Thirty-six recently awarded Arts Build Communities grants from the Oregon Arts Commission, totaling $210,400, engage the arts as a means of addressing and alleviating community needs. Among the projects funded by 2017 Arts Build Communities grants are: new public art to revamp the streetscape of Vale while celebrating and reinforcing community collaboration; Slam Across Oregon, bringing together Oregon’s young slam poets from diverse rural, urban and suburban backgrounds for a Slamboo competition in Portland; and a public performance and exhibit designed to facilitate a community discussion about homelessness and home insecurity in the Columbia Gorge. Now in its 21st year, the Arts Build Communities program targets broad geographic impact and arts access for underserved audiences. More than half of the 2017 awards go to communities outside of the Portland Metro region. “This program provides access to arts and culture activity in underserved populations of the state,” says Arts Commissioner Michael Dalton, who led the review panel. “Local citizens employ creative thinking and collective response to identify a local need and provide an arts-based solution. These modest grants also spark and leverage many other investments and resources, serving as a catalyst for greater economic impact.” Arts Build Communities grants frequently serve as seed money to spur additional local support. In recent years Arts Build Communities projects attracted more than $570,000 in leveraged funding, much of it used to pay artists as well as to purchase products and services in the funded communities. Arts Build Communities grants are made possible through partnership funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The 2017 Coastal recipients are: Bandon School District, Bandon, $5,400, To support the creation of a community mural to promote local youth awareness of pollinator science, led by a muralist in collaboration with school students and the public. Grant funds will support artist fees and mural materials. City of Lincoln City, Lincoln City, $5,440, To support a comprehensive plan to assist in the selection of public art installations that will align with the city’s brand, celebrate its way of life and boost civic pride. Grant funds will support hiring a public art and planning consultant. Miracle Theatre Group, Astoria, $6,000, To support Milagro’s UNIDAD, a bilingual arts and science residency program, in Astoria with workshops and a public performance of the play “El Payaso,” an ecodrama that follows the journey of a young Latino with an environmental studies degree. The residency will involve local students in discussing environmental issues facing the Latino population. Grant funds will support teaching artists and related travel expenses.
