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News Release

Oregon Arts Commission Awards $150,000 In Arts Learning Grants To 15 Organizations Statewide (Photo) - 09/28/26

SALEM, Ore. – Fifteen Oregon arts organizations will receive $10,000 grants to strengthen K-12 arts education for the upcoming year through the Oregon Arts Commission’s Arts Learning grant program.

 

“Through this grant program, thousands of students will have an opportunity to engage with the arts in the classroom,” said Tiff Harker, Arts Education and Grants Coordinator. “Arts organizations partner with schools and students greatly benefit from the enhancement of cognitive skills, creative problem-solving and self-empowerment.”

 

Arts Learning grants support projects that provide K-12 students with responsive learning opportunities in and through the arts. These projects also foster the exchange of knowledge between artists and educators and positively impact the achievement, skills and attitudes of learners. Learn more about the program on our website.

 

Applications were evaluated by a community review panel. The panel’s funding recommendations were then approved by the Oregon Arts Commission.

 

Funds for this grant program are provided by the state of Oregon general fund through its support of the Oregon Arts Commission and by a federal grant to the Arts Commission by the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

FY2027 Arts Learning Grants Awardees:

 

Pendleton Arts Center, Pendleton
To support the sequential learning, over a four-month period, of book and paper arts skills, including papermaking, printmaking, paper engineering and book making for 250+ kindergarteners at the Pendleton Early Learning Center, culminating in a public reception for community members and students' families.

 

Art Center East, La Grande
To support offering eight residency weeks of the Artists in Rural Schools Improv Program to four of the eight Title 1 elementary schools in Union County, blending sequential arts and social and emotional learning for underserved rural youth.

 

Future Prairie, Portland
To support a six-month sequential vocal arts learning project for students in grades 6-12 across rural coastal Oregon. Produced by Future Prairie and co-developed with educators at Fire Mountain School (Arch Cape, Clatsop County) and Neah-Kah-Nie High School (Rockaway Beach, Tillamook County), and led by Portland Opera tenor Emmanuel Onry Henreid, monthly intensive workshops will take place at the partner schools and a culminate with a public recital.

 

Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre Northwest, Portland
To support Heidi Duckler Dance Northwest's teaching artists with creative movement classes for children Pre-K through seventh grade, fostering creativity, confidence, physical coordination and social-emotional growth and culminating in a student performance for families, school staff and the broader school community.

 

#Instaballet, Eugene
To support #instaballet's onsite, accessible youth workshops in Life Skills classrooms across Springfield and Eugene public schools in partnership with the Lane Education Service District.

 

Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, Joseph
To support arts education in rural, economically distressed Wallowa County, the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture seeks funding for three interconnected programs: the Charter Art Program, afterschool arts education and the Youth Arts Festival that together provide K-12 students with high-quality, professional arts instruction.

 

Native Performing Arts Network, Hillsboro
To support Native Performing Arts Network's expansion of its arts education programming with Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA)'s Many Nations Academy, with McDermitt Combined School, serving Oregon residents of the McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, and adding programing with other Oregon Tribal nations.

 

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis
To support a Rural Photography Outreach initiative that expands access to Sitka's proven photography curriculum, helping K-8 students in underserved rural communities explore creative expression and visual storytelling through photography.

 

The Open Arts Center, Bend
To support equitable access to arts education for students at Bear Creek Elementary, a bilingual Title I school in Bend that recently lost dedicated arts instruction, The Open Arts Center will partner with school educators to provide three sequential six-week artist residencies during the 2026-2027 school year, engaging approximately 75-90 students in hands-on visual, performing and interdisciplinary arts experiences led by professional teaching artists. It will culminate with public showcases of student learning.

 

Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, Newport
To support sequential arts learning for sixth grade students at Newport Middle School, a Title 1, rural school in economically distressed Lincoln County, while providing a paid opportunity for local teaching artists. Due to budget cuts, Newport Middle School has just lost its art program. Through this project, Oregon Coast Council for the Arts will help fill the gap, bringing mediums of art instruction to the school, including ceramics, painting, print making and fiber arts.

