Funding helps organizations deliver creative education and enrichment in the local community
PORTLAND, Ore. (March 15, 2023) — Arts and cultural organizations play an essential role in maintaining healthy and resilient communities. To support their vital work, the Pacific Power Foundation is donating more than $164,000 in new grant funding across the three states it serves.
The grants will help fund projects ranging from Shakespeare performances with American Sign Language interpretation to free music events, and from programming that engages diverse youth in public art projects to museums that share regional cultural history.
“These groups foster creative expression, inspire young minds, nurture well-being, and help us look at the world in new ways,” said Bob Gravely, Pacific Power regional business manager. “We’re honored to support the incredible work they are doing.”
This recent round of grants focused on art and culture is one of the foundation’s four annual grant cycles.
The following 21 grants totaling $35,000 were given to local organizations supporting communities in the Portland area:
A-WOL Dance Collective for Aeros, an aerial dance training company for students ages 10-18.
Bridging Voices for winter and summer concert performances by this LGBTQ and allied youth chorus.
Caldera for the Youth Arts Mentoring program, which provides 200 Portland and Central Oregon youth (grades 6-12) with year-round, arts-based mentoring that makes connections with nature and is grounded in positive youth development.
Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association (CGOW) for Opera Through the Ages, which showcases opera excerpts from the 18th through 21st centuries, emphasizing works from women and diverse composers.
Global Works Community Fund for the Unity Through Arts youth arts and mentorship program, which engages youth from diverse and low-income communities in public art projects.
Make Music Day PDX to organize free musical performances in eight Portland parks as part of the global Make Music Day event.
Open Hearts Open Minds for its Arts in Prison program at the Columbia River Correctional Institution that supports adults in custody by promoting healing and transformation through the process of making and sharing art.
Oregon Historical Society to help create a new permanent exhibit about Portland’s history, slated to open in 2024.
Oregon Repertory Singers for expansion of the Youth Choirs program and to increase and diversify enrollment while championing choral compositions from historically underrepresented communities.
Play It Forward for the Keys to Learning program that connects students from diverse and low-income communities to music education through free electric keyboards.
Playwrite for 10-day youth playwriting workshops that pair student writers with trained coaches to create original plays.
Portland Center Stage for the Stage Door youth education program that serves over 6,000 youth from 60 secondary schools with free or reduced-cost tickets to shows, free in-school and onsite workshops, backstage tours, resource guides and transportation subsidies.
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art for the SPACE (Supporting Partners, Artists and Community Events) program that makes their facility available for smaller partner community organizations to use for meetings, residencies, performances and large-scale projects.
Portland Opera for Portland Opera to Go, a statewide arts education tour that brings live opera performances for youth into K-12 schools and community centers throughout Oregon.
Portland Symphonic Choir for community choral education programming that supports Portland-area high school music students.
Portland Youth Philharmonic for its 90th annual children’s concert series, which offers four in-person performances for 8,000 children in Portland and online streaming for schools across Oregon.
Shaun Keylock Company (SKC) to provide archive services and legacy management for LGBTQ dance elders, creating a record of Oregon’s dance history that can be shared through live performances, workshops, artist talks and screenings.
Theatre Diaspora for staged readings of Asian American and Pacific Islander plays revolving around family themes.
Third Angle New Music Ensemble to increase accessibility for audience members experiencing a wide range of disabilities so they can experience the ensemble’s four spring concerts.
Women in Film Portland (WIF-PDX) for Vision Grants to support local women filmmakers working on documentaries or fiction films.
Young Musicians & Artists to support scholarships for six Ockley Green Middle School music students, from homes experiencing low incomes or from historically oppressed groups, to attend a two-week, overnight summer music camp.
About the Pacific Power Foundation:
The Pacific Power Foundation is part of the PacifiCorp Foundation, one of the largest utility-endowed foundations in the United States. The foundation was created by PacifiCorp, an electric utility serving 2 million customers in six Western states as Rocky Mountain Power (Utah, Wyoming and Idaho) and Pacific Power (Oregon, Washington and California). The foundation’s mission, through charitable investments, is to support the growth and vitality of the communities served by Rocky Mountain Power and Pacific Power. Since its establishment in 1988, the PacifiCorp Foundation has awarded more than $60 million to nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit www.pacificpower.net/foundation.