Grantmakers in the Arts

Oregonians donated a record $4.56 million to the Oregon Cultural Trust in 2015. This is a 5.4 percent increase from the $4.331 million raised in 2014 and the largest annual increase in giving since the Great Recession. “This is a powerful vote of support for culture,” Brian Rogers, the trust’s executive director, said. “Every donation we receive is an Oregonian saying ‘Culture is important.’” The trust will distribute up to 60 percent of the donations by way of grants to more than 1,400 of Oregon’s cultural nonprofits. The remaining 40 percent will be placed in a fund currently valued at just more than $26 million. Before the passage of Senate Bill 441 in 2015, the trust could only distribute up to 42 percent of the funds raised.

Today’s creative economy gets a big boost from the arts, according to new data from the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The latest figures cover 1998 to 2013 and they spotlight fast-growing arts industries, export trends, employment figures, consumer data, and more. In 2013, arts and cultural production contributed $704.2 billion to the U.S. economy, a 32.5 percent increase since 1998. Another key finding is that consumer spending on the performing arts grew 10 percent annually over the 15-year period. The Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA) is the first federal effort to provide in-depth analysis of the arts and cultural sector's contributions to the economy.

Three years ago, during the Boston mayoral race, artists, arts organizations, and engaged allies mobilized, lifted their voices, and called for greater support for the creative sector. This set the stage for Mayor Walsh to appoint Boston’s first cabinet-level arts chief in decades and to invite thousands of Bostonians to chart an inspirational course for their city through Boston Creates. Additionally, over these years, through the Barr-Klarman Arts Capacity Building Initiative, a cohort of arts and culture organizations have grown stronger and better capitalized to take artistic and organizational risks.