 

Oregon East Symphony, Pendleton
To support 45 hours of sequential, standards-based afterschool classical strings instruction (violin, viola, cello) for 4th and 5th grade students in the rural Pendleton School District, providing foundational music literacy, ensemble experience and equitable access to instrumental music education.

 

Parrott Creek Child & Family Services Inc., Oregon City
To support the expansion of our successful Tilt/Shift Photography Program at our residential facility. The program engages at-risk youth in photography as a means to connect with their creativity and self-expression, providing educational and professional opportunities and bolstering coping skills.

 

SCRAP Creative Reuse, Portland
To support the next chapter of Mend to Extend, SCRAP's established mending and textile-arts program. The effort will deepen our ongoing work with returning school partners into a sequential, iterative year in which cohorts of students learn in and through the arts, building real mending and sewing skills while developing their own creative voice and aesthetic through free, hands-on sessions.

 

Sticks and Stones Studio, Jacksonville
To support the reintegration of K-5 art programming into the Ruch Outdoor Community School’s lasting curriculum through the transformation of their existing classroom space into a self-sustaining Teaching for Artistic Behavior studio. This will equip students and educators with the creative autonomy and artistic thinking skills to thrive independently, ensuring the program continues long after direct nonprofit involvement ends.

 

Theatre 33 at Willamette University, Salem
To support free art, design and animation workshops at Title I and rural high schools in economically distressed regions of Oregon, providing sequential arts education and meaningful creative professional development opportunities to approximately 150 students grade 9-12.

 

* * * * * * * * * * *

 

About the Oregon Arts Commission

The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, arts programs and funding for nonprofits and artists through its grants, special initiatives and services. Commissioners appointed by the Governor establish policies and provide advisory support for public investment in the arts. Nested within Business Oregon, the Arts Commission works to support the economies, educational opportunities and vibrancy of communities throughout the state. The Arts Commission is supported with funds appropriated by the Oregon Legislature, as well as by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Learn more at oregonartscommission.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Attached Media Files: #instaballet of Eugene is receiving a $10,000 Oregon Arts Commission grant to fund workshops in the area's schools., Theatre 33 at Willamette University will receive a $10,000 Oregon Arts Commission grant to do workshops in high schools.,

Oregon Arts Commission Awards $150,000 In Arts Learning Grants To 15 Organizations Statewide (Photo) - 09/28/26

SALEM, Ore. – Fifteen Oregon arts organizations will receive $10,000 grants to strengthen K-12 arts education for the upcoming year through the Oregon Arts Commission’s Arts Learning grant program.

 

“Through this grant program, thousands of students will have an opportunity to engage with the arts in the classroom,” said Tiff Harker, Arts Education and Grants Coordinator. “Arts organizations partner with schools and students greatly benefit from the enhancement of cognitive skills, creative problem-solving and self-empowerment.”

 

Arts Learning grants support projects that provide K-12 students with responsive learning opportunities in and through the arts. These projects also foster the exchange of knowledge between artists and educators and positively impact the achievement, skills and attitudes of learners. Learn more about the program on our website.

 

Applications were evaluated by a community review panel. The panel’s funding recommendations were then approved by the Oregon Arts Commission.

 

Funds for this grant program are provided by the state of Oregon general fund through its support of the Oregon Arts Commission and by a federal grant to the Arts Commission by the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

FY2027 Arts Learning Grants Awardees:

 

Pendleton Arts Center, Pendleton
To support the sequential learning, over a four-month period, of book and paper arts skills, including papermaking, printmaking, paper engineering and book making for 250+ kindergarteners at the Pendleton Early Learning Center, culminating in a public reception for community members and students' families.

 

Art Center East, La Grande
To support offering eight residency weeks of the Artists in Rural Schools Improv Program to four of the eight Title 1 elementary schools in Union County, blending sequential arts and social and emotional learning for underserved rural youth.

 

Future Prairie, Portland
To support a six-month sequential vocal arts learning project for students in grades 6-12 across rural coastal Oregon. Produced by Future Prairie and co-developed with educators at Fire Mountain School (Arch Cape, Clatsop County) and Neah-Kah-Nie High School (Rockaway Beach, Tillamook County), and led by Portland Opera tenor Emmanuel Onry Henreid, monthly intensive workshops will take place at the partner schools and a culminate with a public recital.

