Equitable Access and Meaningful Support for The Arts
The arts isn’t optional in a free democracy (here’s something you can do)
Since moving to Portland, I have seen art organizations close, arts funding diminish, and a focus on equitable access to creative opportunities, recede in favor of individual fundraising efforts. Beyond Portland, I have seen beloved literary journals and art organizations and small creative businesses, lose funding across the country.
What can a single person do to combat this, especially in an economy where income inequality is at a historic high, where many of the most creative and arts-enthusiastic among us live precariously, with little extra to give? Some of us are able to go see more films at independent theaters, shop at local bookstores, subscribe to journals, and pay for tickets to art exhibits. But so many who previously could, now can’t.
Small businesses and arts organizations are seeing both funding cuts and less money coming in the door for goods and services and experiences. People living in precarity, people losing creative gig work to AI, for example, have less room in their budgets and thus must trade enrichment for security.
Kevin and I are doing what we can with Pool Party and by attending as many arts-related and creative events as possible, but we too feel the pinch, and find ourselves adjusting our activities accordingly–matinees instead of evening showings, dinners in instead of eating out, cost-checking books across local bookstores in search of used or discounted copies when we can find them. Sometimes resorting to Ama*on when the cost is otherwise too great.
So when I was randomly added to a mailing list run by PACE (Portland Arts & Culture for Equity) —not long before I was invited to become a board member at Refuge America in NYC—I felt that exciting and particular spark which can only come from the feeling of having something to do.
I felt this way in my early 20’s when I worked as a field organizer for HRC (Human Rights Campaign), when I managed the political County Commission campaign for a woman supporting same-sex marriage, running in a Republican district, and then again when I launched an investigation against a racist employer, one which ultimately led to the person’s termination.
That feeling returned in my early 30’s when I opened a gallery in Tennessee and joined Knoxville’s Maker City Council–an arm of the city’s economic development initiative–and served for close to three years developing and supporting initiatives designed to bolster the creative economy and make Knoxville an economically friendly place to the people who made it interesting.
Now, I feel it every time I think of the small ways I am helping moving Refuge America’s initiatives forward—the primary goal being to support LGBTQIA+ refugees seeking asylum in America—and now, as I sit here writing an email to my mayor and councilpeople advocating for arts-related funding in Portland, OR.
PACE’s communications have given me a detailed view of what’s happening with city budgets and actions and, thankfully (because who has time for all this research), have provided me with stats and language to use when reaching out to my representatives.
Today, they sent an email to the listserve asking for members to join them tomorrow at 9:30am to support the organization as Blake Shell testifies that “the federal arts reductions are a part of the attacks on democracy, not separate from that.” She will have three minutes to testify and the more people who can show up physically or write to/call our representatives this week, the louder the chorus of their constituents’ voices will be.
In order to support this effort, I wrote an email which combined my own personal stake as well as the language provided by PACE and I’m including it below in case it’s helpful for anybody else wishing to act. Additionally, I have provided all the district representatives’ email addresses below so nobody has to spend time searching.
My Email
(read below or jump to representatives’ contact information)
Dear Mayor, District 3 council people, and Arts and Economy Committee Members,
I am writing to you today as a member of PACE, but more importantly, as a recent transplant to Portland from Raleigh, North Carolina. When I decided to move here in 2023, PNCA still had a community arts program; RACC’s funding hadn’t yet been gutted; and there were significantly more small, thriving galleries and arts organizations throughout the community than there are now.
It pains me as an artist and an arts lover to see my reasons for moving my home and life across the country for a more robust liberal and arts community, disappear. Even a year ago, things weren’t quite so dire, and it was at this time that my husband and I decided to start a literary arts journal and reading series. It has gone so well that we have expanded into a publishing house with plans to incorporate and publish our first manuscript in 2026.
When we began this project–designed to uplift artists and writers–we were counting on being able to apply for grants in the near future. Now, we are concerned that with diminishing financial options, our vision for providing the community with more of the kind of creative enrichment that helps local businesses and all of its citizens thrive, may be limited. We won’t stop our work, of course, but right now it’s just the two of us volunteering our time, and we had visions of contracting other local talent like graphic designers and editors to assist with our work. It’s small gig opportunities like this, coming from many sources, which make up a meaningful, stable, life for so many creative gig workers here in Portland.
In lieu of meaningful support from the city of Portland, many organizations will lay people off, replacing creative staff with artificial intelligence tools. Others will close. But AI isn’t a solution. Designed originally for increased efficiency to support humans, not to replace them, AI tools are no replacement for human ingenuity. For meaningful programming to exist in Portland, meaningful and strategic communications must be produced–press releases, advertisements, articles, digital marketing materials, exhibition statements–but these materials historically created and produced by people, designed with nuance and subjectivity and curiosity, will likely be replaced by ‘content’ drooled out by inexpensive AI programs in service of keeping doors open on shoestring budgets. This is just one of many concerns and costs (human and environmental) at hand.
I wonder how children living in a place with increasingly empty storefronts and decreasingly available access to the arts, respond. I imagine a child’s vision for themselves narrows without prolific examples of what ‘thriving’ creatively might look like. I believe access to the arts provides kids with the language they need to understand themselves, to build the confidence necessary to be curious, kind, productive members of their community.
Because creativity doesn’t thrive in precarity. It suffocates. And so do the people working in the arts here, many of whom are already seeing a decline in work alongside a rise in living costs. The balance sheet just doesn’t balance, and I believe the below stats makes this painfully clear.
