The awards were given to address needs in community arts programs
Salem, Oregon – Fifty-two organizations will receive $5,000 Arts Build Communities grants in fiscal year 2025, totaling $260,000 for projects that address community issues or needs through the arts. The Oregon Arts Commission’s Arts Build Communities program is committed to promoting arts access for underserved audiences and targets broad geographic impact throughout the state.
One example of the funded projects is Gather:Make:Shelter’s Monograph Project, touring exhibitions that feature the work of Oregon-based artists with current or former experiences with houselessness.
“This program demonstrates the power of the arts in transforming lives and communities,” said Arts Commission Chair Subashini Ganesan-Forbes, who led one of three review panels. “The funding supports creative thinking and a collective response to strengthen and enrich communities.”
The grants also spark and leverage many other investments and resources, serving as a catalyst for greater economic and civic impact, Ganesan-Forbes said.
In recent years, the Arts Build Communities program has generated more than $600,000 in additional community investment, much of it representing salaries paid, as well as products and services purchased in the funded communities. These grants are made possible through a funding partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
The FY2025 recipients include:
Keizer Creative Art Association, Salem
To support the 2025 Keizer Riverwalk Art Fair, a vibrant celebration dedicated exclusively to Oregon artists. This year’s event focuses on inclusivity featuring low entry fees, no art jury process and no commission fees, allowing artists to showcase and sell their work without barriers. Experience a diverse array of art, live music and community engagement along the scenic Willamette Riverwalk. Requested funds will be used for security and advertising.
Huitzilopochtli, Woodburn
To support Huitzilopochtli’s vision to promote indigenous Mexican cultural traditions and inspire underserved youth and their families to engage in creative expression. Two main programs are hosted for Mexican and Indigenous families: an after-school dance program at Washington Elementary and a community class (ADC) that meets weekly during three seasons. Both groups participate in public performances and cultural exchanges with more than 15 opportunities per year to showcase cultural learning.
Albany Regional Museum, Albany
To support Oregon’s Trail of Tears Photography Exhibition, in partnership with photographer Nolan Streitberger, to create a photographic display of approximate encampment locations based on the journal entries of U.S. Indian Agent George H. Ambrose, who force-marched several hundred Indigenous men, women and children. Requested funds will be used for printing and framing the photographs.
All Ages Music Portland dba Friends of Noise, Portland
To support the annual Spring Break Fest, an all ages, multi-genre concert. Requested funds will be used for artist, sound engineer and vendor stipends, as well as event promotion.
Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland
To support Enhanced Accessibility during rehearsals and performances of the play “Sapience” by Diana Burbano. Requested funds will be used to expand rehearsal and performance practices to be inclusive of access needs for those who are neurodiverse, and to provide adjacent ability accommodations, such as American Sign Language and captioning, and the opportunity for PHAME students to work on a professional production.
Ashland High Arts Advocates, Ashland
To support the SAM Project, which partners with local performing and fine artists, teachers and the Ashland School District to match students with arts mentors. While the SAM Project is open to all K-12 students, it specifically reaches out to and prioritizes students who are low-income, have specific needs or are members of underserved populations. Funds will be used to cover expenses such as mentor stipends, equipment and materials, marketing and operational support.
Ashland New Plays Festival, Ashland
To support the 2025 playwriting competition and festival, which fosters new work by diverse emerging and established playwrights, directly engaging the Ashland community. Each year, 70 volunteers help to blind-review 350 scripts to identify finalists. The Artistic Director and team (100% BIPOC) select four to five winners, with at least 50% by BIPOC authors. The plays are presented in staged readings by professional directors and actors, drawing more than 3,000 attendees over one week.
Bag & Baggage Productions, Hillsboro
To support the world-premiere production of the “Ballad of Iron Jo,” a family-oriented musical about environmental stewardship, community responsibility and growing up. The production offers a strategic refresh of the organization’s commitment to the youth and families in the community by integrating HYPE, a professional training program for local youth, with special performances for area middle schools and with PASSPORT, a free student access program.
Caldera, Portland
To support a partnership with nonprofit WHOOP DEE DOO to create a collaborative production with Caldera’s youth summer learners and high school apprentices, culminating in a live production. The requested funds will support Caldera staff, Teaching Artists, and program supplies and materials.
Cave Junction Farmers Market, Cave Junction
To support a theater class (March-September 2025) and performance of “The Great Melt” at the farmers market site. Participating youth will explore how to mitigate climate issues, such as increasingly frequent high temperatures and poor AQI quality days. Youth will create a visual story around the real-life impact of climate change. Requested funds will pay for Art Educators and purchase supplies.
