Oregon passes some funding for arts, but 1 major org largely left out

News was both good and bad Thursday for supporters of the arts in Oregon, when, in the closing hours of the short legislative session, lawmakers approved less than half of the funding arts champions had hoped for.

Still, that was better than they fared last year, when the Legislature didn’t pass any money to resuscitate arts groups.

All of the state’s “anchor arts organizations,” which include the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the High Desert Museum, the Portland Art Museum, Portland Opera, Portland Center Stage, Oregon Ballet Theatre and the Oregon Symphony, received “resiliency” funding to support operations, from $342,000 for the Oregon Ballet Theater to $2.56 million for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The total is just shy of $6 million.

“The resiliency funding arrives at a critical time for the arts, providing substantial support to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as it rebuilds audiences,” said Tyler Hokama, interim executive director for the festival. “This funding serves as a significant boost for the current season and aids in planning for the next. OSF works on multiple seasons simultaneously and appreciates the timely support from the state as we begin planning for our 90th anniversary season in 2025.”

Read more: Oregon arts organizations struggle as audiences are slow to return and money dries up

In addition to the state-provided operating funds, capital projects vetted by the Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon will receive $5.9 million, including $1,000,000 for the Clatsop County Historical Society to expand the Oregon Film Museum and $900,000 for the Black United Fund of Oregon to build what it envisions as a United Futures Complex.

But $2 million for the High Desert Museum’s capital improvement campaign, the largest project on the list, did not make it into the final bill. Neither did an additional $13.5 million to develop and implement a grant program for Oregon cultural organizations still struggling in the wake of COVID-19. That money would have gone to smaller organizations throughout the state.

“It’s a total surprise,” Dana Whitelaw, executive director of the High Desert Museum, said Thursday afternoon. “We were assured that legislative leadership was supportive of all of the projects.”

The $2 million the state failed to allocate for the High Desert Museum is “a huge loss for central Oregon,” Whitelaw said.

The museum is the largest arts organization in that part of the state, attracting 216,000 visitors in 2023. The population of Bend is around 100,000.

Whitelaw noted the museum is grateful for the $380,000 they received as part of the anchor arts package, but said the loss of the hoped-for funding will impact the timeline for the $40 million expansion project the museum is working on. So far, the High Desert Museum has raised $22 million.

“The High Desert Museum is a gem of central Oregon,” said Rep. Emerson Levy, a Democrat who represents parts of the region.

“I’m pleased to see the museum receive funding for operations, but disappointed the expansion project wasn’t chosen for funding,” she said. “The arts don’t stop at I-5 and we need more funding for the institutions that make central Oregon proud.”

– Lizzy Acker covers life and culture and writes the advice column Why Tho? Reach her at 503-221-8052, lacker@oregonian.com or @lizzzyacker

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