*Portland’s arts funding challenges are rooted in scarcity. According to SMU DataArts, we rank 17th in the nation for artistic vibrancy but 172nd for government support. Our arts thrive despite—not because of—government funding.
In New York, SMU reports that 48% of artists make a living on gigs or freelance work, and only 8% are full-time workers. In our smaller arts economy, that gap is likely even wider. The“Big Five” are important employers, but they are not the primary source of income for artists here. Most artists earn through gigs, teaching, and creative side work that keeps this ecosystem alive.
Last year, the Office of Arts and Culture removed equity metrics from the Art Tax grants and distributed funds solely based on budget size. As a result, 45 of 80 groups lost funding, while only the “Big Five” saw increases.
Smaller orgs regularly employ Portland artists and offer affordable—often free—arts access across our neighborhoods. Prioritizing large institutions with endowments, greater funding, and fewer local artists is funneling money to money and power to power.
The Art Tax supports K through 12 arts education and making arts and culture available to underserved communities. In 2024, that mandate was changed without warning or oversight. We met with the Office and multiple committees, yet no corrective action was taken. We are now entering a second year of harm to our communities.
Portland voters expected the Art Tax to expand access, not diminish it. We ask the City to restore funding for the 45— and to realign arts funding with its original intent: prioritize groups that provide low- or no-cost access, employ local artists, and do deep community work with underserved Portlanders, all without other significant funding.
Our vision is clear: support smaller orgs offering greater access citywide and the artists who make Portland what it is. We need explicit equity and access measures protected from politics, and as costs rise while the Art Tax stays flat, we need change to provide more funding overall.
There are over 500 arts nonprofits here and most don’t receive city funding.
The arts give us agency, community, and the power to imagine change—that’s why they’re under federal attack, and why we must protect them locally.
We’re asking for a bold vision in support of the arts. Help us keep Portland as vibrant as the artists who live here.
Warmly,
Ryan-Ashley Anderson
*Everything written after asterisk was provided by PACE
Contact information for Portland representatives
Mayor Keith Wilson: [email protected]
Arts and Economy Committee:
Committee Chairs
- Mitch Green: [email protected]
- Dan Ryan: [email protected]
Committee Members
- Jamie Dunphy: [email protected]
- Loretta Smith: [email protected]
- Olivia Clark: [email protected]
District 1 Leaders
District includes these neighborhoods: Argay Terrace, Centennial, Glenfair, Hazelwood, Lents, Mill Park, Parkrose, Parkrose Heights, Pleasant Valley, Powellhurst-Gilbert, Russell, Sumner, Sunderland, Wilkes, Woodland Park
- Candace Avalos: [email protected]
- Jamie Dunphy: [email protected]
- Loretta Smith: [email protected]
District 2 Leaders
District includes these neighborhoods: Alameda, Arbor Lodge, Beaumont-Wilshire, Boise, Bridgeton, Cathedral Park, Concordia, Cully, East Columbia, Eliot, Grant Park, Hayden Island, Hollywood, Humboldt, Irvington, Kenton, King, Lloyd, Overlook, Piedmont, Portsmouth, Roseway, Sabin, St. Johns, Sullivan’s Gulch, Sunderland, University Park, Vernon, Woodlawn
- Sameer Kanal: [email protected]
- Dan Ryan: [email protected]
- Elana Pirtle-Guiney: [email protected]
District 3 Leaders
District includes these neighborhoods: Ardenwald-Johnson Creek, Beaumont-Wilshire, Brentwood-Darlington, Brooklyn, Buckman, Creston-Kenilworth, Foster-Powell, Hosford-Abernethy, Kerns, Laurelhurst, Madison South, Montavilla, Mt. Scott-Arleta, Mt. Tabor, North Tabor, Richmond, Rose City Park, Roseway, South Tabor, Sunnyside, Woodstock
- Tiffany Koyama Lane: [email protected]
- Angelito Morillo: [email protected]
- Steve Novick: [email protected]
District 4 Leaders
District includes these neighborhoods: Ardenwald-Johnson Creek, Arlington Heights, Arnold Creek, Ashcreek-Crestwood, Bridlemile, Brooklyn, Collins View, Eastmoreland, Far Southwest, Forest Park, Goose Hollow, Hayhurst, Healy Heights, Hillsdale, Hillside, Homestead, Linnton, Maplewood, Markham, Marshall Park, Multnomah, Northwest District, Northwest Heights, Old Town, Pearl District, Portland Downtown, Reed, Sellwood-Moreland, South Burlingame, South Portland, Southwest Hills, Sylvan-Highlands, West Portland Park, Woodstock
- Olivia Clark: [email protected]
- Mitch Green: [email protected]
- Eric Zimmerman: [email protected]
In a moment where devastating headlines populate our newsfeeds twenty four hours a day, it can feel like there’s nothing anybody can do. But everything big was once small, and it matters what we do in our neighborhoods. It matters what we ask of our local governments. And I encourage anybody who can, to either write an email using the script above or choose another organization in your community to support in a similar way. A few ideas—prisoner letter-writing initiatives, refugee support organizations, LGBTQIA+ support organizations, and mutual aid groups among others can all benefit from people writing emails like the one above. Animal rescues and soup kitchens and youth support initiatives and art organizations all need volunteers, too.
There’s something for everybody who wants something to do in a moment that feels like nothing will help.
Learn more about PACE. Learn more about Refuge America.
- Equitable Access and Meaningful Support for The Arts - October 28, 2025
- TBA:25 Dailies / Freddie Robins - October 11, 2025
- TBA:25 Dailies / Day #4 - September 16, 2025
* This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are producs of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
