Have you paid your arts tax yet?
Every year, Portlanders 18 and older who make above $1,000 in households over the poverty level are asked to pay a $35 per person tax that sends money to local arts organizations and schools.
It’s due on April 15.
A good portion of the arts tax money goes to the Arts Access Fund, which pays for art teachers for K-5 students at Portland Public, David Douglas, Centennial, Parkrose, Reynolds and Riverdale schools, as well as area charter schools.
According to the city, the Arts Access Fund pays for one arts teacher per 500 elementary school students. For the 2024-2025 school year, $7.8 million went to schools from arts tax money.
“Prior to the Arts Access Fund, there were 31 full-time arts teachers and educators serving K-5 students across Portland schools,” Dawn Isaacs, the City of Portland’s arts education coordinator said in a press release in December. “In the 2023-24 school year, there were 111. That increase is directly related to the Arts Access Fund.”
The Arts Access Fund also gives grants to arts organizations that serve Portland. The majority of that goes through the General Operating Support and the Small Grants program, which are made up of money from the Arts Access Fund and money from the city’s General Fund.
According to the city, for the fiscal year 2024-2025, just over $4 million in General Operating Support grants were given to 80 organizations. The money organizations get from these grants is direct and unrestricted.
Around $800,000 of that came from the General Fund and $3.2 million from the arts tax.
These funds used to be distributed by the Regional Arts and Culture Council but for the first time this year were distributed in-house by the City of Portland’s Office of Arts and Culture.
The Oregon Symphony received the biggest General Operating Support grant for 2024-2025, over $390,000.
According to Laurel Wilde, the symphony’s director of communications, that money “supports just about every aspect of our programming.”
“We perform 110 concerts each year at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in the heart of downtown Portland,” Wilde said. “So far this year, we’ve welcomed well over 140,000 people to the concert hall, with several months of concerts left to go.”
Money from the arts tax makes those concerts possible, she said, and allows the symphony to offer free and discounted tickets while fairly compensating the ensemble of musicians.
“A significant portion of our award this year was a one-time subsidy to help offset our rental expenses at the Schnitz,” Wilde added, “which have increased for three years in a row.”
The symphony also uses the funds to support educational programs, “which include youth concerts, musical storytimes at local libraries, and opportunities for young musicians to learn directly from our musicians,” Wilde said.
“We believe deeply in the importance of nurturing the next generation of musicians,” she said, “and are proud to have reached around 18,000 Portland students so far this year, 65% of whom are from low-income backgrounds.”
Portland Center Stage received a $350,000 General Operating Support grant for 2024-2025.
“Funding from the City of Portland is an essential part of PCS’s ability to survive this challenging time,” said Portland Center Stage artistic director Marissa Wolf.
“The general operating grant went directly to pay for the art on stage, and the salaries of PCS’s 65 staff and 35 artists, crew, and technicians during our fall shows, 90% of whom are local,” Wolf said.
The funding also supported community programs, classes, residencies and student matinees, she said, as well as local partnerships.
The Oregon Symphony and Portland Center Stage are just two of the organizations that benefit from the Arts Access Fund.
Here are the 80 organizations that received General Operating Support during the 2024-2025 period and the amounts of each grant.
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Along with the larger grantees, city code also stipulates that at least 5% of Arts Access Fund proceeds should be invested in “grants and programs to nonprofit arts organizations, other nonprofits, and schools that will give access to high-quality arts experiences to Kindergarten through 12th-grade students (K-12) and for grants and programs that will make arts and culture experiences available to Portland residents, with a particular emphasis on programs directed to communities who are underserved by local arts providers.”
The money for the Small Grants program is also a mix of Arts Access Fund money and money from the General Fund.
For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, $1.2 million in Small Grants – $350,000 from the Arts Access Fund and $850,000 from the General Fund – was distributed to individual artists and arts organizations in Portland.
Those small grants are restricted to projects that grantees describe when applying for the money.
While Small Grants are given to organizations and individuals, Arts Access Fund money, which comes directly from the arts tax, cannot be given to individuals. So the Small Grants awarded to individuals come from the General Fund.
That money was disbursed by the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
Those small grants are between $1,000 and $5,000.
Here are the 91 organizations that received Small Grants.
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Here are the 184 artists that received Small Grants, which are not funded by the arts tax.
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– Lizzy Acker covers life and culture and writes the advice column Why Tho? Reach her at 503-221-8052, [email protected].
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