|
We're excited to share that the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s Portland Arts Project Grant Program is open for submissions!
The program, funded by $1,200,000 provided by Arts & Culture, is available to support the making and sharing of artistic work and the development of Portland’s arts community. Individual artists, arts organizations, arts businesses, and other nonprofits are eligible to apply for grant funding to support their arts programs and activities—presentations, events, or artistic development opportunities that are shared with the public. Applicants can request up to $5,000. Apply by September 24, 2025 at 5 p.m. PT!
Arts & Culture works with three grantmaking contractors as part of its Small Grants Program, including the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Friends of IFCC, and MusicOregon. Friends of IFCC's Arts Grant & Residency Program opens for submissions on July 30, 2025, and MusicOregon's Echo Fund opens on August 4, 2025. Stay tuned for more information on both!
|
|
 On July 1, 2024, the City of Portland launched its first-ever dedicated Office of Arts & Culture. Arts & Culture’s mission is to put arts at the center of public life for all Portlanders, and key to that is investing in the city’s creative ecosystem. In its first 12 months, Arts & Culture’s grantmaking programs and initiatives provided more than $5,600,000 in funding to hundreds of Portland-based artists and arts and culture organizations.
This article looks back at Arts & Culture’s grantmaking efforts in fiscal year 2024-25, which ended on June 30, 2025. More specifically, it highlights how much was awarded as part of the office’s General Operating Support and Small Grant programs, as well as grants made to Portland Monuments Project-affiliated partners.
Amid local, regional, and national arts funding and budget-related challenges, the Arts & Culture team is proud to have supported the vital work of Portland’s artists and creatives to the tune of millions of dollars—making the City of Portland one of the region’s largest arts funders.
|
|
 In 2020, the Thompson Elk statue—one of 20+ monuments in the City of Portland’s public art collection—was removed from its perch after fires set in its base posed risk of toppling the structure. Repairs to the Elk statue itself, which is maintained by the Office of Arts & Culture, are complete. We’re excited to share that the Portland Water Bureau started construction on the Elk Fountain earlier this month—an important step in being able to return the Elk to its original location.
The Water Bureau reports that crews will set up equipment and fencing around the area first, followed by the removal of the fountain base and boulders. Later this summer, the team will dig a trench for a new stainless-steel vault that will be installed below the fountain’s base. Also on the horizon, crews will prepare the site for the installation of plumbing and electric for a recirculating water pump—which could save more than 6.8 million gallons of water per year.
|
|
 On July 8, 2025, Arts & Culture Director Chariti Montez presented at the convening of the City Council's Arts and Economy Committee—chaired by Councilmembers Mitch Green (District 4) and Dan Ryan (District 2).
During the 20-minute presentation, Montez shared background information on the City of Portland/Metro relationship as it pertains to the Portland’5 Centers for the Arts and the resolutions that led to the convening of the Performing Arts Venues Workgroup, the findings of the City’s contracted venues experts and the recommendations from the workgroup itself, what’s known about next steps for the recommendations, and how this work fits into the overall Future of Keller project.
|
|
 On July 3, Arts & Culture's Director Chariti Montez joined KATU Anchor Wesleigh Ogle to talk about Portland's summer fairs and festivals season, including the Picnic in the Pearl, the Waterfront Blues Festival, and Portland Parks & Recreation's Summer Free For All.
Be sure to tune into KATU's ARC PDX morning broadcast this Thursday, July 31, where Chariti will join again to discuss several upcoming jazz festivals and events to know about, including the Vanport Jazz Festival and the Montavilla Jazz Festival.
|
|
 Portlanders and visitors from across Oregon are invited to book a hotel room downtown September 12-14 as part of Portland Staycation Weekend, sponsored by Travel Portland in partnership with Sunday Parkways.
Be a tourist in your city, explore new places and spaces, and visit your tried-and-true favorites in the heart of town. Might we also suggest that you catch one of the Oregon Symphony’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in Concert showings at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on September 12 or 13? Get your tickets now! Plus, enjoy discounts and special packages at downtown hotels, restaurants, and retailers all weekend long!
|
|
 Shows at Multnomah Arts Center's Front & Center Galleries are scheduled via an annual call for art—and the 2025 call will be opening in just a few days! If you're an emerging or established artist in Oregon or SW Washington, check out the details and apply between August 1-31, 2025. Exhibitions from this call will be scheduled in 2026 and early 2027.
The selection committee for the center's annual call for art includes two guest curators and MAC's gallerist, Megan Hatch. For 2025, the guest curators are Melanie Stevens, an artist, illustrator, and writer, and Celeste Noche, an editorial and documentary photographer.
|
|
Add it to your calendar 🗓️
 |
|
August 1-2
The two-day Vanport Jazz Festival honors the city of Vanport and the voices that formed our jazz community.
|
 |
|
Through August 30
Portland Parks & Recreation’s popular SFFA program is back with a full slate of free movies, concerts, and festivals in Portland parks, plus Free Lunch + Play and Free Fitness in the Park.
|
 |
|
August 29-31
The 12th Annual Montavilla Jazz Festival will be a celebration of the vibrant voices of our city, featuring more than 25 concerts across East Portland's historic Montavilla neighborhood and Mt. Tabor Park.
|
|
|
Grant opportunities and open calls 📣
-
Artists in Residence Program Open Call from Caldera | $700-$1,200 | Submission deadline: August 4, 2025
-
2026 Oregon Literary Fellowships from Literary Arts | $4,000-$10,000 | Submission deadline: August 8, 2025
-
2025 Fall Artist in Residency from PAM CUT | $3,000 | Application deadline: August 22, 2025
-
Call for Art from Multnomah Arts Center | Application deadline: August 31, 2025
-
2026 Residency from Willapa Bay AiR | Application deadline: August 31, 2025
-
2025 Artist Grants for Early Career Visual Artists from Liu Shiming Art Foundation | $5,000 | Submission deadline: August 31, 2025
-
2026 Storyknife Writers Residencies from Storyknife Writers Retreat | Applications due: August 31, 2025
-
Performing Arts Funding Grants Program from ETC | $5,000 | Submission deadline: August 31, 2025
-
Portland Arts Project Grants from the Regional Arts & Culture Council | Up to $5,000 | Submission deadline: September 24, 2025
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
