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.

That push will be overseen by the new Office of Arts and Culture, which has been established to replace what was formerly called the City Arts Program. In the meantime, artists and arts organizations are waiting to see whether the changes will lead to improved access to resources at a time when many are struggling to support their work. 

Greg Netzer, the interim executive director of RACC, said he believes conversations about the future of the city’s grant program date back to the results of a 2018 audit of the nonprofit, requested by Mayor Ted Wheeler and then-Commissioner Nick Fish. 

The audit returned five recommendations for the city, including suggestions that the city “develop clear goals, vision, and strategy for arts and culture” and update its contract with RACC in accordance with those goals. 

Part of that process—of defining a clear vision for the future of arts and culture in Portland and across the metro area—began two years ago, when a variety of leaders from across Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties began a process of developing a region-wide ten-year arts and culture plan, dubbed Our Creative Future.

As part of that plan, which was finalized earlier this year after a number of community input sessions, the region will aim to provide funding and support to communities historically underrepresented in the local arts scene, create a regional resource hub for local artists and arts organizations, expand arts funding in public schools, and more. 

At the same time, Portland is shaking up its approach, Jones wrote, “to focus coordination of the city’s many arts and culture initiatives with a goal of increasing the percentage of taxpayer funds that go to working artists and arts organizations.”

Allie Hankins, a choreographer and performer, said the reliability and consistency of the city grant in particular, small as it is, has been critical for many Portland artists.

“It’s not a sure bet that you’re going to get that funding, but it comes up frequently enough that you’re able to be persistent and occasionally get some support for your projects,” Hankins said.

For now, it appears that the grant process will remain largely unchanged for artists. The cap on the amount of money artists can receive through city-funded grants will remain at $5,000 for the foreseeable future, and RACC will still be involved in distributing grants. 

Netzer said RACC is still doing 50 to 60 percent of the work it previously did for the city with a grant of $1.2 million, while MusicOregon and Friends of Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, the other two organizations that will distribute grants of $80,000 and $100,000 respectively.

The most serious impact of the change in the grant process may be on RACC itself, which has seen its staff reduced by roughly half. It needs to replace a sizable part of its budget, which used to total around $10 million, in the coming months, Netzer said. “We’ve had a number of different people, from arts organizations to individual artists to some of the leaders of different cities in the metro area,” he continued, “who have told us point blank, ‘We can’t imagine the arts community here without RACC.’” 

Netzer, whose six month term as interim executive director of the organization began in April, said RACC will be leaning on its longtime relationships with local foundations and fellow nonprofits for support. The goal, he said, is to raise enough money to continue doing its community and advocacy work—while getting money to artists with little fuss. 

“I believe everyone’s intention is for it to be as simple and straightforward for the artists and arts organizations as possible,” he said. “Hopefully, this change doesn’t impact their part of this process.”

Behind the scenes, much remains in flux. Come next year, Portland will have a new city council, a new mayor, and a new government structure that could introduce new priorities for the Office of Arts & Culture. Other sources of funding could open up as well: the Miller Foundation, for instance, is offering a new grant program for select city artists starting this year.

In the meantime, the office is looking to develop a city-specific plan to complement Our Creative Future. 

“Over the next year, the Office of Arts & Culture will develop a Portland Action Plan, detailing the specific strategies that the City of Portland will implement in pursuit of the overall vision,” Jones wrote. “The office will also launch a website so that Portlanders can monitor progress and provide additional input.”

For artists, however, the success or failure of all the planning and operational moves will come down to how effectively they are supported. 

“When it comes down to it, be it money, be it space, be it putting you in touch with potential donors… it always just comes down to money and access to resources,” Hankins said.