Recap: Arts & Culture granted $5.6M+ to Portland’s creative ecosystem in 2024-25

Just over a year ago, on July 1, 2024, the City of Portland launched its first-ever dedicated Office of Arts & Culture. Arts & Culture’s mission is to put arts at the center of public life for all Portlanders, and key to that is investing into the city’s creative ecosystem. In its first 12 months, Arts & Culture’s grantmaking programs and initiatives provided more than $5,600,000 in funding to hundreds of Portland-based artists and arts and culture organizations. 

This article looks back at Arts & Culture’s grantmaking efforts in fiscal year 2024-25, which ended on June 30, 2025. More specifically, it highlights how much was awarded as part of the office’s General Operating Support and Small Grant programs, as well as grants made to Portland Monuments Project-affiliated partners. 

Amid local, regional, and national arts funding and budget-related challenges, the Arts & Culture team is proud to have supported the vital work of Portland’s artists and creatives to the tune of millions of dollars—making the City of Portland one of the region’s largest arts funders.

General Operating Support: $4.27M

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In October 2024, Arts & Culture announced that its General Operating Support program would provide $4,098,538 to 80 local arts organizations for fiscal year 2024-25. 

General Operating Support provides direct, unrestricted grants to established nonprofit arts organizations. The program is primarily funded via the Arts Access Fund, powered by the Arts Tax, and requires grantees to uphold the mandates of the fund—to provide arts and culture experiences to K-12 students and underrepresented groups in Portland. Additional funding for the General Operating Support program is sourced through the City of Portland’s General Fund.

General Operating Support financial hardship grants

In June 2025, approaching the end of the fiscal year, Arts & Culture announced that 25 of its General Operating Support grantee organizations would receive an additional $170,312 on top of their already announced 2024-25 grant awards. This special, one-time funding opportunity was an effort to alleviate some of the financial burden local arts and culture organizations were, and continue to, face—particularly due to withdrawn funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and/or reduced funding from the City of Portland. 

2024-25 General Operating Support grantee disciplines

Learn more about Arts & Culture’s General Operating Support program

Small Grants Program: $1.36M

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Arts & Culture’s Small Grants Program consists of partnerships with three local arts-focused contractors—Friends of IFCC, MusicOregon, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). In 2024-25, as part of its overarching Small Grants Program, Arts & Culture provided $1,360,000 to be awarded through its partners’ grantmaking efforts, including:

Friends of IFCC: $100K

In March 2025, Friends of IFCC announced a new round of awards for 23 Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) artists—selected from 182 applicants. Part of the IFCC Artist Grant & Residency Program, awardees went on to, and are still currently, enlivening and activating the historical cultural center in North Portland.

Applications for Friends of IFCC’s 2025-26 Artist Grant & Residency Program will be open from July 30-September 12, 2025.

MusicOregon: $60K

In November 2024, MusicOregon announced the recipients of its 2024 Echo Fund, which empowers creative musical excellence and professional development through supporting independent, working musicians with funding for creative, non-performance projects. The organization received 304 Echo Fund applications and was able to fund top 22 proposals it received. 

Applications for MusicOregon’s 2025-26 Echo Fund will run from August 4-September 5, 2025. 

Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC): $1.20M

In February 2025, RACC awarded $1,200,000 to 275 Portland-based artists and arts groups—including 185 individual artists and 90 arts and culture organizations. Of those recipients, 131 were first-time recipients of any RACC grant award. The Portland Arts Project Grants provided funding for individuals and groups looking to advance their work in a way that would engage and/or benefit the public. This program was primarily funded via the City of Portland’s General Fund. Additional funding, specific to organizations, was sourced via the Arts Access Fund. 

Applications for RACC’s Portland Arts Project Grants are open now! Apply for a Portland Arts Project Grant by September 24, 2025 at 12 a.m. PT. 

2024-25 Small Grant Program grantee disciplines

Learn more about Arts & Culture’s Small Grants Program

Portland Monuments Project: $45K

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In 2023, the City of Portland accepted a three-year, $350,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support public engagement and data collection for the Portland Monuments Project. In fiscal year 2024-25, the Office of Arts & Culture re-granted $45,000 from the Mellon Foundation to two project partners: Literary Arts, which received $30,000, and Portland Parks Foundation, which received $15,000. Additional Mellon Foundation funds will be re-granted to project partners in fiscal year 2025-26.

Learn more about the Portland Monuments Project

_{*While our Small Grants Program partners announced a total of 320 grant awards in FY24, only 313 unique entities are represented in the table above; two artists ultimately declined their grant awards and five individuals received two grants (but no single artist received more than $5,000 total).}