Portland’s Arts Funding Model Is No Longer Aligned with Equity, Access, or Public Intent

An Urgent Call for Course Correction from Portland Arts and Culture for Equity (PACE)


Context

The City of Portland is poised to continue a funding model that has shifted away from the principles of equity, transparency, and accountability that guided arts investments for years. In FY25, Portland eliminated DEIA scoring and tied funding levels solely to organizational budgets. The Office of Arts & Culture has indicated that in FY26, even the language of equity will be removed, with only a flat Base Tier award distributed—regardless of community impact, accessibility, or demographics served.

The Result

  • Over $400,000 diverted from small-to-mid-sized organizations—many BIPOC- and LGBTQ+-led, disability-centered, youth-focused, or community-rooted

  • FY25 cuts represented an average of 4% and as much as 8% of annual budgets for smaller orgs

  • Meanwhile, Portland’s largest orgs saw increases of less than 1% of their budgets

  • Equity metrics used for the past five years—such as board and staff diversity, free public access, and investment in local artists—were dropped

  • FY26 will formalize this departure from the Arts Education & Access Fund’s (Arts Tax) mandate to serve underserved communities

  

Data shows Portland is an outlier

  • Portland gives nearly 7 times more of its total public arts funding to its largest org than any comparable city (LA, Seattle, Denver, etc.)

  • We fund fewer total organizations, despite having over 600 registered nonprofit arts entities

  • This model is both inequitable and inefficient—benefiting a few at the expense of many  

A shift in policy, not resources
This is not simply a question of budget size—it’s a fundamental shift in values. The Arts Tax was passed by voters to expand access, not concentrate resources. Funding should reflect need, public benefit, and reach—not solely organizational budget size.

This is a solvable issue. Other cities—many with fewer resources—have already built stronger, more equitable public funding systems. Portland can do the same.