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“It was the year we were reminded that resilience is an art form.” So says Oregon Ballet Theatre’s artistic director Dani Rowe and executive director Shane Jewell, echoing what many Portland arts leaders experienced in 2025.
The story of the year was a tough one. On the first Friday in May, the National Endowment for the Arts withdrew grants to arts organizations nationwide, including 27 in Oregon. All told, our state lost about $590,000 in federal funding that organizations had been counting on. Funding at the local level left quite a bit to be desired—$1.3 million, actually, as that’s how much less the city’s Office of Arts & Culture gave out to organizations this fiscal year versus the previous one.
Much scrambling ensued—some of it private, some of it public. OBT was private about it, despite the whiplash of being told its NEA grant was canceled, then eventually receiving it anyway. Others sounded alarm bells that they were struggling, with NEA cuts pushing them over an already precarious financial edge.
In May, the largest theater company in town, Portland Center Stage, launched an urgent “Save PCS” campaign to stay afloat. “Going public with the organization’s financial precarity was and is very painful,” says Marissa Wolf, PCS’s artistic director.
The company has been hitting its fundraising milestones on its way to a final goal of $9 million by June 30, 2026, aided, in part, by a nice $1.5 million boost from the Oregon Legislature in June. Live Wire Radio and Oregon Children’s Theatre are also running fundraising campaigns for their lives right now.
But it wasn’t all financial bloodletting. The Portland Art Museum just reopened its campus to the tune of a $146 million capital and endowment campaign, the largest investment in the arts in Oregon history. Literary Arts’ Portland Book Festival sold out for the first time ever. Arts organizations showed up for each other, such as when Sitka Center for Art & Ecology pledged to help out Oregon Contemporary with up to $30,000 to put on next year’s Artists’ Biennial.
We reached out to a variety of Portland arts leaders to do some forward thinking. Here are their responses to the question: What are you looking forward to in 2026?
“I’m directing another actor/musician show in the spring! This time, a little more ridiculous: The SpongeBob Musical. Thirteen professional actors plus eight youth actors, all playing instruments, saving Bikini Bottom from doom.” —Brian Weaver, Portland Playhouse producing artistic director
“I’m looking forward to premiering brand-new work by Guggenheim Fellows Mike Lew and Jen Silverman, the latter of whom is one of the top 10 most produced playwrights in the country.” —Josh Hecht, Profile Theatre artistic director
“More performances that reaffirm why dance matters—because it is a living language of empathy, communication, and understanding.” —Dani Rowe and Shane Jewell of Oregon Ballet Theatre
“I am excited for what our new home will make possible. Moving into the World Trade Center gives us so much more than rehearsal rooms. The outdoor plaza, the 200-seat theater, the gathering spaces, and even the commercial kitchen open the door to a new kind of relationship with our community.” —Sue Dixon, Portland Opera general director
“Stabilization and creative growth. Innovation becomes nearly impossible when you’re worried about cash flow. We hope to close this [fundraising] campaign strong on Jan. 31 and continue welcoming new members so we can return to producing the content that brings so many people joy, connection and discovery.” —Heather de Michele, Live Wire Radio executive director
“Next year marks the 250th anniversary (the semiquincentennial) of the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Immigrant Story will participate in our own version of America250, focusing on Oregon’s contested history as experienced by communities of color.” —Sankar Raman, The Immigrant Story president and founder
“I have loved our Ursula K. Le Guin exhibition, which continues into next year. It’s been an amazing show for us with record attendance…The exhibition showcases her progressive ideals and incredibly imaginative work. It has been uplifting to be around this show in such a trying time. So, ringing in a new year with Ursula in the house feels pretty great.” —Blake Shell, Oregon Contemporary artistic and executive director
“We’re excited to welcome visitors to experience the museum in new and engaging ways. The stunning architecture, renovated spaces and reimagined galleries bring together dozens of exhibitions drawn from our own outstanding collections, alongside major special presentations, including David Hockney prints and Australian Indigenous art.” —Don Urquhart, Portland Art Museum co-interim director and director of collections and exhibitions
“We will host an incredible group of writers and public figures, including Colm Tóibin, Imani Perry, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (with Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads), and Patrick Radden Keefe. We will also select another crop of Oregon Book Award finalists and Fellowship recipients, and also host Verselandia, the all-city high school poetry slam competition. This is all by April.” —Andrew Proctor, Literary Arts executive director
“Oregon Children’s Theatre is close to sharing a bold new vision for our future, and we can’t wait to share it with our community. We are reimagining our entire organization, including our programs, our performances, our local partnerships, and much more.” —Jenn Hartmann Luck, Oregon Children’s Theatre producing artistic director
“We’re looking forward to establishing the Hollywood Film District, tentatively planned for fall 2026, with Movie Madness moving to Northeast Sandy Boulevard across the street from the theater. And we’re looking forward to celebrating the Hollywood’s 100th anniversary with our community in 2026!” —Doug Whyte, Hollywood Theatre executive director
“I tear up at every opening night as I breathe with a room full of artists and audiences. I can’t wait for audiences to laugh hysterically at The Play That Goes Wrong, to feel that heightened first-love feeling at Lizard Boy, and the joyful catharsis of Fat Ham.” —Marissa Wolf, Portland Center Stage artistic director
