The Governor's Speech

As promised:

REMARKS BY GOVERNOR TED KULONGOSKI
In accepting the Americans for the Arts Public Leadership Award
Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thank you Senator Merkley for your introduction – and for the outstanding job you are doing in Washington for the people of Oregon. These are difficult times for our state – but they would be a lot more difficult without your voice and vote in the United States Senate. I also want to thank Bob Lynch and Americans for the Arts for selecting me to receive your Public Leadership in the Arts award.

Oregon – like most other states – is facing painful budget choices. I frequently remind people that 90-percent of our state’s budget goes to just three things: Schools, public safety, and human services.

Where does that leave public funding for art and culture? For the shortsighted, it leaves them on the cutting room floor. But I believe passionately that art and culture are not luxuries to be supported in good times – and frills to be discarded in difficult times. They are essential at all times.

By the standards of many states – Oregon is not the most financially prosperous. But we would never trade financial wealth for our wonderful quality of life. It is who we are as a people – and why we work so hard to protect our natural beauty. Art and culture are part of that beauty and are equally important to Oregon’s quality of life. This is as it should be. In creativity – we find hope. In artistry – we find our shared humanity. And what is too often overlooked – by investing in our cultural assets, we invest in jobs and economic renewal.

I often compare the human mind without art – to a room without furniture. The room exists – but it is empty of joy and inspiration. This is why I created CHAMP – to reinvest in culture, history, art, movies, preservation and public broadcasting, and in doing so to enrich the human mind.

I’m very proud to receive this award. And I think it is a credit not just to me – but to Oregon’s entire creative community, from practicing artists and cultural institutions, to business leaders, to legislators from both parties.

But I have a confession: When I was a young man growing up, I didn’t know much about the arts – and didn’t see them as relevant to my life. When I came home from overseas after serving in the Marines, I went to work in a steel mill. I thought that would be my life. But I met a woman who was in college – and she told me that as a condition of our marriage I would have to go to college too.

I enrolled at the University of Missouri on the GI Bill, and for reasons I don’t fully remember or understand – I took an art class. Then a second art class. And then a third art class. I didn’t just learn to appreciate the arts – I learned I needed the arts. The arts made me a more open and curious person – with greater promise and hope for the future.

I realized that the arts are a path to opportunity. This is my greatest motivation for supporting cultural re-investment – to give children in Oregon the same opportunities I had. That means giving them the chance to enjoy, practice and learn about art.

Andre Malraux, the French writer and essayist, once said, “Art is a revolt against fate.” To which I would add: So is investing in art. For children – public investment in the arts will open doors. Change lives. Raise sights. And hand to them an even better future than was handed to us. For those of us in positions of public leadership, there is no greater responsibility – or achievement – than that.

Thank you.

Report from Washington

As many of you have seen, Governor Ted Kulongoski received an Arts Leadership award yesterday morning at a joint gathering of the US Conference of Mayors and Americans for the Arts. I’ll post a copy of his speech as soon as I can get my virtual fingers on it, but suffice it to say that our governor charmed and impressed the crowd -- a room that included such luminaries as NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman, one of my favorite arts advocates Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, and former NBA Star Kevin Johnson. I mean Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

My boss Eloise and I were lucky to attend the breakfast in our roles with Americans for the Arts, she with the US Urban Arts Federation and me with AFTA’s Private Sector Council. And being the fine Oregonians that we are, the governor’s people seated us right up front… which means that you, dear reader, get some up-close-and-personal photographs.

Ever since rumors started percolating a few weeks ago that Gov. Kulongoski would receive this prestigious award – one goes to a Governor and one goes to a Mayor every year – many in the arts community were surprised and perhaps underwhelmed at the suggestion that Oregon was doing something better than 49 other states. Better when a desperate legislature stole $1.8 million from the Oregon Cultural Trust to help balance the state’s budget? Better when the state’s overall investment in the arts translates to relative pittance for the average arts organization?

But I can say, with both my skepticism and my professional responsibilities in check, that Oregon has fared much better than many states over the past 7 years, and that Gov. Kulongoski did in fact outperform most if not all of his peers during this Great Recession. The bar, as they say, is low, but Oregon somehow managed to jump over it while many states grappled whether to limbo clumsily beneath, or knock it to the ground entirely. The governor quietly ensured that the arts were not “left on the cutting room floor,” even in this god-awful economy, and although most people thought that his pet program CHAMP had no chance of being renewed this biennium, $5 million in new funds (in 2009!) was indeed secured for culture, heritage, arts, movies and preservation. Also worth noting, the Tax Credit for Culture, scheduled to sunset in 2010, was quietly renewed for another four years. (Perhaps the citizen outrage and media attention surrounding the aforementioned theft had something to do with everyone’s willingness to give this little present to the Trust.)

