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The Oregon Arts Commission has announced $117,000 in grant awards in the ninth
year of its Arts Build Communities program designed to broaden the impact of
the arts in the community and to foster community arts partnerships. "These
projects demonstrate the strengths of artists and arts organizations in Oregon
communities," said Cynthia Addams of Keizer, newly elected Chair of the
Arts Commission. "The Arts Build Communities projects connect the arts
with issues facing Oregonians: at-risk youth, downtown revitalization, facility
development and community building. These projects speak to the vitality of
the arts in community life."
"The arts can be pivotal to community development in Oregon, and this
program recognizes the powerful role that arts organizations are taking in the
broader social, educational, and economic arenas of their communities,"
said Christine D'Arcy, director of the Oregon Arts Commission. "More Oregon
communities are looking to the arts to strengthen community ties and capacity.
The Arts Commission is able to fund more projects this year through our funding
partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and the USDA Forest Service."
A total of 39 community and arts groups submitted requests of over $230,000
to the Oregon Arts Commission. Of the 39 requests, 24 projects were selected
for funding. The Arts Build Communities final grant recommendations took into
account the Commission's priority for funding projects in underserved areas,
support for project excellence, and depth and breadth of services.
The list of grant recipients follows.
- more -
Oregon Arts Commission
Arts Build Communities Grant Awards
December, 2004
Blue River
McKenzie Arts Forum Inc, $4,800
The McKenzie Arts Forum, Inc. will create a landscape design incorporating outdoor
art at the new McKenzie Community Track and Field. The project will bring together
landscape artists, watershed council restoration personnel and the McKenzie
Community Track and Field to develp plans for an aesthetically pleasing and
educational display of native vegetation and art. Arts Commission funds, provided
by the USDA Forest Service, will help pay for supplies that are not donated
and fees to artists to work with students on the creation of outdoor scultptures,
water features and the landscape design.
Contact: Penny Harris, (541) 822-7265, mckenzie_artsforum@hotmail.com
Coos Bay
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw, $4,800
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians will establish
an intertribal drum and dance group and educate local communities in traditional
Native American drumming, dancing, arts and humanities issues. The tribe will
partner with local Native American artists, drummers, dancers, regalia makers,
traditional gatherers and basket weavers. Arts Commission funds, provided by
the USDA Forest Service, will support travel, regalia supplies and workshops
and cultural learning field trips.
Contact: Howard Roy, 541-888-9577, info@ctclusi.org
Estacada
Estacada Together/Estacada Arts Commission, $6,200
The Estacada Arts Commission will hold the fifth annual Estacada Summer Celebration,
a three day art and music festival held in conjunction with the annual painting
of the Artback Artists Cooperative mural. The event provides cultural activities
for children and families and expands local awareness of community talent. Arts
Commission funds will support artist fees and a sound engineer.
Contact: Katinka Bryk, 503-630-8271, katinka@lincc.lib.or.us
Grants Pass
Rogue Community College, $5,500
Rogue Community College will coordinate a community process to research, assess
and implement strategies to further develop the arts and the business of art
as a significant sector in the Josephine County economy, creating new opportunities,
employment and investment especially for area artists. Project outcomes include
continuation of the ArtWorks Coalition consisting of key artists, government,
business, education and arts organizations.
Contact: John Lopez, 541-956-7240, jlopez@roguecc.edu
Hood River
Columbia Gorge Arts in Education, $3,100
Columbia Gorge Arts in Education will hold the second annual Week of Words,
a celebration of literary arts for children and adults in the Columbia Gorge.
Program offerings will include four monthly workshops for adults, readings and
discussions, and a summer literary camp for middle school students. Arts Commission
funds, provided by the USDA Forest Service, will support artist/writer fees.
Contact: Leith Gaines, 541-387-5031, lgaines@hoodriver.k12.or.us
Lincoln City
City of Lincoln City, $5,500
The City of Lincoln City will conduct a study to assess opportunities for economic
development through the arts, including improvement of the economic climate
for artists and associated businesses. Arts Commission funds will help pay fees
for a consultant with arts and culture specific expertise.
Contact: Richard Townsend, (541) 996-1227, rtown@lincolncity.org
Manzanita
Lower Nehalem Community Trust, $5,500
The Lower Nehalem Community Trust and the Manzanita Creative Arts Council will
co-sponsor a series of art-making events with local artists and community members
to create works of art that articulate area residents' relationships to and
visions for the Nehalem Bay area. Arts Commission funds, provided by the USDA
Forest Service, will support the purchase of materials to improve the community
gallery space at the North County Recreation District facility.
