Portland Arts Project Grant

Portland Arts Project Grant is sponsored by Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). The Portland Arts Project Grant program supports the creation and sharing of artistic work and the development of Portland's arts community.

Portland Arts Project Grant - Regional Arts and Culture Council PAPG 2025 Grantee Homo Superior, an X-Men themed drag show and queer dance party. Performance by Tunde Olaniran. Photo by Ricky Zuniga Interpretation services available, email grants@racc.

org Portland Arts Project Grant Program The PAPG program funds projects spanning all creative disciplines made by Portland-residing artists and organizations. Proposals may be submitted for a variety of endeavors–including programming, presentations, events, artistic development, and the creation of artworks–that include opportunities for the public to engage with their activities. In total, RACC will distribute $1.

2M from City-sourced funding to the dynamic community members that comprise our local creative ecosystem. The City of Portland is committed to supporting and investing in the vibrancy of the arts in our community. Recent changes to City Code regarding the Arts Access Fund impact eligibility requirements for a variety of grant programs.

As such, RACC will accept applications in two separate categories this year to align with distinct funding sources made available by the City . One category is open to a wide range of applicant types, while the other is available to schools and nonprofit organizations specifically seeking funding for projects that serve K-12 students and/or underserved communities as defined by Portland City Council.

Further details are available in the guidelines. PAPG applications will be accepted online via RACC’s Opportunity Portal from September 1 to October 28, 2026 with award announcements made no later than March 31, 2027. Comprehensive information about all aspects of the program can be found in the guidelines and other materials accessible on this page.

We look forward to continuing our work with the City to make impactful investments in the arts that uplift both creators and the community at large. Applicants may contact grants@racc. org for assistance.

General Fund Project Grants for Artistic Creation & Presentation Arts Access Fund Project Grants for Arts Education & Engagement by organizations & schools Individual artists, arts businesses, organizations & eligible applicants with fiscal sponsors Nonprofit organizations & schools with projects serving K-12 students and/or underserved communities Applicants must legally reside or be headquartered within the City of Portland service area.

Check your address at https://portlandmaps. com . Applicants must be headquartered within the City of Portland service area and provide documentation of serving K-12 students and/or underserved communities defined by City Code.

Check your address at https://portlandmaps. com . Awards from $1,000 to $5,000 Awards from $1,000 to $10,000 Complete eligibility and requirements outlined in this category’s specific guidelines .

Complete eligibility and requirements outlined in this category’s specific guidelines . Applications will be accepted from September 1 until October 28, 2026 at 11:59pm . Late applications cannot be accepted.

Notifications to all applicants and the public regarding funding decisions will be made in early spring, no later than March 31, 2027 . Grantees must claim their funds by June 30, 2027 or their awards will be forfeited. We recommend thoroughly reviewing both the guidelines documents linked above and the answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below.

Reach out to grants@racc. org with your questions. Click on the Portland Arts Project Grant Program Frequently Asked Questions below: What does the Portland Arts Project grant support?

This grant program supports projects by artists and organizations across all creative disciplines –including programming, presentations, events, artistic development, and the creation of artworks– that include one or more planned activities to share the project with the public .

Applicants will be asked to clearly explain what they need grant funding to support, and then make the case for how the public investment of the grant will impact both themselves and the community. Comprehensive information about all aspects of the program can be found in the guidelines documents accessible from this webpage.

RACC will accept applications in two separate categories this year aligned with distinct funding sources made available for distribution by the City of Portland. Applicants will self-select from which opportunity they will seek funding based on the eligibility requirements for each option and the nature of the project for which the application is being submitted.

The General Fund Project Grants category offers a maximum of $5,000 in funding. Eligible applicants may include individual artists, artist teams, arts organizations or other nonprofit organizations with an arts project focus, and arts or other businesses with an arts project focus.

The Arts Access Fund Project Grants category offers a maximum of $10,000 in funding and is available only to schools and nonprofit organizations seeking funding for projects that specifically serve K-12 students and/or underserved communities as defined by Portland City Council.

Currently enrolled students and arts organizations receiving Operating Support from the City’s Office of Arts & Culture are not eligible for either program category. Please read the guidelines for comprehensive details. Residency Requirement: applicants must reside within the City of Portland.

While most of the City is situated within Multnomah County, certain portions of Portland do extend to other counties. To confirm your address makes you eligible before you begin composing your application, visit portlandmaps. com and determine that it falls within the City of Portland’s service area.

Post Offices boxes are not sufficient; the applicant’s physical address must be located within Portland city limits as verified by the website. Organizations or artists who legally reside or are headquartered outside the City of Portland, but who present their work in Portland, are not eligible to apply; they may, however, collaborate or be otherwise included on an application submitted by an eligible applicant.

I’m applying on behalf of an organization. Do we need to have 501(c)3 status to be eligible to apply? For the General Fund Project Grants, IRS 501(c)3 status is NOT required.

However, if you are applying as an organization or a business, you will verify in your Applicant Eligibility Profile how you are organized and must be prepared to provide a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). RACC awards grants to nonprofits, Limited Liability Companies (LLC), partnerships, and other legally organized entities, in addition to individuals.

For all applicants to the Arts Access Fund Project Grants who are not schools, IRS 501(c)3 status IS required and that status must be verified at time of application. We are a nonprofit organization that appears to be eligible for both categories, and we are unsure of which to apply for. Can you advise us?

Yes. Please contact grants@racc. org .

Can I apply if I have an open RACC grant? Applicants with open grants from any of RACC’s programs are eligible to submit a new application, but if their current grant activities have not concluded and their final reporting has not been submitted and approved by RACC before December 31, 2026, their new application will become ineligible. Can I apply for a grant AND be a Community Reviewer for the panels at the same time?

