With the Trump Administration and its Department of Government Efficiency aiming their budget knife at everything from the national endowments for the arts and the humanities to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System to libraries and museums including the Smithsonian Institution, the health and future of cultural organizations across the nation are on shaky ground.

In Oregon, where state government faces its own tough budget decisions, several key players inside and out of government are trying to bridge the gap and push ideas on how to do it.

On April 14, representatives of arts and culture organizations from around Oregon came together for a reception in the Spinning Room at the Willamette Heritage Center in Salem, sponsored by the nonprofit Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon (CACO) and the state agencies Oregon Cultural Trust (OCT) and the Oregon Arts Commission (OAC).

The reception, which included several state legislators, came after a long day of meetings in preparation for Advocacy Day, a planned day of action on Tuesday, April 15, for lobbying legislators on behalf of the arts.

It was an opportunity for the leaders of these programs to hear from the administrators and directors of arts associations and cultural centers from all over the state.

It was also an opportunity for community leaders, who implement these often far-reaching projects that provide communities with access to art and cultural opportunities, to connect and share their experiences with one another.

“One of the stories that we shared at our fundraiser last fall was from a family who lives, you know, 35 miles away, whose parents both work in social services,” said Roberta Lavadour, an OAC commissioner and the executive director of the Pendleton Center for the Arts, who also sits on the Pendleton city art commission. 

“They had a teenager who was struggling and even with all their training and expertise in that area they just weren’t sure how to help them,” she said. “And what really turned this kid was guitar lessons, learning how to play the guitar, and then coming to the rock and roll camp and making those connections through artistic activity. It’s those little individual stories that happen in little families all over the state that is really the impact.”

The Pendleton Center for the Arts, which serves 10,000 people a year, holds a free rock and roll music camp. The center has an amazing variety of arts and culture opportunities and services available for a small community with just over 17,000 residents.

“We do art at the market with farmers market, where people get to try wailing on an electric guitar or throwing something on a pottery wheel,” Lavadour continued. “We do all kinds of outreach activities; activities in schools. We have exhibits. We have a fine craft marketplace with work from more than 120 artists. We have live music. We have a whole range of education classes for youth, teens and adults, and absolutely everything for kids 13 to 18 is totally free, and it has been for the last 20 years.”

It’s not just those who use the services who benefit from the opportunity to experience arts and culture in a community, especially a rural one. The directors and leaders have their stories of growth, too.

Sean Andries, executive director of the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg and the chair of the Oregon Cultural Trust, recounted one such experience:

“The work of culture is so much bigger than arts itself,” he said. “Arts is one expression of culture. I came to the cultural center from a largely arts background. So, on that level, it’s really broadened the way I approach my work.

“My daily job is running a cultural center. I think one of the interesting things about the Trust is that it is designed to champion arts, heritage, history and humanities. I think often people speak about the Trust and use ‘arts’ as a shorthand for ‘culture’.

“One of the things that being a part of the Trust board has helped me realize in my own work at the cultural center in Newberg is that we’re not there just to be an art center. We do teach art classes, we have galleries, we put on shows, but the work of culture is so much bigger than arts itself. Arts is one expression of culture.”

The work that individuals like Andries and Lavadour do is especially important in rural communities: Often these centers provide the only opportunity for community members to be exposed to arts and culture. The importance of the Oregon Arts Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust is exemplified in smaller communities like Pendleton and Newberg.

“It’s transformative. When individuals are transformed, communities are transformed,” Lavadour said.

But for the individuals running those arts centers throughout the state, it can be a challenge to provide in such a rural environment.

“I think one of the things about working in arts and culture in a smaller city in a more rural setting is that there’s not a lot of other arts and culture businesses and nonprofits in the area, and sometimes it can be really isolating,” Andries said.

 “In Portland I had a lot of peers, support, and a lot of institutional know-how from other people. I could call someone and ask, how has your organization tackled this? I don’t really have that in the same way out in Newberg. So, when I get to interact with all the Trust Board members, to come to events like today and meet and talk to people from around the state, I remember that there are people just like me in every community in the state. I get to feel a part of a greater whole and remember I’m not alone.”

This sense of isolation often leaves the folks who provide these cultural services spread thin from trying to do everything themselves.

And in addition to working in the arts community, the commissioners of the Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Cultural Trust board directors, and directors of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon are unpaid volunteers who donate their time and energy to their positions. It can become overwhelming.

This was part of the purpose of Advocacy Day. These individuals had the opportunity to advocate state legislators for the needs of their organizations, said Subashini Ganesan-Forbes, chair of the Oregon Arts Commission, and added that she hopes they took the opportunity to advocate for themselves and make connections among their peers.

“If you’re feeling alone, know that you can come to talk to any of us,” Ganesan-Forbes said. “I feel like that’s what I mean when you talk about spreading oneself thin. 

“We’re all volunteers. We’re doing our best while holding down jobs. How do we do this together? How do we do this to the best of our ability?”

While many members of the arts and culture communities often work alone, being in the arts should not be isolating, Ganesan-Forbes said. She wants everyone who attended the events of the two days to know that there is someone willing to listen and that they should reach out and share their successes and their needs.

“Something like Advocacy Day allows every single artist, arts administrator, arts advocate, to not be shy,” she said. “I think something like this … is going to give every single one of us a sense of purpose that is needed right now, both on an individual level and in the community level.”