On Tuesday, July 14, state lawmakers voted to distribute $50 million in federal relief funds to the Oregon arts and culture community. The sum will assist countless arts and culture organizations across the state, including big names like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Oregon Symphony, as well as independent venues, including the Majestic Theatre in Corvallis.
In total, $24 million is being directed to individual organizations and the other $26 million will be going to county coalitions, who will distribute the funds to their local respective arts and culture organizations.
The organizations being given the largest amounts are the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Metro, which received $4.7 million and $4.1 million, respectively. Other large organizations included in the fund relief are the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Portland Center Stage, High Desert Museum, Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Pendleton Roundup, and Oregon Coast Community College. The remaining $9.6 million of the $24 million reserved for specific organizations will be going to 78 independent venues, with Corvallis’ very own Majestic Theatre receiving $94,500.
This funding relief is a result of the CARES Act, which is a federal coronavirus relief fund that gave Oregon an estimated $2.45 billion.
The decision to provide the funds received wide support, but it has raised a few concerns, most notably the because the list of recipients focused heavily on the Portland metropolitan area.
Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod was the only “no” vote, saying during debate, “I don’t think this is done equitably by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just a real snub in the nose to everyone else in the state.”
However, some of the funds are being allocated to northeastern Oregon organizations, including the Pendleton Round-Up, High Desert Museum, and the Elgin Opera House, and $26 million is being spread across different county coalitions across the state. Additionally, the funds will not be split on a per-capita basis, meaning that rural communities will be given just as much as urban areas.
Senator Betsy Johnson also had questions about how the funds are being allocated, critiquing the funds approved going directly to arts venues, asking for stronger certification of the numbers venues report as their monthly operating costs during the pandemic.
Sen. Johnson also expressed concerns about the Portland Art Museum being left off of the list, which is a large part of Portland and the state’s arts and culture community.
The Portland Art Museum is expecting deficits of more than $2 million over the next seven months and had to lay off 123 employees over the spring. The Portland Art Museum is only one example of an arts and culture organization feeling the effects of the pandemic, and not being included in the funding is a huge disappointment.
In the end and despite critiques, the majority vote was a “yes” to the funding, considering the amount of money that arts and culture organizations have lost during the pandemic due to cancelling performances and other events and being closed to the public.
By Cara Nixon
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