On April 15th, the City of Portland passed an adjustment to the budget that releases $1.6 million from the Art Tax reserves to arts and culture organizations to be distributed equally amongst the General Operating Support arts and culture orgs ($20K to each of 80 groups). This adjustment was made by Council President Jamie Dunphy, in large part thanks to the work of Portland Arts and Culture for Equity and Portland Arts Leaders working together with support from our communities.

We are grateful to the full city council, to Council President Jamie Dunphy and his team, especially Eben Joondeph Hoffer, who we know are working towards greater equity in funding and more funding for all arts and culture moving forward. In particular, they are working to create criteria of funding tiers that include access to the arts for historically underserved Portlanders, to reduce barriers to nonprofits seeking city funding, and to open funding to organizations who have been sidelined despite years of meeting GOS qualifications.

Thank you to everyone involved! You are simply the best!

“Music and the arts will be the key to the rebirth of our downtown and the health and safety of our streets, our kids, and our culture as a city.

There is a $1.6M return from the Arts Access Fund to arts organizations. Arts organizations saw a 44% cut to their city allocation from the Arts Access Fund last year, due to legacy issues with the allocation process between Revenue and the Office of Arts and Culture.

We have all received 28 pieces of written testimony in favor of this funding return, from all across the spectrum of Portland arts organizations. Thank you to Portland Art Museum, Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, Independent Publishers' Resource Center, Oregon Symphony, Chamber Music Northwest, Friends of Chamber Music, Willamette Light Brigade, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland Taiko, TAKOHACHI, BodyVox, Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Third Angle New Music, Oregon Contemporary, White Bird, and Open Hearts Open Minds, and I believe a few others.

A group of over 50 local arts organizations, including a near majority of all General Operating Support recipients, have voiced support for a flat disbursement of these funds to qualifying organizations regardless of budget size. I look forward to the administration moving forward with these dollars as the community has directed.

It is uncommon to have such a clear articulation of priorities from arts organizations across the budget spectrum, and I am hugely grateful to the collaboration between Portland Arts & Culture for Equity and Portland Arts Leaders. Your collaboration and clear articulation of shared goals is what allows me to champion your cause today.

Further, I look forward to bringing legislation to the City Life committee later this month that will, among other things, allow the Arts Access fund to grow with inflation in the future - ensuring the fiscal health of the fund going forward, and that organizations will not face sudden shortfalls like this in the future.”

- Jamie Dunphy, City Council on April 8th.