Contact: Lane deMoll, (503) 368-3203, lnct@nehalemtel.net
Medford
Jefferson Nature Center, $4,900
Jefferson Nature Center will hold a creative process gathering, "Marking
Our Place", that will bring together 20 regional nature and place writers
and 10 regional visual artists. The group will work together over three days
to create a product celebrating the Bear Creek area in Southern Oregon. Arts
Commission funds, provided by the USDA Forest Service, will support stipends
for the participating artists and pay for publishing costs.
Contact: Susan Cross, (541) 773-1039, scross@mind.net
Newport
Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, $5,500
The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, in partnership with an estimated 40 local
businesses and over 100 volunteers, will promote Jazz at Newport, a 3-day jazz
festival. This event will serve over time as a fundraising tool for the Oregon
Coast Council on the Arts but, more importantly, will attract visitors and jazz
fans to the central Oregon Coast. Arts Commission funds will support a portion
of the artists' fees, professional sound service and marketing.
Contact: Frank Geltner, (541) 265-9231, fgeltner@coastarts.org
North Bend
Coquille Indian Tribe, $4,300
The Coquille Indian Tribe, in cooperation with the Siskiyou National Forest,
the community of Powers, and in conjunction with the 9th annual Coquille Cultural
Preservation Conference, will present a one day field study on traditional fishing
technologies and fish habitat of the South Fork of the Coquille River. Arts
Commission funds, provided by the USDA Forest Service, will support artist fees,
travel to the Powers area and presentation materials. .
Contact: Donald Ivy, (541) 756-0904, dhockema@coquilletribe.org
Portland
Asian Health and Service Center, $5,500
The Asian Health and Service Center, in partnership with the Beaverton Arts
Commission, will sponsor the Cultural Enrichment, Integration, and Harmonizing
Program aimed at integrating non-English speaking immigrants with the communities
of Beaverton and Portland through a series of arts classes and exhibitions,
and using Asian arts to enrich local cultural diversity. Arts Commission funds
will support fees for a part-time coordinator, artists' stipends and exhibition
materials.
Contact: Holden Leung, (503) 872-8825, hleung@ahscpdx.org
Bump In The Road Theatre, $3,200
Bump in the Road Theatre, partnering with Providence Center on Aging and Northwest
Parish Nurse Ministries, will create and produce a new play exploring the current
state of "ill-care" through a community-based process. Professional
playwrights, designers and actors will collaborate to develop the piece for
a reading in March and full production of eight performances in May. Commission
funds will support artist fees, marketing and supplies.
Contact: Carmela Lanza-Weil, (503) 750-1439, carmela@bumpintheroad.org
Ethos Inc, $5,500
Ethos' THUMP Project - the Hip-Hop and Urban Music Project - will provide music
education opportunities to 700 underserved youth in throughout Portland. The
THUMP program uses cutting edge technology to teach students computer and video
production while they learn about music. Arts Commission funds will help increase
THUMP's overall capacity to reach underserved students in low income areas,
students who are not currently served by conventional music programs.
Contact: Charles Lewis, (503) 241-8824, info@ethos-inc.com
The Haven Project, $4,800
The Haven Project will continue its Afield Program which pairs underserved teens
with professional theatre artists in six intense two-week residencies. Over
the course of the project, each young person writes a play that is ultimately
performed by professional actors for the community. In 2005, the Afield Program
will include one bilingual Hispanic residency, one residency in rural Oregon,
two collaborations with local universities and two pilot workshops for the deaf
and Native American communities. Arts Commission funds will support artists'
stipends.
Contact: Gretchen Corbett, (503) 872-9635, info@havenproject.org
Homowo African Arts & Cultures, $3,500
Homowo African Arts and Cultures will collaborate with Hidden Valley High School,
Lorna Byrne Middle School, Rogue Community College, Southern Oregon University,
and the Arts Council of Southern Oregon to present African dance and drumming
performances and conduct workshops and lecture demonstrations in communities
in Southern Oregon where only 1.6% of the population is African or African American.
Commission funds will support artist fees, project coordination and marketing.
Contact: Sinead Kimbrell, (503) 331-6688, info@homowo.org
Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), $6,200
The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) will develop Creating
Access for Refugee and Immigrant Artists (CARITA) as a bridging project for
those artists to expand their arts beyond cultural community bounds to other
artists, arts organizations, schools and neighborhoods through participation
in public events. Arts Commission funds will help establish a training workshop
series, a companion CD-rom guide, a Town Hall meeting and community arts event.
