
$7.8 million from the Arts Access Fund is headed to Portland schools
 For the 2024-25 school year, the City of Portland’s Arts Access Fund will ensure that students in Portland—more than 28,000 of them—have access to the arts as part of their K-5 education. This collective fund, powered by the Arts Tax, is broad, efficient, and unique to Portland, impacting every public elementary school student in the city.
The City’s Office of Arts & Culture recently announced that $7.8 million will be distributed to Portland’s school districts from the Arts Access Fund to pay elementary arts educators’ salaries during the coming school year.
|
|
Arts & Culture Director Chariti Montez advocates for the arts on Capitol Hill
Chariti Montez, director of the City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture, recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for the importance of—and need for continued funding of—the arts and arts education.
During the week of December 9 and alongside partners from Americans for the Arts, Montez met with lawmakers including Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, a U.S. representative for Oregon’s First Congressional District.
“The arts policy and funding decisions made on Capitol Hill impact jurisdictions across the nation, including Portland’s vibrant arts and culture landscape,” Montez said. “I was honored to represent fellow Portlanders in conversations about the future of the arts and art funding in 2025 and beyond.”
 Chariti Montez with Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici and Arts Access Fund artist-in-residence Carrie Tillis
|
|
Portland area named #17 most arts-vibrant community in the US 🎨
SMU DataArts’ 9th Arts Vibrancy Index (AVI) analyzes more than 900 communities across the US on measurements related to overall arts vibrancy.
The rankings highlight communities big and small that sustain high levels of arts and cultural activity, considering factors like supply, demand, and public support for arts and culture, as well as adjusting for cost of living and population size.
For 2024, the Portland area took spot #17 out of the top 40 most arts-vibrant communities nationwide, while Oregon ranked #8 on the state list.
|
|
Public art spotlight: Raven's Welcome by Terresa White (Yup'ik)
Created with bronze and columnar basalt, Raven's Welcome by Terresa White (Yup'ik) was installed in Portland's Cully neighborhood at Mamook Tokatee in November 2024 and celebrated its unveiling in mid-December 2024.
The artist's website says that Raven's Welcome celebrates the cultural significance of the area and its proximity to the life-giving Columbia River, a place of gathering for trade and business, a place to live, share, play, age, work, and pray. "Raven's Welcome invites All to come together in community and in care of the River, land, air, non-human persons, and each other."
Portland’s Relief and Recovery for Artists of Color program—funded by the City of Portland with $2 million from the US government’s American Rescue Plan and managed by Arts & Culture—supports local artists who have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of that $2 million, $500,000 was allocated for artworks that celebrate Indigenous culture in the Cully neighborhood. Raven’s Welcome was contracted through the Native American Youth and Family Center as part of this program.
 Raven's Welcome by Terresa White (Yup'ik)
|
|
City Council appoints Arts Access Fund Oversight Committee members 🎊
The Arts Access Fund, powered by the Arts Tax, provides funding for K-5 arts teachers in Portland’s six school districts and grants for arts organizations across the city. To ensure the fund is being implemented as required, the City appoints a volunteer oversight committee charged with reviewing expenditures and reporting their findings to City Council annually.
On December 4, City Council reappointed Ellen Thomas, Hana Layson, Jessica Laguna, and Leah Faure to their second terms on the committee and appointed André Middleton for his first term. André is a founding board member and Executive Director of Friends of Noise, a nonprofit that empowers youth development through the production and curating of all-ages music concerts.
The Office of Arts & Culture welcomes André to his new role and is grateful to the entire committee for their service!
|
|
K-5 arts teachers from Portland's public schools gather for Connection Hour
Sponsored by the Arts Access Fund and the Portland Art Museum, elementary arts teachers gathered at the museum for community-building and learning on December 12. Museum guides led conversations and activity in the Psychedelic Rock Poster gallery followed by art making, music curating, and collegiality in the Mark Building.
Elementary school art and music teachers, stay tuned for additional opportunities to gather and network in the new year. In the meantime, consider submitting your student(s) for the Arts Access Fund's call for student artwork!
 Elementary arts teachers gathered for Connection Hour in December 2024
|
|
Last call: "Arts for All of Us" student poster contest 📣
Why is access to arts in schools important for Portland schoolchildren? That’s the question the Arts Access Fund, part of Arts & Culture, is asking K-5 students to respond to in its “Arts for All of Us” poster contest. In addition to an arts supply basket, the two winning posters will be displayed around Portland in March 2025 in celebration of Arts in our Schools month. Submissions are due January 10, 2025.
|
|
Add it to your calendar 🗓️
 |
|
December 31
Ring in 2025 with live drone shows and a dance party, hosted by the City of Portland, Prosper Portland's Office of Events & Film, and True West Presents.
|
 |
|
January 2
Join Low Bar Chorale for a pre-show group karaoke session inspired by Beatles songs that helped shape rock n’ roll.
|
 |
|
January 7
Every first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m., Hollywood Theater plays B-Movie Bingo, a game they say is exactly like it sounds—or more.
|
|
|
Grant opportunities and open calls
|
|
|
Traducción e Interpretación | Biên Dịch và Thông Dịch | अनुवादन तथा व्याख्या
口笔译服务 | Устный и письменный перевод | Turjumaad iyo Fasiraad
Письмовий і усний переклад | Traducere și interpretariat | Chiaku me
Awewen Kapas
Translation and Interpretation: 311
The City of Portland ensures meaningful access and reasonably provides: translation, interpretation, modifications, accommodations, alternative formats, auxiliary aids and services. To request these services, call 311 for Relay Service or TTY: 711.
|
|
|
|
|
