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Ten Portland-area arts nonprofits came into some money today, via the Oregon Community Foundation’s annual Creative Heights grants.
OCF announced Aug. 25 that it will invest more than $1 million in a total of 14 arts and culture projects across Oregon. Grants range from $24,000 to $100,000. OCF’s Creative Heights initiative has invested about $1 million every year since 2014, supporting 151 arts and culture projects so far.
This year’s beneficiaries include an audio archive that celebrates people who stutter, an independent film with a TV/VCR as its central character, and a video series about the Albina neighborhood’s historic Black music scene. In addition to the Portland-area winners, the list of winners elsewhere in the state includes Licity Collins of Otis; the Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland and Oregon East Symphony in Wallowa; Steph Littlebird of Salem; and Stephanie Craig of Dayton.
“We want to support bold creative visions—not just to advance the careers of these artists, but also to enrich Oregon’s creative landscape,” said Jerry Tischleder, OCF’s senior program officer, in a statement.
The 10 Portland-area beneficiaries are:
Allie Hankins, $75,000 for “an experimental dance project embracing multiplicities within queer experiences and interrogating the idea of a singular essence in our identities.”
CETI (Creative and Emerging Technology Institute), $100,000 “to create a series of multisensory experiences, remembering the past and imagining the future of Old Town Chinatown.”
EnTaiko, $66,000 “to support a multisensory taiko performance that creates an inclusive experience for deaf, blind, neurodivergent, and physically disabled artists and audiences.”
Jason Hill and the Albina Music Trust, $100,000 “to produce an episodic docuseries exploring the history of Black music and culture in Portland’s Albina neighborhood.”
Lamiae Naki, $40,000 for “a tribute to Southern Moroccan music, uniting Oregon and international musicians for a creative residency and world premiere in 2026.”
Luke Wyland, $65,000 “to expand the Library of Dysfluent Voices through community engagement and listening workshops.”
Masami Kawai (Portland Art Museum), $100,000 for “Valley of the Tall Grass, an independent feature film project exploring Indigenous identity and cinema’s language through an Indigenous worldview.”
North Pole Studio, $45,000 “to support a new solo exhibition by non-verbal artist Doug Wing, curated by Kristan Kennedy at Oregon Contemporary.”
Patricia Vázquez Gómez, $100,000 for “Lengua materna, an experimental choral ensemble composed of maayat’aan (Yucatec Mayan) speakers from the U.S. and Mexico about the relationship between language, migration, nature and ritual.”
Tim Burgess, $90,000 for “Walking On, a short documentary film and album of music showcasing Karrie Young playing the traditional wooden flute for those who are Walking On.”
