Fifteen small arts organizations complained in a Nov. 1 open letter that the city of Portland plans to unfairly decrease their collective share from the cityâs arts tax and give a greater share to the largest arts organizations, like Oregon Ballet Theatre and Portland Center Stage.
The arts groupsâwhich include Third Angle New Music, Boom Arts, and Chamber Music Northwestâasked the city to âretain the funding small organizations are counting on based on historical giving from the city.â The groups wrote: âWe are not against giving larger groups more funding, but in this case, smaller organizationsâ funding was decreased significantly despite an overall increase in available funds.â
The top five largest arts organizations in the city, the 15 complainants wrote, are slated to receive 33% of the total grant money, whereas last year they collectively received 20%. Forty-five of the smaller arts organizations, the letter noted, will have their funding decreased from last year.
The city announced the grants Oct. 30.
Itâs the first time in decades the city has decided directly how to use its arts tax dollars; for years, the city simply passed the money on to the nonprofit Regional Arts & Culture Council to distribute. The city announced last year it would take its arts tax funding in house and form a new Arts & Culture Office to allocate the money directly to arts organizations.
In an email provided by the city that the Arts Office sent in response to the organizationsâ letter on Nov. 1, the city wrote it had expanded the number of organizations it funded and that âwe recognize the financial challenges that many arts organizations face and will continue to face. Moving forward, we will strive to secure additional funding, prioritize strategic investments, and support initiatives that advance the arts.â
