An independent review board, the Bend Cultural Tourism Commission, considered 28 projects before voting on May 8 to fund the final 20. Projects range from a new volcano exhibit and programming at the High Desert Museum to supporting Bend’s very own TEDx talks. Other grantees include OSU–Cascades for a First Peoples Celebration, Central Oregon Latin Festival and its Taco Fest, and 1988 Entertainment, the group behind Bend’s nine-time award-winning Volcanic Theatre. Visit Bend’s board of directors approved the commission’s recommendation at its monthly meeting on May 20.

The BCTF was created in 2015 to promote and grow Bend’s arts and cultural offerings by reinvesting a portion of the fees collected by Bend’s lodging properties levied on overnight stays. The vast majority of this “transient room tax” money goes to the city’s general fund to help pay for public safety, and other core services and infrastructure. Visit Bend manages the remaining portion on behalf of the city to support Bend’s $386.3 million annual tourism economy—a critical part of the city’s overall economic well-being.

“This fund is about more than tourism—it’s about reinvesting in the creative heartbeat of our community,” says Zavier Borja, Visit Bend’s destination stewardship director. “By directing visitor dollars into arts and cultural experiences, we’re supporting the people and organizations who make Bend such a dynamic and inspiring place to be.”

The BCTF, now in its tenth year, invests in promoting cultural activities that have enough allure to attract visitors from beyond a 50-mile radius, predominately during Bend’s shoulder seasons. The grants are broken into two categories. The Small Marketing/Research Grant program seeks to help groups grow lesser-known but highly creative events. The Large Marketing Grant program promotes high-quality, cultural-tourism activities that demonstrate a clear and measurable economic benefit. Since its inception in 2015, the BCTF has awarded $2,587,418 for 134 projects.

“Art doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” says Visit Bend CEO Jeff Knapp. “We are an extraordinary community that can hit above its weight when it comes to arts and culture because we’ve been smart about using visitor dollars to help local groups flourish.”