Trending Articles

Friends of SOAR

For great posts about the business of art, check out The Artsy Shark HERE!
ArtistsBillofRights.org reviews competitions and appeals seeking creative content, listing those that respect your copyrights and highlighting those that don't. Art Matters! publishes calls to artists, and not all of them may be compliant with ABoR's standards. Visit their site to learn more.
We support the Embedded Metadata Manifesto.  Metadata is information such as copyright notice and contact info you can embed in your images to protect your intellectual property, save time when uploading to social sites and promote your art. Click to visit the site and learn more.

Oregon Cultural Trust Funding Impact

logo OCT Oregon Cultural Trust

News and UpdatesNovember 2022 Truth behind Celebrate Oregon!Paying tribute to Oregon arts, heritage and humanities The secret behind the success of the new Celebrate Oregon! license plate is this: the artwork pays tribute to our shared arts, heritage and humanities. The artwork’s 127 symbols celebrate our history, our diverse cultural traditions and the people and places that make Oregon so special.Every Oregonian who participates in the Cultural Tax Credit joins in that celebration. By donating to one of our 1,500+ arts, heritage and humanities nonprofits – then making a matching donation to the Cultural Trust by Dec. 31, you ensure the Trust continues to provide stable and growing funding to the organizations that define our vibrant way of life. You also qualify for a 100 percent tax credit for your gift to the Trust.**Tax credit limit is $500 for an individual, $1,000 for a couple filing jointly and $2,500

Continue reading Oregon Cultural Trust Funding Impact

Coronavirus Relief Fund Cultural Support application now live!

Applications are now live and open for Oregon’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Cultural Support program. Funds allocated to the Oregon Cultural Trust will be available to Oregon cultural organizations facing losses due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

Continue reading Coronavirus Relief Fund Cultural Support application now live!

Call to Action: Proposed Funding Cuts for Oregon Arts & Culture

oregon cultural trust logo

We are reaching out today to urgently ask you to advocate for Oregon’s cultural sector.

Next week on Monday, August 10th a special session has been called to rebalance the state’s budget due to the impacts of COVID-19. The session will include proposed General Fund cuts to the arts of over $300,000, and specific cuts to the Cultural Resource Economic Fund (CREF)/lottery funded capital projects over $300,000. These projects include several significant historic and present-day community treasures that have relied on state commitments and that enrich our state for the future.

We need our advocates and members to urge Oregon’s legislature to reject these proposed cuts before Monday, August 10th. Please TAKE ACTION today by emailing the Oregon legislature. The form on our website will send your message to the legislators within your district based on your address.

Oregon’s arts, culture, heritage and humanities are critical to our recovery

Continue reading Call to Action: Proposed Funding Cuts for Oregon Arts & Culture

URGENT! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD FOR OUR CULTURAL VENUES BEFORE TUESDAY.

Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition logo

URGENT! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD FOR OUR CULTURAL VENUES BEFORE TUESDAY.

As you may have heard the Oregon Legislature is meeting this week in both an Emergency Board session and a special session. We need your voice.

Our colleagues have been working hard to convince our policymakers to allocate federal CARES dollars to keep our performing arts and culture venues open. We call this “life support for venues” (with thanks to Jim Brunberg!). Led by Representative Rob Nosse and the Independent Venue Coalition, this effort makes it clear that funding nonprofits and small businesses is critical to Oregon’s COVID-19 recovery. We must be at the table for economic support if we are to recover.

The time is now! The Emergency Board will vote on Tuesday to make this allocation.

Please let members of the Emergency Board know how important this investment is to your communities and to Oregonians

Continue reading URGENT! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD FOR OUR CULTURAL VENUES BEFORE TUESDAY.

Oregon Cultural Trust May 2020 Update

Oregon Arts commission logo

Oregon Cultural Trust News and Updates May 2020 ******* Anis Mojgani named Oregon’s 10th Poet Laureate

Governor Kate Brown has named Anis Mojgani (AH-neess Mozh-GAH-nee), a two-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam and an International World Cup Poetry Slam winner, to a two-year appointment as Poet Laureate of Oregon. Anis succeeds Kim Stafford, who has held the post since 2018, to become Oregon’s 10th Poet Laureate.

“Anis is the pragmatic optimist Oregon needs in these unprecedented times,” says Governor Brown. “His words breathe fresh air into the anxiety and negativity that we all feel. He urges us to resolutely reflect in the moment and with each grounding breath, our hearts ‘come closer and come into this.’”

