On January 20th, the Oregon Arts Commission announced a total of $1,265,166 of aid distributed between 154 art-focused Oregon organizations through the Operating Support Program. This program focused on large arts organizations with budgets of $150,000 or more. Jenny Green, the chair of the Arts Commission, mentioned that this year’s aid is especially helpful in light of the pandemic. “These awards help relieve a bit of the economic pressure,” Green said via press release.
Founded in 1967 by the state government, the Oregon Arts Commission is part of the Oregon Business Development Department and oversees the Oregon Cultural Trust. Its nine governor-appointed commissioners help disperse funds appropriated by state legislators, funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust, and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2019, organizations aided by the Operating Support Program employed 11,681 full-time equivalent employees and entertained almost 3.7 million people.
Artists’ Resilience In Tough Times
It’s one thing to imagine an artist overcoming every obstacle placed in their path to share their vision. It’s another to see it in action. The pandemic placed significant restrictions on live theater, causing many Portland-based groups to innovate with live or on-demand Zoom shows. Echo Theater Company, located at 37th and Hawthorne in Southeast Portland, is currently showcasing the local dance community through a 30-minute series of on-demand short dance films called Touch and Go.
Director Aaron Wheeler-Kay wanted to retain the feel of a live performance, filming some of the shorts in real-world locations like crosswalks with drivers and pedestrians serving as a live audience. The medium of online video-on-demand presents both advantages and disadvantages. “You can watch [the shorts] in any order, they’re for anyone with a short attention span,” Wheeler-Kay said in an interview with the Portland Tribune. Echo Theater was one of 84 Portland-based arts organizations to receive Operating Support Program funds and bills Touch and Go as a care package in the form of a collection of short films.
Creating Future Artists
Adult-focused arts organizations have struggled with the pandemic lockdown as disruptions to classroom learning and extracurricular activities have made it difficult for budding young artists to pursue their education. The Oregon Arts Commission announced a round of $10,000 Arts Learning grants totaling $230,000 on January 24th. The commission focused on high-quality projects that promoted artistic excellence, especially those serving rural communities and those with high poverty rates. Among the recipients is Ethos Inc, an East Portland music education program. Ethos Inc has been selected by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities as one of the top 50 after-school programs in the nation 8 times since 2003. Other community art programs like Caldera Arts strive to give young artists the tools and knowledge they need to create culturally impactful pieces of self-expression.
While social media and digital expression continue to thrive during the pandemic, kids attempting to express themselves online often lack the knowledge they need to leverage software tools and traditional media to create art at home. By giving kids a basic framework to draw from, like creating cartoon tree drawings, or exporting digital files for social media, after-school programs can enable today’s youth to express themselves freely and explore the world of art.
Continued Expression
The Oregon Arts Commission has put in some serious work already in 2022 and it will continue to work to aid Oregon artists for the rest of the year. The next set of grants, the Artist Resilience Program, closes its application period on February 10th and seeks to reimburse artists for lost revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between this program, the Operating Support Program, and Arts Learning grants, the Oregon Arts Commission has helped ease the pandemic’s impact on professional artists, aspiring young artists, and art enthusiasts in Portland.
Organizations like Echo Theater and Ethos Inc continue to serve East Portland with meaningful, impactful performances and art education, helping to enable cultural expression and grow a future generation of local artists. Lockdowns, travel restrictions, and cultural changes from the COVID-19 pandemic have forced these organizations to innovate and evolve. On-demand videos might not have the same feeling as attending a live performance, but in the current climate, it’s more important than ever to use the tools that we have to remain connected.