Nationally, state funding for the arts has fallen 19% over the last 6 years, and some state arts councils have been stripped down to nothing. Neither the governor nor Senator Jeff Merkley (who introduced the governor this morning) mentioned this in his remarks, but Oregon has managed to move in the other direction, clawing its way up from last place to 33rd in state funding for the arts per capita during the governor’s tenure.

Of course only those of us with perennial loser syndrome would even think of celebrating that we’re #33 (hooya!). We can and must do better. So I appreciated the Governor’s self-deprecation when he quoted Israeili politician Golda Meir in accepting the award: “Don’t be humble, you’re not that great.” But no matter how unimpressive as our situation may be right now, there probably isn’t a governor in Oregon’s 150-history who has done as much for the arts.

So: my sincere congratulations and appreciation to Governor Kulongoski. Now, who’s next? And will he or she be able to take it to the next level?

MTC Visits the DEQ

While enjoying a cup of Stumptown coffee this morning, I remembered (or was reminded) that I needed to schlep the car to the nearest DEQ station for a smog check and registration renewal--a miserable task on any day, but more so on a rainy Saturday made for staying at home with a laptop-warmed lap or a fat book.

Public Service Tip #1: Check the DEQ webcams online so you can estimate how long the wait might be before you drive there.

Public Service Tip #2: If the webcam shows no lines, confirm that the DEQ station is actually open. A few years ago, on the last Monday remaining before my car’s registration was due to lapse, I was delighted to discover that the closest station had no lines at all! Halfway there, it dawned on me that it is closed on Mondays. (One would think someone would turn the webcams off, or at least point them toward a big sign reading “We’re Closed, Stupid!”).

Today I got lucky: Light crosstown traffic, no lines at all, and I remembered to bring all the paperwork. I was there and back within an hour, including ten minutes spent carefully stowing the new registration and proof of insurance card in their proper places rather than tossing them, willy-nilly, in the glove compartment. (Does anybody still call those compartments “jockey boxes” as I was raised to do?)

Having a car that's only two years old made today's visit to the DEQ easier. I didn't have to worry about failing the test. Between that anxiety and general lassitude, I once kept driving an unregistered car for several months*--an act for which I still feel the sting of shame. (Actually it’s more of a deep, throbbing ache).

Public Service Tip #3: If you drive an unregistered vehicle, don’t park downtown, unless you want a ticket.

Public Service Tip #4: If you’re still driving a clunker and need to pass the smog test, be sure that the engine is really hot when you get to the DEQ. DO NOT turn the engine off while waiting in line. You want that puppy running hot enough to burn off as much bad stuff as possible before they shove the tube up the tailpipe.

Given how easy it went today, I shouldn't complain, but I will. Does a car that is just two years old really need a smog check? I'll bet that almost every vehicle that is less than five years old is going to pass. So why mandate testing of cars that are unlikely to be causing problems?

I'm not arguing that the legislation is bad policy; I am confident that it has helped to reduce pollutants. And, my complaint is not about having to pay the $21 testing fee on top of the registration fee and the specialty license plate fee. The legislature can go ahead and add $21 to my registration fee if it wants. My complaint is about the time wasted by a great many citizens forced to have a smog test done that isn't really necessary in the first few years of a car's life.

Public Service Tip #5: If you opt for the Cultural Trust license plate, be prepared to keep paying the $30 surcharge each time you renew your registration, even if you vehemently swore that you wouldn’t give another dime to the Cultural Trust after the Legislature essentially stole all that money against the express wishes of the good citizens who voluntarily contributed to it by buying a Cultural Trust plate. Because, really, it’s a lot of trouble to go to the DMV to swap back to the ordinary plates. Besides, you’ll be scared that all your culture-loving friends and colleagues will shame and shun you.

While you're here, jump in the Wayback Machine and check out this post with the Raymond Carver poem, The Car.

* For most of that time, the vehicle was parked off the street. And by "several months" I mean more than one month, but less than two ... years.

