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 Photo courtesy of Portland Art Museum
The City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture recently announced that $8.1 million will be distributed from the Arts Access Fund to Portland’s six school districts and charter schools for the 2025-26 school year. Powered by the Arts Tax, schools will utilize these funds to pay elementary arts educators’ salaries for the coming school year.
"This year is really special—the students who were kindergarteners when Arts Access Fund disbursements began flowing into schools for the first time are seniors this year," said Dawn Isaacs, the City of Portland's arts education program manager. "We know access to the arts leads to higher engagement in school. The class of 2026 is the first to experience the benefit of an arts education from their first day of elementary school through their last day in high school."
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 Photo courtesy of Portland Parks & Recreation
Friends of IFCC recently announced a new round of awards for 30 Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) artists for 2025-26 totaling $400,000. As part of the IFCC Artist & Residency Program, the awardees, selected from 188 applicants, will enliven and activate the historic cultural center—which includes a 99-seat theater, dance studio, gallery, and office—in North Portland.
Through Arts & Culture's Small Grants Program, we provide Friends of IFCC with $100,000 to be awarded through this program, a unique public-private partnership led by the Friends of IFCC in collaboration with Portland Parks & Recreation, with additional support from the 1803 Fund, Meyer Memorial Trust, Prosper Portland, and other philanthropic partners.
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 Photo by Kelly Knickerbocker
As of November 26, it's officially red nose season at the Portland Oregon White Stag Sign! An annual tradition in Portland, the iconic stag's nose shines bright red starting just before Thanksgiving and extending through the holidays. The Office of Arts & Culture posted several drone shots of the stag on its big day captured by Assistant Director Darion Jones. Be sure to check out our Instagram page!
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 The Arts Access Fund was developed to provide funding for elementary arts education in Portland schools and to help fund access to arts and cultural experiences for K-12 children and underserved communities. The Arts Access Fund Oversight Committee (AOC), created when Portlanders approved Measure 26-146 in 2012, is charged with reviewing the expenditures, progress, and outcomes of the fund and reporting its findings to Portland's City Council annually.
The AOC shares its findings and recommendations, as well as financial, arts education, and grant reporting with Portland's City Council every year, and the 2025 report is available to view now.
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 Photo courtesy of RACC
The City of Portland and its partners have opened a call for artists at the CityFleet facilities on Swan Island. The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), with CityFleet and Arts & Culture, invite artists to submit their qualifications for the opportunity by January 5, 2026.
Made possible by the City of Portland's Percent for Art Program, which says up to 2% of qualifying infrastructure project budgets be dedicated to public art, this call for artists provides an opportunity to design and execute a mural or low relief artwork for the designated frieze area of the walls of the CityFleet training room. Artists working in a variety of types of materials are welcome to apply, and this art opportunity cannot exceed $45,000.
 Photo courtesy of the Willamette Light Brigade
On the heels of the City of Portland's first-ever Portland Staycation weekend last summer, we're excited to share that we're doing it again! Portland Staycation: Winter Edition is an invitation for locals to become travelers in their own town. For the first time, the City will partner with the Portland Winter Light Festival, transforming the weekends of February 6-8 and 13-15 into a celebration of art, light, food, and discovery.
Public-facing businesses, including retailers, restaurants, galleries, and event venues, located in Downtown, Old Town, and the Central Eastside are invited to join in on the festivities. If you're looking to engage festival-goers, introduce potential new customers to your business, and be part of a citywide celebration, Portland Staycation is a perfect fit. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2026!
 Photo courtesy of Portland Parks & Recreation
We know it’s hard to think ahead to summer during Portland’s darkest, soggiest season, but it’s something to look forward to, right? Summer Free For All (SFFA) is one of Portland’s most beloved and anticipated summertime traditions. Each summer, SFFA partners with community groups, nonprofits, and culturally specific groups to produce free outdoor concerts, movies, festivals, and cultural events throughout the city.
If you’re interested in applying to partner with SFFA on one of these events, you can get details and/or apply by January 11, 2026. If you’d like to perform as part of a Summer Free For All program, read up on opportunities for local artists and performers and mark your calendar for January 2026 when applications are slated to open up.
 Photo courtesy of Literary Arts
We mentioned it in Arts & Culture's November newsletter, and we're mentioning it again: In summer 2026, Arts & Culture will launch several new funding programs for arts organizations. With that, a new set of guidelines will go into effect for organizations applying for unrestricted operating support. Until April 1, 2026, community members are invited to provide feedback on updated grant guidelines for the new Operating Support program launching in 2026-27.