Centro Cultural Del Condado De Washington, Cornelius
To support its Cultural Events Initiative, which fosters the celebration of Latino cultural heritage through community-based arts and cultural events. This initiative provides vital opportunities for youth, elders and people from diverse backgrounds to engage with the arts, showcase their talents and connect through Latino cultural traditions.
Corrib Theatre, Portland
To support the production of “Pass Over” by Antoinette Nwandu. Requested funds will be used to help pay artists for their work.
Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts, Pendleton
To support and rebuild the youth education programming disrupted by COVID-19 at Nixya’awii Community School. Grant funds will be used to support staff who provide instruction to teachers and expand services offered. Costs include instruction, materials (paper, inks, plates), exhibition and advertising materials, and overhead.
Ellipse Theatre Community, Bend
To support the Voiceless: A Musical Collaborative Development Project, an innovative partnership supporting development of a world premiere of a new musical and immersive events highlighting the key issues addressed. The project kicked off in 2024, targeting performance readiness in June/July 2025. The objective is to raise awareness about the power of voice and its impact on mental health. Funds will ensure adequate venue space to support production and event requirements.
enTaiko, Portland
To support the Adaptive Dance Project, an initiative connecting the disabled dance community with taiko drumming through two branches of engagement. The funds will be used for artist fees, transportation and the purchase of specialized drum instruments for artists with disabilities. Inclusivity will be fostered by merging taiko with dance and offering performances and workshops that empower both disabled and non-disabled artists.
Eugene Springfield Youth Orchestras, Eugene
To support the String Academy program, which provides beginning instruction in violin, viola, cello and string bass to 3rd-5th graders at 13 local elementary schools. Requested funds will be used to support the continuation of this program at 13 schools, with a bulk of the funds going to support rent and scholarships.
Gather:Make:Shelter, Portland
To support a two-city Oregon tour of the Monograph Project, a series of exhibitions with artist talks and publications featuring the work of Oregon-based artists with current or former experiences of houselessness. Requested funds will be used to support publication printing costs, transportation and speaking artists.
Hand 2 Mouth, Portland
To support BANNED, a community school and library-focused theater project incorporating community interviews to explore the banned book epidemic in the U.S. with a focus on the lives and stories of Oregonians, specifically on those most affected by recent attempts at book bans in the Wilsonville/West Linn and Canby school districts. Requested funds will be used for artist fees, material costs, workshop expenses and community celebration events.
Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre Northwest, Portland
To support a series of all-abilities movement classes for 50 children (grades K-5) during the Community Transitional School’s summer program, which runs for seven weeks from June to July 2025. Classes culminate in a free community performance for parents and staff in July. The requested funds will be used for project-related administrative expenses and fees for three company dancers.
Immigrant Story, Hillsboro
To support “The Immigrant Story Live,” four high-quality live events in 2025 that seamlessly blend nuanced storytelling with subtle performance art, accompanied by distinctive global music specially created for the occasion. Funding will support the staging of four new, free events in Portland, Beaverton, Corvallis and Salem.
Jazz Society of Oregon, Portland
To support the 2025 Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, a three-day, outdoor, free-to-all jazz festival in the heart of North Portland, featuring Latin, Indigenous and Afro-jazz, and blues, all rooted in the history of our diverse community, presented to an average 9,000 to 12,000 audience members each year. The requested funds will be used for artist fees.
Lane Arts Council, Eugene
To support expanded cultural programming for First Friday ArtWalks in 2025. This free community event is held the first Friday of every month. LAC will partner with Cultural Producers each month July through December 2025 (for up to six unique events) to develop, curate and present cultural programming with a focus on multicultural experiences created by, and serving, Latine, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland
To support Kids & Culture: Impact of Community Leadership and inspire youth to welcome cultural differences while offering an experience of belonging and representation for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth. In Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May) 2025, the garden will hold Cultural Immersion and Family Engagement Days, art exhibits and the Oregon Rises Above Hate event. Requested funds will be used for stipends and Title I student tour entries.
Latino Network, Portland
To support Ballet Folkórico, a traditional Mexican dance class and cultural enrichment and education program for youth ages 3-18. Requested funds will be used for instructor wages, keeping Ballet participation free for youth, costumes for performances, and food and transportation for the program.
Literary Arts, Inc., Portland
To support a partnership with Woodburn High School to participate in youth programs. Requested funds will be used to support WHS students participating in Students to the Schnitz, which includes free tickets, ground transportation and books for students to attend Portland Arts & Lectures author talks, and to have two semester-long Writers in the Schools residencies at the high school.
Newberg Downtown Coalition, Newberg
To support expanding the Camellia Trail in 2025 with new paint-by-number mini murals in downtown Newberg. This community-led project will feature designs from LatinX artists and engage the public in painting sessions, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the Hispanic community. The project aims to foster inclusion and celebrate diversity in Newberg. Funds will be used for artist fees, outreach and art supplies.
