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$7.8 million from the Arts Access Fund is headed to Portland schools

News Article
Arts Access Fund collage with theatre masks, a sock puppet, watercolor paints, and a ballet shoe
Portland's six school districts will receive nearly $8 million for the 2024-25 school year from the Arts Access Fund, powered by the Arts Tax.
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Access to the arts is a core part of the human experience—allowing us to express and explore emotions, connect with others, and process what’s happening in the world around us. That’s especially true for elementary-aged children. Research shows that access to the arts in elementary school greatly impacts whether students go on to explore artistic pursuits, from drawing and sculpting to choir and band, as they advance into middle and high school.  

The City of Portland’s Arts Access Fund ensures that students in Portland—more than 28,000 of them—have access to the arts as part of their K-5 education. This collective fund, powered by the Arts Tax, is broad, efficient, and unique to Portland, impacting every public elementary school student in the city. 

Today, the City of Portland's Office of Arts & Culture is announcing that $7.8 million will be distributed to Portland’s school districts from the Arts Access Fund to pay elementary arts educators’ salaries for the 2024-25 school year. 

"Before the Arts Access Fund, our 50+ elementary schools had virtually no arts education. This fund has established and sustained arts education in every K-5 school across Portland Public Schools," Portland Public Schools' Director for Visual & Performing Arts Kristen Brayson said. "The arts are where children make sense of the world and connect to their own story and the stories of others. An arts education can develop students' unique identities, provide students with a sense of belonging, and encourage collaboration with peers. The gifts of this learning cannot be understated."

An elementary music class on a stage with the music teacher playing the guitar in the foreground.

The Arts Access Fund began with a ballot initiative in 2012, which established a $35 income tax on every eligible adult in Portland. Revenues from the Arts Tax are distributed to school districts in Portland so that they can hire certified K-5 arts teachers. 

“Prior to the Arts Access Fund, there were 31 full-time arts teachers and educators serving K-5 students across Portland schools,” Dawn Isaacs, the City of Portland’s arts education coordinator said. “In the 2023-24 school year, there were 111. That increase is directly related to the Arts Access Fund.”  

Arts Access Fund dollars are distributed based on the number of students in each district and are used specifically to hire art and music teachers for kindergarten through fifth grade students at the six districts in the city: Portland Public, David Douglas, Centennial, Parkrose, Reynolds, and Riverdale, as well as charter schools. Schools receive enough funding to pay for one arts teacher—music or visual arts—per 500 elementary school students. The Office of Arts & Culture also allocates up to 3% of net revenues to help coordinate arts education services and outcomes across Portland's six school districts.

In spring 2024, the Arts Access Fund celebrated an important milestone—a decade of providing arts education resources to Portland's elementary school students. Students from Franklin High School's film school documented the voices of Portland sophomores across the city's six districts, all of whom were in kindergarten when the fund was created. In the video below, Addie, a student in the David Douglas school district, shares how she found community through music.

This video was produced by Franklin Film School at Franklin High and edited by Asher Blair.

After the school districts receive their allotment from the City's Revenue Division, remaining funds are distributed as grants to local arts organizations via the Office of Arts & Culture’s General Operating Support and Small Grants for Artists & Arts Organizations programs. 

Learn more about the Arts Access Fund

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