Fall.ART.Live ... Beer.DONUTS.Barbeque

This Saturday, Oregon Ballet Theatre (OBT) is hosting a free arts shindig “Fall-ART-Live” in its studio and out in the parking lot of its home base at 818 SE Sixth Avenue (between Belmont and Morrison).

The event will include short performances and studio workshops for both kids and adults. Most of the performances will be dance oriented (OBT, Polaris Dance, Linda Austin Dance, Josie Mosely Dance and Northwest Dance Project), though the Portland Opera is also on the roster. The workshops cover dance and theater. Do Jump! is in the mix, as is one of my favorites, Philip Cuomo (Portland Actors Conservatory and Third Rail) teaching “Body Imagination: An Intro to Physical Theatre.”

OBT has offered space and tables for other arts organizations to promote themselves and answer questions. Look for some of Culture Shock’s friends from Miracle Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Oregon Cultural Trust., Live Wire!, Mississippi Studios, White Bird and others. If you drop by in the afternoon between 2-3:30, I’ll be pulling a shift at the Oregon Children’s Theatre table. And if that’s not enough, you’ll find a beer garden (Bridgeport) and food from purveyors such as Bunk Sandwiches, Koi Fusion BBQ and the ubiquitous Voodoo Donuts.

OBT threw the event together quickly in the aftermath of its wildly successful Gala fundraiser and emergency appeal earlier this summer. The event is inspired by the organization’s new-found commitment to engaging the community, and is also intended to partially fill the gap created when it cancelled this year’s “OBT Exposed” which has been putting a rehearsal stage smack-dab in the middle of Portland’s Park Blocks for the past decade or more.

Over at the Mercury’s Blogtown site, Stephen Marc Beaudoin posted a jaded take on the event. Under the classy headline, “Fall.Art.(Dead?),” Mr. Beaudoin yawns and smirks at the whole thing. He seems to have gotten the impression that the OBT-initiated event is supposed to be a “new city-wide arts fest.” While OBT does call Fall-ART-Live a “festival,” nobody is seriously pretending that it’s anything more than a day-long arts fair and it's unfair to prejudge it as anything else.

In a follow-up comment Mr. Beaudoin points out that “many of the organizations hawking tickets at the event opted out of providing performers.” (In his post, these organizations are there to “pimp their wares”). Makes those organizations sound kind of sleazy and cheap, doesn’t it? Where do they get off not performing anyway?

How about if we try phrasing it this way: “Many of the organizations that were unable to perform are happy to have a chance to distribute information, meet the public and advocate for the arts.”

Dear readers, there’s a fine line between good-natured acerbic wit and just plain dickishness. Do me a favor and remind me when I step over that line. Which I will. Except that I'll claim it's just my world-weariness showing.

Trust Management

Congratulations to friend and colleague Kimberly Howard, who today becomes the new manager of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Kimberly will certainly have her work cut out for her managing one of the country's most innovative public-private partnerships for supporting the arts. Visionary, yes, but the Trust has a complicated history rife with abandonment issues, it suffers from an identify crisis, and surely will be subjected to a variety of other growing pains in the next couple of years. The tax credit -- an essential mechanism for generating the contributions of the past -- is up for renewal in 2011, and there's that pesky little question about whether state legislators will ever return the $1.8 million they robbed from the trust earlier this spring. For the Trust to emerge as a serious game-changer in a dearth of statewide arts funding solutions, both of these issues will need to experience a successful conclusion.

That said, I have more confidence in Kimberly's abilities than many of her predecessors, who were either short-lived or ill-fitted for the task. First and foremost, she is of the local arts community and that's something that's been lacking of late. Kimberly is recognized as one of Oregon’s most promising young arts managers, and her work with Sojourn and the IFCC have helped provide both the arts experience and the business background that are called upon here. In fact, you can catch Kimberly on stage for several more weeks in the ART production of Distracted.

Kimberly a smart strategist, an articulate advocate and an all-around fun person -- and those three things can help you go a long way in this business. This has been a bumpy year for the Trust, and it's not going to turn around overnight, but let's see what Kimberly can do.

