Washington County 2017 Community Cultural Participation Grants--Cycle Opens September 1st-–New Application Portal Debuts

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Washington County, Oregon - The Cultural Coalition of Washington County (CCWC) opens its grant cycle on Thursday, September 1st. Washington County based not-for-profit arts, heritage and humanities organizations are encouraged to apply for grants to be used during calendar year 2017. Organizations may apply for grants of up to $1,000 or $2,000. To apply for a $2,000 grant, an organization must be a 501c3 non-profit.

Applicants to this grant program can apply for events or projects that address one or more of these five goals:

1. Public Awareness, Audience Building and Participation
2. Support Existing Cultural Organizations
3. Increase Public Art Opportunities
4. Support Cultural and Heritage Learning
5. Increase Youth Access to the Arts

A strong grant application will address our priorities of promoting cultural diversity, developing community and/or cross-cultural partnerships, providing matching-fund or cost-sharing. Proposals should be geared toward a specific event, activity or communication of the organization. The Washington County Cultural Plan, detailed 2017 Grant Guidelines, and application instructions for the Community Cultural Participation grant program are available online on the CCWC website: www.culturalcoalitionofwashingtoncounty.org.

Beginning September 1st, application may be submitted online through the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s new grant application portal, www.racc.submittable.com. The application website has changed this year, and should be easier and more intuitive for applicants to use. CCWC, with RACC’s support, is moving to a more common, cloud-based software platform called Submittable, which is used by other organizations in the area. Applicants that have already registered with Submittable may use the same login credentials for their CCWC application. The software will improve CCWC review, scoring and grant management, and make it easier for recipients to file final reports. In this transition year, current 2016 grant recipients will still need to file their final reports using the old system.

The grant application period ends October 10th. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to attend a grant orientation session:

• Thursday, September 8, 2016, 4:00-6:00 pm, Hillsboro Shute Park Library – Meeting Room, 775 SE 10th Ave, Hillsboro 97123,
• Tuesday, September 13, 2016, 3:00-5:00 pm, Beaverton Library, Meeting Room A, 12375 SW Fifth St, Beaverton 97005.

The CCWC was established in 2005 to distribute funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust to promote the cultural identity, quality of life and economic vitality of Washington County and its arts, heritage and humanities organizations. The Coalition has distributed over $439,000 in grants to Washington County based organizations over the last 11 years.

The Oregon Cultural Trust was established by the Oregon Legislature to strengthen Oregon’s culture through the establishment of a permanent endowment. The Trust primarily receives funding from the sale of Cultural license plates and from gifts from individuals and businesses through an Oregon State tax credit program. The Trust invests a portion of proceeds from the endowment in annual grants to Oregon counties and tribal groups, funding for statewide cultural agencies, and competitive grants to cultural non-profits. To learn more about the Trust or to make a donation please visit the website www.culturaltrust.org.

The Washington County Cooperative Library Services (WCCLS) includes: Banks Public Library, Beaverton City Library, Beaverton City Library @ Murray Scholls, Cedar Mill Community Library, Cedar Mill Community Library @ Bethany, Cornelius Public Library, Forest Grove City Library, Garden Home Community Library, Hillsboro Public Libraries (Main and Shute Park), North Plains Public Library, Sherwood Public Library, Tigard Public Library, Tualatin Public Library, and West Slope Community Library. Two specialty libraries are also a part of the Cooperatives library card service — the Oregon College of Art & Craft and the Tuality Health Education Resource Center.

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