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The Oregon Arts Commission’s Sustaining Arts Program has awarded $113,390 to 31 Lane County organizations.
The awards are intended to support nonprofit arts organizations that offer “ongoing, high-quality outreach programs and arts services or artistic programming in their communities,” said Heidi Hagemeier of the arts commission. Across the state, the commission awarded $1.3 million through the program.
Recipients are divided into two groups; group A includes organizations with annual expenses of less than $150,000 and group B includes organizations with annual expenses equal to or more than $150,000.
The arts and culture organization in Lane County that received the most money was Lane Arts Council, which received $7,025. The organization fell under group B.
Tara Wibrew, the executive director of the Lane Arts Council, told Lookout Eugene-Springfield that the grants matter more as the funding landscape changes.
“Economic challenges, especially due to decisions at the federal and state levels, have created intense funding obstacles and increased competition among many nonprofits,” Wibrew said. “Grant funds are more scarce and more needed to fill gaps left by other budget cuts.”
Unlike most grants, which are aimed at specific projects, funds from the Sustaining Arts Program cover general operating expenses such as equipment, office rent and staff.
For the council, Wibrew said that support is crucial to offering programs like Eugene’s free First Friday ArtWalk, administering resources for local artists and providing arts education in classrooms countywide.
Funding for the program comes from the state of Oregon’s general fund and from the National Endowment for the Arts through a grant to the Oregon Arts Commission.
All Lane County recipients:
Group A (annual expenses under $150,000)
- Applegate Regional Theatre Inc., Veneta: $2,000
- Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene, Eugene: $2,500
- DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon, Eugene: $2,500
- Eugene Gay Men’s Chorus, Eugene: $2,000
- Eugene Springfield Community Orchestra, Eugene: $1,000
- Florence Regional Arts Alliance, Florence: $5,000
- Free Shakespeare in the Park Theatre Company, Eugene: $1,000
- New Zone Gallery, Eugene: $2,500
- Oregon Brass Society, Eugene: $1,000
- Radical Alternative Development, Elmira: $1,000
- Springfield Community Concert Band, Springfield: $1,000
- Willamette Valley Symphony, Eugene: $1,000
Group B (annual expenses of $150,000 or more)
- Ballet Fantastique, Eugene: $5,500
- Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops, Florence: $5,000
- Community Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene: $6,025
- Comunidad y Herencia Cultural, Springfield: $5,000
- Cottage Theatre, Cottage Grove: $5,025
- Eugene Ballet, Eugene: $1,000
- Eugene Concert Choir, Eugene: $5,025
- Eugene Opera, Eugene: $5,025
- Eugene Symphony Association Inc., Eugene: $1,000
- #instaballet, Eugene: $5,000
- Lane Arts Council, Eugene: $7,025
- Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts, Eugene: $5,000
- Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene: $5,015
- Music Education & Performing Artists Association, Eugene: $5,000
- Orchestra Next, Eugene: $5,000
- Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Eugene: $5,250
- Oregon Mozart Players, Eugene: $5,000
- Radiant Community Arts, Eugene: $5,000
- University of Oregon — Oregon Folklife Network, Eugene: $5,000