Quick Arts Funding Report

I just got back to the office after sitting with a packed house of arts advocates who gathered at City Hall to listen to the Regional Arts and Culture Council present its "2008 State of the Arts" report to the mayor and three commissioners (Dan Saltzman was missing). I don't have the time or the notes to report in detail, other than one tidbit of interesting news:

At the end of the presentation and public testimony, Commissioner Nick Fish spoke eloquently in support of the arts. He went on to ask the audience to support the Oregon Cultural Trust by continuing to fight, rather than passively accepting the taking of $1.8 million in funds generated by the license plate surcharge. (Of course, Nick Fish is passionate about this issue because he's a member of the Cultural Trust board). He then told the crowd that he was considering resigning from the Cultural Trust board in protest against the Legislature's action, and hinted that other board members were considering doing the same. He pressed the audience to write to Governor Kulongoski to urge him to not sweep the $1.8 million into the general fund. I'm not sure what the mechanism for that would be. I don't think he can veto one portion of the bill, but maybe?

I'm sure there will be lots more on this topic here and elsewhere shortly.

p.s. The RACC folks and public testifiers all did a nice job.

Free Jazz to Cleanse the Palate

I found at least two items of import while cruising Facebook today:

1) The March 12th deadline for NEA grants was pushed back a week due to technical problems. (Thank you Baby Jesus!) The computer that processes NEA grants was apparently covered in chocolate while yams were stuffed into its expansion slots. (If you don't get that joke, find a time machine and set the dial for 1990).

2) Friend of Culture Shock and cultural gadfly Tim DuRoche posted a video of himself performing as a member of Better Homes and Gardens with compatriots Reed Wallsmith (alto sax) and Bob Jones (bass).

After all our moaning about the Oregon Cultural Trust, I decided that Culture Shock needs a palate cleanser. And while Ornette Coleman may not be the first person to whom you should turn for such a task, that’s who you’re about to get. (Those of you with a low tolerance for inscrutable free jazz, may want to move along). I liked the Better Homes and Gardens rendition of Coleman’s “Song X” because:

1) I love crazy jazz drumming and Mr. DuRoche is a master.

2) As cacophonous as it all may be, they’re laughing at the end—a reminder that we shouldn't be too serious in the midst of chaos.



If that's not enough to keep you satisfied, I'm working on a new Robot Report, as well as an account of a recent brush with the criminal justice system--a report with the working title: Testify! A Morality Tale in Which Our Hero Uses the Power of Persuasion and an Eye for the Truth to See that Justice is Served. Curious?

The Cultural Trust Speaks

Here's the official word from the Cultural Advocacy Coalition, on behalf of the Oregon Cultural Trust:

Dear Cultural Partner:

Thirteen days ago you received an Action Alert from the Cultural Advocacy Coalition about the proposed $1.8 million dollar funds “sweep” from the permanent fund of the Oregon Cultural Trust. The action had just been proposed and had yet to be voted on. Since that time, the proposed funds sweeps were amended into SB 581 and the bill subsequently passed out of the Ways & Means Capitol Construction Subcommittee, out of the full Ways & Means Committee, off the floor of the Senate and out of the House of Representatives. SB 581 moved in tandem with SB 5552, which contained the agency budget cuts. Both bills will be signed by the Governor this week.

Also since that time, hundreds of you sent emails and wrote letters to your legislators protesting the sweep of Cultural Trust funds for general government purposes. In addition, many of you forwarded the Action Alert to other organizations and friends, wrote blogs, twittered, and posted comments on Facebook. In a word – wow. THANK YOU !

The legislature was moving at an unusually fast pace to address the looming budget cliff in the current budget cycle, ending June 30, 2009. The Trust funds sweep was $1.8 million of a total of almost $83 million in sweeps of other funds, in combination with $311 million in state agency budget cuts. These funds sweeps and budget cuts, added together with federal stimulus dollars, created a total rebalance package of $862.5 million. The situation facing Oregon’s legislative leadership was – and remains – very serious.

Thanks to your efforts, every legislator in the building is now aware of and sensitive to the Cultural Trust. Oregonians are clearly proud of its unique program specifically crafted to grow and stabilize funding for arts, heritage and humanities. Frankly, lots of people were surprised at the passion and outreach shown on this issue. This was obvious too, when more comments were made by legislators during floor debates about the Cultural Trust funds than on any other item – including a funds sweep of emergency-911 enhancement fees, food safety funds, and pesticide program license fees, to name a few! Your support was quite remarkable – and put the Trust front and center in this debate and for all future budget discussions this session.

Now is the time to change gears and recognize the difficult work of leadership. Legislators completed a brutal week where they voted on a package of bills that contained items they all personally disliked. They took votes that hurt and feel they did their best with few alternative options. They need some breathing room to get beyond the budget rebalance and focus on issues of the 2009 session.