Born in New Orleans to Black and Iranian parents, Anis first called Oregon home in 2004. He is the author of five books of poetry including his latest, “In the Pockets

Continue reading Oregon Cultural Trust May 2020 Update

Oregon Cultural Trust January 2020 News and Updates

oregon cultural trust logo

Oregon Cultural Trust January 2020 News and Updates Grant seekers alert! 2020 “Conversations” series features more funders than ever The 2020 Conversations with Funders and Partners tour will begin in Portland on Feb. 19 and conclude in Bend on March 12 with eight stops overall. “Conversations” are informal information sessions that enable grant seekers to learn about funding programs available and have the opportunity to discuss their projects and programming. More funders than ever before will join the Cultural Trust, including the Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Heritage, Oregon Humanities and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office as well as The Oregon Community Foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, Travel Oregon, Oregon Parks and Recreation, the State Library of Oregon, the Marion Soil and Water Conservation District, Business Oregon’s Regional Development Officers and Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council, among others. Special note: Free grant writing

Continue reading Oregon Cultural Trust January 2020 News and Updates

Oregon’s Cultural Tax Credit Is More Valuable Than Ever!

A Cultural Trust donor since 2003, McLaren makes her donation to the Cultural Trust online using some Required Minimum Distribution funds from her retirement. “That way I avoid taxes on those funds,” she says. “The Cultural Trust is the best investment Oregonians can make in their culture,” says McLaren. “It’s a no brainer when a donation that nurtures a worthy nonprofit also provides a significant tax advantage to the donor.”

News and Updates

Double the impact of Giving Tuesday! If you participated in #GivingTuesday with a gift to any one or more of these cultural nonprofits, you are eligible to double the impact of your gift with Oregon’s Cultural Trust tax credit. There’s no reason to wait until the end of the year to match these gifts. Click to Give Now.

New tax laws make cultural tax credit more valuable

The recent change in federal tax laws had the unintended consequence of discouraging charitable giving by reducing the number of taxpayers claiming a deduction for their gifts, which makes the Cultural Trust tax credit an even more important tool for Oregon taxpayers. The tax credit is unaffected by the 2018 tax law changes. Working with the Oregon Department of Revenue, the Trust recently posted frequently asked questions

Continue reading Oregon’s Cultural Tax Credit Is More Valuable Than Ever!

Staff Update from Arts Commission and Cultural Trust November 2018

November 2, 2018 Dear Arts and Culture Colleagues, It is with both great pride and some sadness that I share with you that Arts Commission and Cultural Trust Assistant Director David Huff has resigned effective next week to accept the new position of City Arts Manager with the City of Portland. While we will miss him tremendously, we are very excited for David and wish him the best. He is a truly positive force in supporting artists and arts/cultural organizations across Oregon and the city will be lucky to have him. During his five years as assistant director, David has provided invaluable input to our planning and implementation of grant programs, helping to ensure we are having the greatest possible impact with our limited funding. He has also made important contributions to our financial oversight systems and has been a strong advocate for accessible service to underserved groups. David

Continue reading Staff Update from Arts Commission and Cultural Trust November 2018

Sue Hildick New Cultural Advocacy Coalition Executive Director

Subject: Goodbye and Hello Date: 23 Jul 2018

Dear Friends, It has been a privilege to serve as the Executive Director of the Cultural Advocacy Coalition since 2011 and it is time for me to transition to new opportunities for service to my community and state. This role has allowed me to support creative work, community engagement, historic preservation and Oregon culture in the Oregon Legislature. With your help, we have protected and modernized the Oregon Cultural Trust, expanded investment in cultural infrastructure, protected Oregon’s percent for art program and supported the health of our sector in policy and funding bills at every opportunity. Thank you to the cultural community for your tireless commitment to your work, but also for your advocacy, community engagement and friendship.

As I prepare to move on, I am happy to report I am leaving you in truly excellent hands. The Coalition board

Continue reading Sue Hildick New Cultural Advocacy Coalition Executive Director

Grants, Winners, Poetry and Exhibit News from OAC February 2018

February 2018 News & Updates A new Arts Commissioner, lots of grant news and a powerful new exhibition in the Governor’s Office — plus a preview of the 2018 Poetry Out Loud contest! Visit our Website Matt Stringer appointed to Arts Commission Matthew Stringer, the executive director of Four Rivers Cultural Center and Museum​ in Ontario, Oregon, has been appointed to the Oregon Arts Commission by Governor Kate Brown​. Stringer fills the position previously held by Libby Unthank Tower, who completed her second four-year term in December. Link to full release Matthew Stringer Jess Perlitz named 2018 Joan Shipley Fellow Jess Perlitz, a Portland-based artist working in sculpture, performance and drawing, is the 2018 recipient of the Oregon Arts Commission’s honorary Joan Shipley Award. Perlitz leads a group of 19 Oregon artists selected from a pool of more than 120 applicants from 23 Oregon cities for the Arts Commission’s

Continue reading Grants, Winners, Poetry and Exhibit News from OAC February 2018