Contact: Phyllis Laners, (503) 234-1541, admin@mail.irco.org
MediaRites, $4,700
MediaRites Productions, working with the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon,
Asian Family Center, Cambodian American Community of Oregon, and Lu-mien Association
of Oregon, will develop Refugee Dreams Revisited, documenting a session of oral
history recording with Southeast Asian refugee elders. During a following weeklong
camp for Southeast Asian youth, participants will use the oral histories as
the basis for creating new graphic art. Commission funds will support art and
display supplies for the youth camp and fees for teaching artists.
Contact: Dmae Roberts, (503) 233-2919, mediar@aol.com
Miracle Theatre Company, $4,200
Teatro Milagro (Miracle Theatre Group) will collaborate with schools, educators
and community leaders in Jackson and Tillamook counties (both with growing Hispanic
populations) to implement two PUENTES del Leer al Poder! bilingual arts residencies.
Participants will experience Latin American mythology through storytelling,
literature and theater, and students will create stories for a community-judged
writing competition. The residencies will culminate with a free community performance
of a Milagro play involving community and student actors.
Contact: Danel Malan, 503-236-7253, malan@milagro.org
Oregon Symphony Association, $5,500
The Oregon Symphony Association will provide music education activities throughout
the Symphony's 2004-2006 Community Music Partnership with the communities of
North Bend and Coos Bay. Approximately 220 musician residency visits will occur
from January - May 2005, and will include ensemble performances, informances,
masterclasses, clinics, coachings, instrument petting zoos, two full youth concerts,
a full orchestra community concert and staff development opportunities. The
Arts Commission will contribute to the overall cost of the activities.
Contact: Leslie Tuomi, (503) 228-4294, symphony@orsymphony.org
Portland Community College Foundation, $6,200
Portland Community College's 15th Annual Cascade Festival of African Films from
February 4 - March 5, 2005 will bring together Africans, African Americans and
Oregonians for cross-cultural and artistic experiences. More than 20 films from
the African continent will be screened, and three prominent African film directors
will make presentations during a symposium on the current state of African film
and its relevance to an American audience. Arts Commission funds will support
travel, film rental and symposium costs.
Contact: Michael Drake, (503) 977-4696, kwatkins@pcc.edu
Portland Festival Symphony, $4,800
Portland Festival Symphony will present six free classical musical concerts
in the Portland area parks. Five concerts will feature classical works for orchestra.
Michael Allen Harrison will perfrom at one concert, accompanying the orchestra
on works that he has written specifically for PFS. The sixth concert will feaure
the premier of a work composed by Obo Addy for orchestra, choir and African
drums. Arts Commission funds will support fees for symphony and guest musicians.
Contact: Monica Brenner, (503) 245-7878, mlbrennery@yahoo.com
Sojourn Theater, $6,200
Sojourn Theatre will collaborate with the Eastern Oregon Regional Arts Council
and the Chalkboard Project to engage Eastern Oregon communities in arts-based
civic dialogue about public education. Free town hall events in four communities
will feature performances of Witness our Schools followed by facilitated community
dialogue sessions about education in Oregon. Commission funds will support artist
fees, travel and dialogue facilitators.
Contact: Alisha Tonsic, (971) 409-2735, info@sojourntheatre.org
Jane Howell, Eastern Oregon Regional Arts Council, (541) 962-3624, jhowell@eou.edu
Tears of Joy Theatre, $5,500
Tears of Joy's Higher Stages Arts Academy, serving seven Jefferson High School
cluster schools, will create a series of 20 events (3-4 per school) uniting
students and their parents/guardians in creative activities designed to promote
community and enhance student learning. 70% of the students attending the cluster
schools exist at or below the poverty level. Commission funds will support artists
fees, meals, travel and field trip costs.
Contact: Reg Bradley, (503) 248-0557, puppets@pacifier.com
Tigard
Broadway Rose Theatre Company, $1,100
The Broadway Rose Theatre Company, a vital community gathering place in Tigard,
will purchase 16 assistive listening devices for hearing impaired audience members
and a transmitter to improve theatre accessibility for the theatre's large base
of senior patrons.
Contact: Sharon Maroney, (503) 620-5262, brtcsm@aol.com
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through
its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine Commissioners, appointed
by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support
of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of the Economic Development Department
in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social,
economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon Legislature
moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining
operations and making use of the Commission's expertise in grantmaking, arts
and cultural information and community cultural development.
