2023 Clackamas Cultural Coalition Grant Awards

The mission of the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition is to grow the cultural assets in the County. The Coalition’s immediate responsibility is to distribute funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust to local arts, history, heritage, humanities organizations and cultural creatives.

The Cultural Coalition is one of 45 county and tribal-based local networks in Oregon whose primary function is to re-grant an annual appropriation from The Oregon Cultural Trust. The trust was established in 2002 to support arts, heritage, and humanities across Oregon, and is currently the only funding mechanism of this kind in the United States.

The Clackamas County Cultural Coalition receives between $20,000 and $50,000 a year from the Trust and intends to see this amount grow as contributions to the Trust increase. 

A Cultural Plan for each coalition is required by the Oregon Cultural Trust. This Cultural Plan informs the grant making process and decisions, and is updated every 4 to 5 years for relevancy. 

The Plan guides the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition and specifically identifies priorities for the distribution of funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust to lay a foundation for supporting culture in Clackamas County. 

The Cultural Coalition, with support from the Arts Alliance, is focused on building the capacity of local cultural organizations and supporting individuals to enrich the cultural life of the County. Grants are awarded to projects and opportunities which respond to the Cultural Plan Goals and Funding Priorities.

Funding priorities specifically implement the Coalition’s vision, which is built around key values of:

– Increasing public recognition and valuing of local culture

– Acknowledging the vibrancy that social, cultural and ethnic diversity bring

– Increasing public participation in local culture

– Supporting the inclusion of arts and culture in every community

 To read the list of 2023 grant award recipients, click the button below!