Your outreach has positioned the Cultural Trust well for more action this session. First, while the budget rebalance has been completed, work to protect the Trust has not. Several options are on the table and the Cultural Advocacy Coalition will be asking for your help when a clear path emerges. Also, more work will come as the 2009-11 budgets are developed, including support for Governor Kulongoski’s proposed $5 million enhancement of funding for cultural resources.

Thank you again for your advocacy and fierce protection of Oregon’s cultural endowment.

This story was featured on KGW last night; OBT's Jon Ulsh and White Bird's Paul King spoke about how this will impact their organizations, and the bigger issue of building trust. In that story, it appeared that Senator Betsy Johnson is taking the lead on restructuring this into a loan, repayable to the trust, so I encourage folks to send letters of enthusiastic support and fond appreciation to her directly.

She can be reached at sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.us.



P.S. Have you ever met this woman? She really is amazing. Very accessible, and quite a firecracker! I had the pleasure of having lunch with her a few times, back in the early 2000s when I was developing fundingpool.com, an online philanthropy portal sponsored by eyescream interactive, which regrettably burst with the rest of the Internet bubble. Sen. Johnson has always been keenly interested in any effort to stimulate philanthropy in our community, and she was also the guest speaker at lat fall's NWBCA Breakfast of Arts Champions. I remember her warning us even then: It is going to be a fight this year. Get ready, and get organized.

Oy! More on the Oregon Cultural Trust

Tuesday's episode of "Think Out Loud" on OPB Radio will cover the topic of arts funding, with the theft of Cultural Trust funds dangled as a teaser. The episode, which airs at 9:00 a.m. on 91.5 (as if our readers need to be told the frequency) is titled "The Art of Hard Times."

The OPB website does not give any hints about scheduled guests. I wonder if we'll hear from Doug Stamm at the Meyer Memorial Trust. In his Oregonian column this morning ("Who Took the Trust Out of the Cultural Trust"), Barry Johnson quotes Mr. Stamm's response to the Oregon legislature's move to purloin $1.8 million from the Cultural Trust. The Meyer Trust (the legacy of Fred Meyer) has supported the Oregon Cultural Trust with big grants to underwrite efforts to raise public awareness and encourage contributions. Stamm said he was "perplexed and frustrated" by the legislature's move:

The citizens of Oregon made specific contributions to a fund and now it's being moved to fix potholes and build prisons, which may be worthy but aren't what the money was for ... It breaks the bond of faith between the Cultural Trust and its contributors, through no fault of the trust, because of actions by the Legislature."

I believe the Meyer Trust is still the largest private foundation in Oregon, so it will be interesting to see what kind of clout it has on this topic, should its leaders choose to lean on our legislators. I'd call in to the show, but I'll be driving to Salem in the morning on a non-arts related task involving armed robbery (literally), on which I will report later. (How's that for a teaser)?

Also, our friends at the Regional Arts and Culture Council(RACC) and the new Creative Advocacy Network (CAN) are calling for arts advocates to show up at City Hall on Thursday, March 12, 2008 (2:00 to 3:00 pm) to lend moral support as RACC gives its “State of the Arts” presentation to City Council. I suspect the turnout will be high and folks will be pumped up -- one positive legacy of the Cultural Trust debacle.

Status Report

As revealed last night by Mighty Toy Cannon, the Oregon Legislature is moving forward with plans to sweep funds from various state programs to help balance the state's $855 million deficit. In this budget proposal, $1.8 million will be robbed from the Oregon Cultural Trust, including $1.3 million in proceeds from the sale of the Cultural Trust license plate over the last five years. This morning's Oregonian describes how this happened, and reports that arts advocates and the 911 system are the two constituencies that are most enraged.

This morning I spoke with Kristina McNitt, the arts lobbyist in Salem, to better understand the timing of all of his, and I asked her to explain why there appears to be a half-hearted attempt from the state's arts advocacy organization, the Cultural Advocacy Coalition, to combat this action.

Wonk Alert!

The CAC began spreading the call to action last Wednesday night, just after the proposed sweep made its way out of related subcommittees of Ways and Means. Several arts organizations amplified the call to action on Thursday and Friday, noting that a vote was imminent. Indeed last Friday, the full Ways & Means Committee voted the rebalance package, including the $1.8 Trust swipe.