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 (L-R) Camp Crush, Gata Galáctica, and Lo Pony, photos courtesy of the artists
ICYMI Arts & Culture Assistant Director Darion Jones recently joined KATU Anchor Wesleigh Ogle to chat about MusicOregon's 2025-26 Echo Fund announcement. The team was glad to be able to spotlight this important grantmaking program, which empowers local music-makers to undertake creative, non-performance projects that spur creative and career development.
Of the 27 incredible musicians and musical artists who received funding this year, three were highlighted during this ARC PDX segment:
- Synth pop duo Camp Crush, who will use their Echo Fund award to produce vinyl copies of their upcoming sophomore album, a 12-track LP titled "Bite the Bullet"
- Born from the Latin American diaspora in Portland, Gata Galáctica blends elements of cumbia, afrobeat, surf music, and psychedelia, and they'll be using their Echo Fund award to mix and master their music with local pros this winter
- Queer folk group Lo Pony is known for their intricate three-part harmonies and dreamy soundscapes, and they'll utilize their Echo Fund funding to dial-in their web presence, including building a dedicated website and online store
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 Photo courtesy of PICA
The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), one of Arts & Culture's General Operating Support grantees, recently announced $60,000 in direct support to unincorporated visual art collectives, alternative spaces, and collaborative projects around Portland. PICA's Precipice Fund Round 14 awards have provided critical support since 2013, recognizing that informal, experimental, and often anti-institutional projects are integral to the vibrant art ecology of the region.
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 Photo courtesy of Portland Events & Film
The Office of Events & Film at Prosper Portland, in partnership with Travel Portland, recently announced the awardees of the fifth round of the Scale Up Grant. This year's awardees include Portland's Folk Festival, slated for January 30-31, 2026, and White Lotus Summer Market set to take place in June 2026.
The Scale Up Grant Program is a competitive grant opportunity designed to provide funding and technical assistance for local Portland events positioned to grow and attract attendance beyond the Portland metro region.
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 Hermon Joyner's Centennial 1 (2023), photo courtesy of RACC
Hermon Joyner has always been fascinated by the urban landscape and its relevance to our daily existence. For Joyner, photography is about time and place, and their images are about bearing witness to Portland—finding significance in the commonplace and discovering grace in the everyday.
Many of Joyner’s photographs, including 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 1 (2023), 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘩 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦 1 (2023), and 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 1 (2023), are archival color inkjet prints from a digital camera. “In this series, I chose to work simply, with one camera and one lens, with minimal digital processing,” Joyner says.
This piece is one of 21 artworks by 11 artists recently acquired for the City of Portland's Visual Chronicle of Portland, a collection of works on paper that serve as an eclectic view of life in Portland and a record of artists working in the city dating back to 1985. The Collection features 463 works by 270 artists, which are displayed in City-owned spaces throughout Portland. Arts & Culture contracts RACC to curate, manage, and maintain the City of Portland’s public art collection, including the Visual Chronicle of Portland.
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Add it to your calendar 🗓️
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December 31
Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Downtown Portland with free drone shows, a large-scale, all-ages dance party, and a final countdown drone display at midnight!
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January 15-25
Presented by Milagro, Autoretrato de Fridita is set during the Mexican Revolution and tells the story of young Frida Kahlo through table-top puppetry.
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January 16-February 21
New shows at Multnomah Arts Center's Front & Center Galleries will explore identity, featuring works by Latoya Lovely, Stephanie Anderson, and Marilyn Cisneros Shawe. (Image: "Stronger Heart" by Marilyn Cisneros Shawe)
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January 31
This event from PICA will feature guitar players Ilyas Ahmed, Marisa Anderson, Jenny Hoyston, and Tara Jane O’Neil responding to a short story about a guitar player by Sara Jaffe, as well as a reading by Sara.
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Grant opportunities and open calls 📣
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Inaugural Grants from Bobby Anspach Studios foundation | Two major grants at $50,000 each and three emerging grants at $8,000 each | Application deadline: December 30, 2025
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CityFleet Art Opportunity from RACC | $45,000 | Application deadline: January 5, 2026
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Mini Grants for Libraries from Oregon Humanities | $25,000 | Application deadline: January 16, 2026
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2026 Gottlieb Individual Support Grant from the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation | $25,000 | Application deadline: January 25, 2026
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2026 Sustainability Labs from Portland Art Museum | $2,500 | Application deadline: January 30, 2026
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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.
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