No. Community Reviewers who review and evaluate applications are not eligible to submit applications of their own. They are considered current contractors with RACC and it would be a conflict of interest. You can read RACC’s Conflict of Interest policy for Community Reviewers here .

Could I potentially be awarded less funding than I requested? Yes. RACC generally seeks to award the desired amount in full, but applicants are advised that partial funding is possible and final awards may be less than requested.

Can you describe the “public presentation” requirement? There are multiple ways a project could meet this requirement. For many artistic projects or disciplines, this is a presentation of the artwork with an audience or community, such as a performance, screening, exhibition, or other event open to the public where they can share in your creation.

Other projects may engage with community members as participants, such as students or arts learners, and the public presentation in such cases might be ongoing work or events such as classes, workshops, or community gatherings that bring participants into contact with the artist and project in a manner that may or may not include a formal final presentation.

Certain other kinds of projects may also plan for public presentation through sharing the work online or by some digital means, but in those cases the plan for distribution and engagement should be highly accessible, specific, and detailed in how it will bring together the applicant and public. How many applications can I submit?

You may submit one application as the applicant, but you may be involved or listed as a collaborator on other applicants’ proposals as long as they are applications for projects completely separate from the one for which you submitted your application. How are applications sorted for evaluation by RACC’s Community Reviewers? Can you advise me on what “Primary Artistic Discipline” and “Activity Type” mean?

Early in the application, you will select your “Primary Artistic Discipline” from the list provided (“Music,” “Theatre,” “Literature,” etc.). This choice indicates to us how you consider the nature of your project in the broadest sense. Community Reviewers consider each application uniquely but also discuss applications of similar disciplines together to ensure that funding is distributed across all areas of artmaking.

After selecting your Primary Discipline, you will indicate one or two “Activity Types” from the list provided (“Cultural Event,” “Exhibition,” “Studio Recording,” etc.). These choices help communicate the kind of engagement for which you are requesting funding.

In other words, your Primary Discipline tells us generally what kind of art you are making , while your Activity Type tells us generally what kind of programming you will undertake and shar e by bringing this project to fruition. Please select categories that best represent the project you are proposing and ensure that your application narrative reflects the categories that you have selected.

Your selections for these questions aid both RACC’s application review process and our ability to track trends in the kinds of projects and needs our community is bringing to the table. Last, we want to share that RACC recognizes: a) you are the best-equipped source to discuss the artistic essence of your project, and b) the complexity of many projects crosses genre, aesthetic, and discipline.

As such, we strive to group applications in ways that make them fairly comparable for our Community Reviewers, and we acknowledge that no grouping will ever perfectly encapsulate the uniqueness of all projects. So be intentional with your choices while knowing that we understand artmaking does not always fit neatly into checkboxes. What assistance is available to grant applicants?

RACC Team members will pre-record a Grant Info Session and post to YouTube with a link from the Grant web page. Frequently Asked Questions will be addressed on the web page as well. The RACC Grants Team can read a draft of your application and provide feedback.

We have a limited number of appointments for this service, which is offered on a first-come, first-served basis to first-time applicants and/or those who have not received funding from RACC in the past. Information about submitting for draft review is in the guidelines. Contact us at grants@racc.

org with your specific questions about the application or the process, or to request Technical Support for the RACC Opportunity Portal, Translation Services and Language Support, Accessibility and ADA accommodation requests. What if a Community Reviewer has a conflict of interest with an application? RACC recognizes both “real” and “perceived” conflicts of interest.

If a Community Reviewer is associated with an application (i.e. listed as a collaborator, on the Board of Directors, or related to the applicant) or has a connection that might result in bias (i.e. a close friend or neighbor, or a past employee) they must declare the Conflict of Interest and are not permitted to score or discuss the application with other panelists. See the full Conflict of Interest Policy here.

I’m logged in to my account in the RACC Opportunity Portal, but I cannot access this program or submit an application. What’s going on? First, technology has glitches.

If you notice anything acting differently than expected, please check to make sure you are using a compatible browser that is up to date (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge are supported). Next, make sure that your Applicant Eligibility Profile is up-to-date.

Not every grant program is open to all applicants based on criteria you have entered in your profile, and many applicants have inadvertently created more than one account; make sure you are using your correct, current account. If you are, and you have accurately filled out your Eligibility Profile and are still not seeing the opportunity come up, then it is likely that you are in fact ineligible.

Finally, some applicants from past programs with currently open grants may not see this opportunity appear in their account until they submit their final reports and have them approved. If this applies to you and you will be submitting your report by the December 31 deadline, reach out to us at grants@racc. org for assistance.

You are welcome to email grants@racc. org for any technological issues as well as questions about their applications themselves. I understand there are two other programs that comprise the City of Portland’s Small Grants Program this year.

Can I apply for a grant from MusicOregon and/or Friends of IFCC to support the same project as the RACC application? Yes, but please note that the City’s Office of Arts and Culture is partnering with three local arts service providers – Friends of IFCC, MusicOregon, and RACC – to award $1,400,000 in small grants to artists and organizations.

Grantseekers may apply to more than one of the city’s arts service providers but may not receive more than $5,000 total from all three partners of General Fund sourced grant dollars. Eligible applicants in the Arts Access Fund category may receive up to $10,000 in Arts Access Fund sourced grant dollars. For more information, visit portland.

gov/arts-grants All applicants are welcome to contact RACC Grants Team at grants@racc. org if you have questions about your application or need assistance with the application process.