We are excited to announce that our primary fundraiser, the Portland Creative Conference, raised $10,000 for our arts education grant pool in 2015!

The Keeping the Arts Board of Directors met in early December to review and vote on various grant proposals.  Below is the list of grants approved for funding:

• $1,500 to Caldera Arts Center in Sisters, OR to support their arts programs for underserved youth.
• $1,000 to Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops in Florence, OR to support their production of Shrek, the Musical, JR., which will have a kids cast and crew of 50 and will be seen by 1,500+ kids in the community of Florence.
• $1,500 to Valley Catholic High School Theater Department in Beaverton, OR to purchase new microphones for their theater productions, to enable all performers to be heard clearly by the audience.

Grants from Keeping the Arts help Caldera artists and designers mentor youth from underserved communities. This is crucial. If young people have the opportunity to exercise their creative muscles within a supportive community, they go on to apply their creative learning in all areas of their lives. We love that the Portland Creative Conference sees the value of supporting the next generation of creative thinkers. I have no doubt that some of them will some day be on the stage at the Conference.

Tricia Snell, Executive Director, Caldera

Congratulations to all of our grant recipients.  We appreciate the impact your arts programs have on the youth in your community!

The KTA Board will continue to evaluate grant opportunities that will draw on the funds raised from the Portland Creative Conference.

Since our founding, Keeping the Arts has granted over $83,000 to support K-12 arts education programs.  For a complete list of grant recipients, see our grants listing.