The Oregon Community Foundation is continuing to inject cash into arts organizations.

Huge bags of cash are heading out around the state — including the North Coast — as groups continue to dig their way out of financial woes caused by the pandemic shutdown.

The foundation has sent $21 million in support to 315 organizations over three years. It recently announced 24 grants totaling $360,000 to groups in the greater Astoria area and along the northern Oregon Coast.

This included $100,000 to the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Tillamook County to expand its K-8 Create program which serves Title 1 schools in Clatsop, Tillamook and Lincoln counties.

The list

Key grants for general operating support were:

• Astoria Visual Arts, Inc. $15,000;

• Columbia River Maritime Museum, $10,000;

• FisherPoets Gathering, $8,000;

• Astoria Arts and Movement Center, $3,000;

• North Coast Symphonic Band, $3,000;

• Ten Fifteen Productions, $3,000;

• Cascadia Concert Opera, $2,500;

• Arts Council of Clatsop County, $2,000.

Three Clatsop projects were more specific.

• Clatsop County Cultural Coalition, $5,000, to increase funding to cultural nonprofits in Clatsop County;

• El Centro NW, $35,000 to support a full-time folkloric dance instructor serving the Hispanic community;

ª Liberty Restoration, Inc., $2,000, to rebuild core operations and remake diversity programs.

Two northern Tillamook County institutions were among those aided. The Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita received $25,000 for a new arts program for underserved youth. The Neah-Kah-Nie Coast Arts Music and Cultural Foundation at Rockaway Beach received $2,500.

The Columbia County Cultural Coalition received $20,000.

Recovery

State leaders collaborated on an injection of funding a year ago with covid recovery in mind.

“When Oregon’s arts and culture leaders asked us to go beyond keeping the lights on, we listened,” said Lisa Mensah, foundation president. “We said ‘yes’ to going big, and they responded with vision, creativity and determination. We called this investment a ‘love letter’ to express our appreciation for how they help communities thrive. We’re proud to stand with our arts and culture partners every step of the way.”

In March 2024, a partnership was announced with Oregon state lawmakers and the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation to pump a total of $52 million into Oregon’s arts and culture sector, beleaguered by a slower-than-expected recovery from the pandemic. 

The foundation originally allocated $20 million, but donors contributed another $1 million. Among those helped are some of the bigger arts institutions in the state, including the High Desert Museum, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, OregonSymphony, Portland Art Museum, Portland Center Stage and Portland Opera.