Oregon artists and cultural groups share $1 million-plus in new Creative Heights grants * Oregon ArtsWatch

"Fourteen Oregon artists and cultural groups will split more than $1 million in the latest round of Creative Heights grants announced Monday morning, Aug. 25, by the Oregon Community Foundation. The grants, among the most eagerly sought in Oregon's nonprofit arts and cultural world, range between $24,000 and $100,000 each, and total $1,034,000. Most of the grants went to Portland artists or organizations, but others went to Otis, Wallowa, Dayton, Salem, and Beaverton."

"This year's grants - honed down from more than 200 original letters of interest - are headed not to the state's large arts organizations but to smaller groups and individual artists for specific community-based projects, ranging from an imagining of the future of Portland's Old Town Chinatown to the creation and curation of a biennial of contemporary Indigenous art."

"The balance between large and small companies ebbs and flows, Jerry Tischleder, the Oregon Community Foundation's senior program officer for arts and culture, said: Bigger organizations such as the High Desert Museum in Bend and Portland Center Stage, among others, have won Creative Heights grants in the past. "It's really more about innovation and how a project's going to move the creative needle in Oregon," Tischleder said. "What's really interesting is artists who are approaching dream projects they've had in their back pockets.""

Fourteen Oregon artists and cultural groups will share $1,034,000 through Creative Heights grants, with awards ranging from $24,000 to $100,000. Most recipients are based in Portland, with additional grantees in Otis, Wallowa, Dayton, Salem, and Beaverton. Selections were made from more than 200 letters of interest and prioritize smaller organizations and individual artists for specific community-based projects. Funded projects include an imagining of Portland's Old Town Chinatown and the creation and curation of a biennial of contemporary Indigenous art. The Creative Heights program began in 2014, has distributed roughly $1 million annually, and has supported 151 projects across multiple disciplines.

Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News