The post Recap of 2024 Legislative Session appeared first on Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon.

The bill allocates a total of $11.8 million for arts and culture, with $5.9 million going to 13 out of 14 CREF projects. These projects are crucial for the resilience and sustainability of Oregon’s arts and culture organizations:

• Oregon Film Museum (Astoria)
• Black United Fund (Portland)
• Oregon Caves (Cave Junction)
• Columbia County Museum (St. Helens)
• Josephine Community Library Foundation (Grants Pass)
• Southern Oregon Historical Society (Medford)
• PAMCUT (Portland)
• Very Little Theatre (Eugene)
• Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
• Rainier Historical Society
• Eco-Earth Globe (Salem)
• Portland Playhouse
• Painted Sky Center for Arts (John Day)

As this Oregonian article explains, the only CREF project not approved for funding is the High Desert Museum in Bend. Dana Whitelaw, executive director and a CACO board member, expressed disappointment. “It’s a total surprise. We were assured that legislative leadership was supportive of all of the projects. It’s a huge loss for central Oregon.”

The Legislature also approved our request for $5.9 million in resiliency funding for the state’s major arts organizations, including the High Desert Museum, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Symphony, Portland Art Museum, Portland Center Stage, and Portland Opera.

While this funding is a step in the right direction, unfortunately our request for $13.5 million to fund a grant program for smaller organizations did not get approved. Advocates had emphasized the need for equitable distribution of resiliency funding to prevent a repeat of the previous session’s shortcomings

“We are grateful to Rep. Rob Nosse for his foresight and continued commitment to the cultural sector. He has tirelessly championed arts and culture funding, and this bill could never have happened without his advocacy.”
–J.S. May, CACO Board President

Ongoing work is needed to ensure that all arts and culture organizations receive the support they need to thrive.

Some of our arts & culture champions are moving on, so we’ll need to identify new champions in the Ways and Means Committee and Senate and House leadership.

Today, we celebrate. Senate Bill 5701 represents a significant win for Oregon’s arts and culture sector, providing much-needed support.

Tomorrow, we continue the work to ensure that all organizations, especially smaller nonprofits, receive the support they need to recover and thrive.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

CACO Board

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