For nearly three decades, the city of Portland ran its grant program for artists and arts organizations exclusively through a well known non-profit, the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC). Last summer, however, the city decided to change course.
Commissioner Dan Ryan’s office—which oversaw arts programs at the time—announced that the city would not renew its contract with RACC and would instead seek out proposals from multiple organizations to oversee grant awards and funding disbursement.
In an email to the Mercury, Darion Jones, the deputy director of the Office of Arts and Culture, said the city’s model of delivering its arts services exclusively through RACC “needed to evolve.”
RACC disbursed its final grant under its now-former contract this past June. However, it will still be involved in distributing the city’s small grants of less than $5,000 to artists and organizations moving forward, and will be joined by two other nonprofits, as part of the city’s broader push to implement a new vision for its arts and culture.