New Room Studios, Portland
To support an access-forward full production of “A Kitty Can Prevent Suicide,” an original multidisciplinary theatrical show. This project will engage local people who have been impacted by mental illness with trauma-informed programming, community activities and in dialogues around issues from the show. Requested funds will be used to help pay artists.
North Pole Studio, Portland
To support FIELD OF VIEW, a two-year touring exhibition featuring 50 artworks created by artists with autism and I/DD. The artwork will be created across diverse mediums and will explore the themes of identity, history and place. Requested funds will be used for expenses including curating, framing, marketing and travel costs to showcase the exhibit in four reputable regional galleries across Portland, Salem and Lake Oswego throughout 2025.
Northwest Alliance for Alternative Media and Education, Portland
To support bringing Keys, Beats, Bars (KBB) to state youth correctional facilities in Oregon. KBB is a supportive community to develop and amplify the creative voices of youth. Artist mentors teach youth to make beats electronically, play instruments, use vocals and gain hands-on technical skills in audio recording, digital music composition, camera and lighting techniques, and video editing. Culminates in the creation of artistic works.
Open Hearts Open Minds, Portland
To support Up A Creek Theatre, which cultivates creative expression with incarcerated women through weekly dialogue circles and performances based on their lived experiences. Requested funds will be used for facilitator fees, costumes, books and scripts, videographer and photographer. Founded in 2014, this ongoing arts program provides an opportunity for connection and creative expression, allowing healing and growth in an otherwise hostile environment to rehabilitation.
Open Signal, Portland
To produce a pilot episode of the Portland Music Industry Showcase, a new live music series planned to launch in January 2025. The Showcase, which is designed to raise the profile of less commonly known local artists from communities of color, will be produced at Open Signal’s studios.
Oregon Arts Watch, Portland
To support the highly successful Cultural Hubs series. These stories cover essential cultural centers, how they uniquely serve and reflect their communities, and prioritize rural and underserved populations. At least 25 stories, to be published in 2025, will reach 25,000 people, providing the hubs with greater visibility, wider audiences and increased economic revenue. Requested funds will be used for professional fees and travel expenses.
Oregon Children’s Theatre Company, Portland
To support the “SPIDER” School & Community Tour. “SPIDER” is a new play written by Madeleine Adriance, a queer youth alumni of the Theatre’s Young Professional Company. “SPIDER” will tour to three high schools and multiple community sites and will reach more than 1,000 high-school aged youth and their family members. Requested funds will be used for artist fees, materials and supplies, and marketing costs.
Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport
To support Washed Ashore, an exhibition of marine life sculptures made from plastics found on beaches. Requested funds will be used to support the creation of a new sculpture that will debut at this exhibition, as well as for shipping and installation expenses, staff salaries, bilingual signage, an evaluation consultant, and materials to teach the public about plastics accumulation on beaches, encouraging them to engage in climate advocacy.
p:ear, Portland
To support the launch of a new black and white film photography program, in partnership with Franklin FOTO Community Darkroom, that provides youth with cameras to document their lives and fascinations, as well as darkroom printing skills and opportunities to share their work with the broader community at Blue Sky Gallery. Requested funds will be used for photographic materials, darkroom rental and photographer mentorship fees.
PDX Pop Now!, Portland
To support the 2025 PDX Pop Now! Festival, which is Portland’s only free, all-ages festival featuring local Portland musicians. Requested funds will be used for artist fees, including payments for performers and graphic artists, and sound engineers and equipment rentals provided by Friends of Noise. Additionally, the funds will cover essential logistical supplies to ensure the festival operates seamlessly, creating an enriching experience for the entire community.
Peruvian Cultural Festival and Events, Beaverton
To support a Peruvian Dance Ensemble open to all ages and backgrounds in efforts to foster community by increasing arts access and engagement through a lens of cultural enrichment and preservation. Requested funds will be used for instructor fees, rehearsal space, bilingual marketing and transportation expenses.
Portland Area Theatre Alliance, Portland
To support the Festival Partner Venue program, a new initiative wherein Portland Area Theatre Alliance covers the rental and staffing cost of several local performance venues for the 2025 Fertile Ground Festival of New Work, running April 4-19. The grant funds will be used to cover the cost of rental, front of house staffing and technical support.
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland
To support the program, Supporting Partners, Artists, and Community Events (SPACE). Requested funds will be used to support the cost of artist fees and supplies and materials.
Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, Portland
To support “Rise in Love,” a free concert in celebration of Black History Month. This concert aims to honor the rich cultural heritage, artistic contributions and historical narratives of Black communities, in America and beyond. The event will be part of the 2025 Portland Jazz Festival in partnership with PDX Jazz, Portland State University and the Portland Musician’s Union. New jazz music will be the highlight of the concert performed by a 12-piece ensemble of Portland jazz musicians.
Portland Revels, Portland
To support the 2025 “Spring Revels” production – a collaboration with PHAME Academy, serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities – which will be produced at a traditional theater, then toured to culturally-specific community venues. Requested funds will support the expense of personnel. Portland Revels is committed to providing a living wage to artists, particularly for this program which centers on artists from marginalized communities.
Portland Youth Philharmonic Association, Portland
To support “The Spirit of the Columbia: 2025 Children’s Concerts.” Funds will cover staffing, artist and facility fees, bus subsidies for low-income schools, and other expenses for two free concerts for more than 5,000 Portland Metro students, grades 3-8. The concerts will introduce orchestral instruments and feature Nancy Ives’ “Spirit of the Columbia,” which tells the story of the damming of Celilo Falls. The Four Directions drum group will join PYCO for drumming, singing and dancing
Resonance Vocal Ensemble, Portland
To support “We Are Still Here,” a site-specific memorial through new music, readings and dance. In collaboration with composer Kenji Bunch, conductor Shohei Kobayashi, artist Chisao Hata, Vanport Mosaic and survivors, this performance and community art event will acknowledge the little-known history of the Portland Expo Center as the Assembly Center that incarcerated Japanese-American families during World War II. Requested funds will be used to pay the artists.
Scalehouse, Bend
To support Melanie Stevens’ exhibition, artist talk and workshop. Requested funds will be used to purchase supplies and logistics to hang at the exhibition, to support the artist’s expenses to engage audiences, and to organize and host the exhibit’s educational programming.
SCRAP Creative Reuse, Portland
To support “SCRAP at School: Mend to Extend,” a year-long project teaching mending and reuse as creative, sustainable self-expression to grades 6-12 at Title I schools. Funds will be used for staffing, educator training, guest artists fees, transportation, materials and scholarships for workshops at SCRAP. This project includes in-school sessions, after-school clubs and take-home mending kits to inspire repair and creative reuse among Portland youth.
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis
To support K-8 “Create: Place-based Photography” with Mike Vos. Through this project, Sitka staff and professional fine art photographer and teaching artist Mike Vos will lead workshops in rural Title 1 schools across Clatsop, Tillamook and Lincoln counties. The project will also identify best practices for bringing teaching artists to rural schools through Sitka’s K-8 Create program. Funds will be used to cover Vos’ $5,000 Rural Youth Arts Fellowship honorarium.
STAGES Performing Arts Youth Academy, Hillsboro
To support “Esperanza Rising,” a theater production for young audiences based on the modern children’s classic book by Pam Muñoz Ryan. The production, helmed by a Latine creative team, features a cast of predominantly Latine youth and provides a critical arts participation experience for underserved youth.
Theatre Diaspora, Portland
To support the 2025 Staged Reading Series to showcase new theatrical works from local Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander artists. Requested funds will be used for artist fees, royalty fees and venue rental.
The High Desert Museum, Bend
To support the Indigenous Identity Film Project, which will use the power of visual storytelling to raise awareness of the complexity of cultural identities and promote a sense of belonging in the Central Oregon community. In partnership with filmmaker LaRonn Katchia (Warm Springs), a short film will feature the stories and voices of three young women from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Requested funds will be used for the production of the film.
Third Angle New Music Ensemble, Portland
To support the concert “People Into Trees.” Requested funds will be used for haptic vests and access services provided by CymaSpace, and tickets and outreach for Deaf/Hard of Hearing audience members.
Unlock the Arts, Portland
To support Expressive Writing Kinship, specifically at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, and writing circles. Requested funds will be used for instructor stipends, guest instructor stipends/travel/gas, writing supplies – notebooks, pens, folders and culmination ceremony certificates. Outcomes will provide a safe space and a therapeutic/healing platform.
Young Audiences of Oregon Inc., Portland
To support SH/FT and LiveSET projects. SH/FT pairs non-binary, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ students with local drag queens to design unique looks from recycled materials, culminating in an annual live fashion show. LiveSET offers middle and high schoolers from underrepresented communities hands-on training in sound engineering, leading to a public concert or recording. Funds will cover artist fees and project supplies.
The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of Business Oregon (formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department) in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon legislature moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining operations and making use of the Commission’s expertise in grantmaking, arts and cultural information and community cultural development.
The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon Legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust. More information about the Oregon Arts Commission is available online at artscommission.oregon.gov.