 

Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre Northwest, Portland
To support Heidi Duckler Dance Northwest's teaching artists with creative movement classes for children Pre-K through seventh grade, fostering creativity, confidence, physical coordination and social-emotional growth and culminating in a student performance for families, school staff and the broader school community.

 

#Instaballet, Eugene
To support #instaballet's onsite, accessible youth workshops in Life Skills classrooms across Springfield and Eugene public schools in partnership with the Lane Education Service District.

 

Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, Joseph
To support arts education in rural, economically distressed Wallowa County, the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture seeks funding for three interconnected programs: the Charter Art Program, afterschool arts education and the Youth Arts Festival that together provide K-12 students with high-quality, professional arts instruction.

 

Native Performing Arts Network, Hillsboro
To support Native Performing Arts Network's expansion of its arts education programming with Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA)'s Many Nations Academy, with McDermitt Combined School, serving Oregon residents of the McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, and adding programing with other Oregon Tribal nations.

 

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis
To support a Rural Photography Outreach initiative that expands access to Sitka's proven photography curriculum, helping K-8 students in underserved rural communities explore creative expression and visual storytelling through photography.

 

The Open Arts Center, Bend
To support equitable access to arts education for students at Bear Creek Elementary, a bilingual Title I school in Bend that recently lost dedicated arts instruction, The Open Arts Center will partner with school educators to provide three sequential six-week artist residencies during the 2026-2027 school year, engaging approximately 75-90 students in hands-on visual, performing and interdisciplinary arts experiences led by professional teaching artists. It will culminate with public showcases of student learning.

 

Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, Newport
To support sequential arts learning for sixth grade students at Newport Middle School, a Title 1, rural school in economically distressed Lincoln County, while providing a paid opportunity for local teaching artists. Due to budget cuts, Newport Middle School has just lost its art program. Through this project, Oregon Coast Council for the Arts will help fill the gap, bringing mediums of art instruction to the school, including ceramics, painting, print making and fiber arts.

 

Oregon East Symphony, Pendleton
To support 45 hours of sequential, standards-based afterschool classical strings instruction (violin, viola, cello) for 4th and 5th grade students in the rural Pendleton School District, providing foundational music literacy, ensemble experience and equitable access to instrumental music education.

 

Parrott Creek Child & Family Services Inc., Oregon City
To support the expansion of our successful Tilt/Shift Photography Program at our residential facility. The program engages at-risk youth in photography as a means to connect with their creativity and self-expression, providing educational and professional opportunities and bolstering coping skills.

 

SCRAP Creative Reuse, Portland
To support the next chapter of Mend to Extend, SCRAP's established mending and textile-arts program. The effort will deepen our ongoing work with returning school partners into a sequential, iterative year in which cohorts of students learn in and through the arts, building real mending and sewing skills while developing their own creative voice and aesthetic through free, hands-on sessions.

 

Sticks and Stones Studio, Jacksonville
To support the reintegration of K-5 art programming into the Ruch Outdoor Community School’s lasting curriculum through the transformation of their existing classroom space into a self-sustaining Teaching for Artistic Behavior studio. This will equip students and educators with the creative autonomy and artistic thinking skills to thrive independently, ensuring the program continues long after direct nonprofit involvement ends.

 

Theatre 33 at Willamette University, Salem
To support free art, design and animation workshops at Title I and rural high schools in economically distressed regions of Oregon, providing sequential arts education and meaningful creative professional development opportunities to approximately 150 students grade 9-12.

 

* * * * * * * * * * *

 

About the Oregon Arts Commission

The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, arts programs and funding for nonprofits and artists through its grants, special initiatives and services. Commissioners appointed by the Governor establish policies and provide advisory support for public investment in the arts. Nested within Business Oregon, the Arts Commission works to support the economies, educational opportunities and vibrancy of communities throughout the state. The Arts Commission is supported with funds appropriated by the Oregon Legislature, as well as by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Learn more at oregonartscommission.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Attached Media Files: #instaballet of Eugene is receiving a $10,000 Oregon Arts Commission grant to fund workshops in the area's schools., Theatre 33 at Willamette University will receive a $10,000 Oregon Arts Commission grant to do workshops in high schools.,