Arts Action Alliance Foundation dba Clackamas County Arts Alliance

CULTURAL COALITION OVERVIEW

The Clackamas County Cultural Coalition grant programs are administered by the Clackamas County Arts Alliance staff and the Arts Alliance acts as fiscal agent for the Coalition.

Grants are awarded to projects and opportunities which respond to the Cultural Plan Goals and Funding Priorities and are distributed through two grant programs:

Project Grants – Awarded annually for arts, heritage and/or humanities based projects – More information
Special Opportunity Grants – Rolling grants available for unforeseen needs or unexpected opportunities.

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

As part of the Oregon Cultural Trust’s founding legislation, each Oregon county and the nine federally-recognized Tribes were asked to establish a Cultural Coalition and to create a plan for local distribution of Cultural Trust dollars. The first Clackamas County Plan for Arts, Heritage and Humanities, created in 2004, was the result of an eighteen-month investigative process engaging 180 citizens in interviews, forums and focus groups. Since the 2004 Plan was approved and the Cultural Coalition began its work, it has become clear that the Coalition’s highest purpose and wisest use of limited resources is to nurture, support and invest in the efforts of others through granting funds.

The Cultural Plan is a call to action for increasing support for local culture and is a vehicle for distributing the Oregon Cultural Trust Community Cultural Participation Grant funds. It also includes an assessment of the strengths and critical issues facing arts, heritage and humanities in Clackamas County.

Qualified staff members of the Clackamas County Arts Alliance regularly perform public art project management services for public agencies which do not have such services in-house or private companies which require the services of an outside consultant. To inquire about the fees and services offered by the staff of the Arts Alliance, please contact us at 503-655-0525.

Clackamas County Arts Alliance’s Youth Arts for Change program uses the arts as a catalyst to open doors for vulnerable and underserved youth, promoting positive change and forging constructive connections between youth and their community.

Youth Arts for Change gives teens an opportunity to share their story via theatre, writing and/or visual art. Through a series of workshops, participating teens collaborate with professional teaching artists to create an original play or art exhibit. Each project culminates in a public presentation and celebration, providing an opportunity for youth to share their stories and connect with the community.

Youth Arts for Change is the Arts Alliance’s signature project to address the needs of underserved youth. Since 2011, the program has engaged more than 135 Clackamas County teens and 500 audience members.

The Clackamas County Arts Alliance and the Pamplin Media Group have partnered to create a unique opportunity in which Pamplin Media Group will produce and distribute a quarterly arts, cultural heritage and tourism guide for Clackamas County.

This full color guide will be a minimum of 16 pages and will be distributed to more then 110,000 readers of the Pamplin Media Group’s nine community newspapers that serve all of Clackamas County. Additional copies will also be available at select locations throughout the county.

In July 2016, the Clackamas County Cultural Guide took second place in the Special Sections category awarded by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association!

The Clackamas County Arts Alliance has joined Arts & Economic Prosperity 6, a national study measuring the economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences. The research study is being conducted by Americans for the Arts, the nation’s nonprofit organization advancing the arts and arts education. It is the fifth study over the past 20 years to measure the impact of arts spending on local jobs, arts industry income paid to local residents, and revenue paid to local and state governments, generated by the local arts industry.

As one of nearly 300 study partners across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, the Clackamas County Arts Alliance will collect detailed financial data about our local nonprofit arts and culture organizations such as our theater and dance companies, museums, festivals, and arts education organizations.