This "solution" was apparently stuffed into SB 581 after gutting the bill of its original contents (I haven't yet been able to determine what those were). This "gut and stuff" maneuver is not uncommon, however, and it explains why legislation moved so quickly, and also why some legislators weren't even aware of the sweep strategy until they received a high volume of complaints from Cultural Trust advocates and constituents of other affected programs.

McNitt reports that the Senate will vote on the proposed state budget today (Tuesday, March 3), and the House will vote on it by Friday. So keep those letters and emails going strong!

Now, let's assume for a moment that legislators are so desperate and confused about how to balance the budget that this proposal actually stands. In that scenario, you can expect some organizing from the CAC to re-structure the sweep into a loan payable back into the Trust, with interest. There are also some very smart lawyers looking at this, and building the case for why this is totally illegal: the state entered in a contract with the people who purchased Cultural Trust license plates. There was offer, acceptance, and consideration -- the three necessary components of a legally enforceable agreement.

Apparently these messages are all too complicated right now as legislators prepare to vote on a much more mind-boggling deficit. McNitt says that in the meantime arts advocates must continue to protest the funds sweep, and there will be another announcement from the CAC this afternoon or evening.

The advocacy is working, McNitt says. And even if the swept funds make it into the final budget, "We are building our leverage to create an alternative deal."

I will complain more later, but right now I need to get more people to take action.

Swept Away! ... ?

This afternoon, I received an e-mail message from my representative in the State Senate, Diane Rosenbaum, responding to my letter regarding the proposal to sweep Cultural Trust funds into the dustbin of Oregon's General Fund. Here it is:

Thank you for taking the time to write in support of the Oregon Cultural Trust, and for sharing your concerns about preserving funding for the arts in
this extremely difficult economy.

Like you, my family has contributed regularly to this program,and value the ability to augment contributions to Oregon's arts and cultural organizations through the matching tax credit and license plate programs.

Unfortunately, the legislature faces the horrendous task of finding resources for a huge and growing shortfall in the State's budget for education, human services and other vital public services. The need to balance the current budget with no additional revenue necessitated very difficult choices. I want to assure you that I am working hard to find new sources of revenue as we move forward to avert any further negative impacts on funding for the arts.

Again thank you for your thoughtful comments and passionate support for the Oregon Cultural Trust. Please feel free to contact me with any future concerns.

Sincerely,

Senator Diane Rosenbaum

Note that Senator Rosenbaum doesn't say what actually happened to the bill (SB 151), nor does she describe what she did about any of it. I'm keying in on the use of the past tense in the phrase "necessitated very difficult choices," and in the phrase "to avert any further negative impacts on funding for the arts." I appreciate her assurances, but am not reassured.

Perhaps her staffer wrote the response inartfully and the proposal is still kicking around the back rooms of the Capitol Building. I sure couldn't find any information by searching the net--not even on the websites for the Oregon Cultural Trust or for the Cultural Advocacy Coalition, the latter being the organization calling us all to action last week. If any of our readers have new information, please comment and fill the rest of us in.

Amendment: Because this is just batshit crazy.

Ka-ching!

Summer is a time when public funds -- and private donations generated by publicly-subsidized initiatives -- start flowing into the hands of our local arts organizations. The Oregon Arts Commission was first out of the gate, announcing $1.2 million in statewide grants on July 2.

Earlier this week, RACC announced $1.5 million worth of grants for arts organizations the Portland tri-county area -- which includes funds from local governments plus proceeds from last year's Work for Art campaign.

And I have just come from an event at the PCPA where Nick Fish, vice Chair of the Oregon Cultural Trust (and our newest arts-loving Portland City Commissioner) announced $1.6 million in grants for 59 arts organizations across the state. These grants are made possible because thousands of Oregonians made contributions to the Oregon Cultural Trust this past year in exchange for a tax credit (up to $500). Not a tax deduction, a tax credit. Great program!


Nick Fish (at podium) and representatives from the organizations receiving Oregon Cultural Trust grants this year.

Together, these funds provide vital working capital for our arts organizations as they set out to do all of their great work in the year ahead. Take Portland Center Stage for example: from these three sources PCS receives a combined $120,000 -- and that's no small chunk of change. The impacts are even more significant for a smaller organization like Write Around Portland, which received a combined $28,000 from these three sources this year. That's 15% of their budget! No doubt we are all in store for some great performances, exhibits, and other arts programs this year.