Portland's Office of Arts & Culture is sending $5.87 million to 178 arts organizations and 227 individual artists for fiscal year 2025-26, the city announced June 26.
The bulk of the money — $4.37 million — goes to 79 organizations through General Operating Support grants, which provide unrestricted funding for rent, salaries, and programming. That tops the $4.1 million distributed through the same program in 2024-25. Top recipients include Portland Art Museum and Oregon Symphony Association at $175,000 each, Portland Center Stage and Oregon Ballet Theatre at $100,000 each, and Hollywood Theatre, Literary Arts, and Portland Opera at $85,000 each. Smaller groups like Takohachi, En Taiko, and Vanport Mosaic received $15,000 each.
"Access to this kind of unrestricted money is especially important during times of scarcity and uncertainty," Arts & Culture Director Chariti Montez said when the General Operating Support awards were first announced in October 2025.
Another $1.4 million reached 95 organizations and 227 individual artists through the Small Grants Program, administered by three nonprofit partners: the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), Friends of IFCC, and MusicOregon. RACC alone awarded $1.22 million to 274 grantees in January 2026, with 107 receiving RACC funding for the first time.
Four organizations split $103,696 through the Portland Monuments Project, funded by a Mellon Foundation grant. Oregon Black Pioneers received $15,000 for York Fest, Literary Arts got $30,000 for a youth zine and archival podcast, Portland Parks Foundation received $15,000 for Green Dreams, and Native Arts & Cultures Foundation received $43,696 for public art workshops and a community-led mural.
The 79 General Operating Support organizations saw attendance grow 22% last year compared to the prior year, according to the city. Those groups served 143,525 Portland K-12 students, provided free access to 744,795 participants, and sold 21,064 tickets at $5 through the Arts for All program. Combined, they spent $154.75 million and employed 6,581 people.
The funding path wasn't smooth. The office initially announced just $2.8 million in General Operating Support in October — a $1.2 million cut from the prior year, according to Willamette Week. A special $1.6 million allocation from the Arts Access Fund in April 2026 brought the total back above prior-year levels. The Arts Access Fund draws from Portland's $35-per-resident annual Arts Tax.
In June 2025, the office awarded $170,000 in one-time "hardship grants" to 25 nonprofits affected by proposed cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts.
The 2026-27 Small Grants Program opens for submissions this summer. Portlanders can sign up for updates at portland.gov/arts.
Upcoming arts events around Portland:
- Waterfront Blues Festival — Thursday, July 2 through Saturday, July 4, Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Free for children 12 and under; complimentary admission for SNAP/EBT participants.
- Darcelle XV Plaza summer programming — Shakespeare Unbuttoned, outdoor movies, and happy hour drag shows at 800 S.W. Harvey Milk St.
