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Your SNAP card can get you a lot more than groceries.
Since 2011, an initiative called Arts for All PDX has made $5 tickets to arts venues across the city available to Oregonians enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program—just over 700,000 people at present.
Michelle David, one of two volunteers who run Arts for All PDX, describes the beginnings of the project as an “ad hoc community of folks who agreed to prioritize access and inclusion for the arts.” It started within Portland’s classical music scene, David says, but the idea quickly garnered interest from museums, theaters and cultural institutions around the city, eventually transforming SNAP eligibility into a gateway into the local arts scene.
Currently, David says around 60 local organizations are registered participants, though she expects that number to continue to grow. For Portlanders with an EBT card and a free day, here are some tips on getting the most out of it.
Places to Go
The Portland Art Museum offers up to two $5 tickets (compared to $27.50) for anyone with an eligible SNAP card; it’s also free for kids 17 and under. OMSI has its own program, OMSI for All, in which any recipient of EBT, WIC, SNAP, TANF, Medicaid/Oregon Health Plan can purchase up to four tickets for $8 each (compared to $22.50 for adults and $15.50 for kids under 14).
The Portland Japanese Garden and the Lan Su Chinese Garden, which both feature rotating galleries and exhibitions, also participate in Arts for All. The Portland Japanese Garden offers up to two $5 tickets (normally $22.50 for adults and $15.50 for kids) and the Lan Su Chinese Garden offers up to four (compared to $18 admission).
Shows to See
While the rules differ slightly with live events, theaters like Artists Repertory Theatre and Portland Center Stage offer $5 tickets in partnership with Arts for All PDX on select performance dates, as do the Northwest and Oregon Children’s theaters.
Performances put on by the dance presenter White Bird, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Portland Symphonic Choir and the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, among many others around the city, also offer discounted tickets through Arts for All.
What if you don’t have SNAP?
Your Multnomah County Library card can also get you into plenty of events. The library’s My Discovery Pass program lets you reserve free passes to museums and events. (Note: You check out the pass like a book, so availability is limited.) The pass is good for two free tickets to museums like the Portland Art Museum, Japanese American Museum of Oregon, Portland Japanese Gardens, OMSI and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.
For live performances, a pass will acquire two tickets to a play at Artists Repertory Theatre, the Northwest Children’s Theater or Portland Center Stage, a Portland Opera production or a show put on by Friends of Chamber Music, Orchestra Nova Northwest or Oregon Koto-Kai.
The catch? The limited passes are competitive, and only reservable once, per place, per year. My Discovery Pass is available to reserve online, although some venues require a call to the box office to confirm seats.
NOTE: As Arts for All PDX is expanding affordable arts access locally, the SNAP eligibility that access hinges on is narrowing at the federal level. Since passage of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer, veterans, adults ages 55 to 64, and those with dependents ages 14 to 18 must work 80 hours per month in order to qualify for SNAP, a restriction that cut access for at least 3.5 million people.
Arts for All Shows This Fall
*Those without SNAP benefits, note that many venues also offer pay what you will tickets; see websites for more details.
Theater & Dance
Cabaret at Theatre in the Grove. Sept. 11–27. titg.org
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Experience Theatre Project. Sept. 17–Oct. 18. experiencetheatreproject.ludus.com
Pride & Prejudice at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Sept. 27–Oct. 25. pcs.org
Guys & Dolls at Winningstad Theatre. Oct 2–25. stumptownstages.org
The Golem’s Gift at Northwest Children’s Theater. Oct. 3–11. nwcts.org
Circa at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 14. whitebird.org
Spain at The Ellen Bye Studio at The Armory. Oct. 22–Nov. 8. profiletheatre.org
Fall Frontiers at Newmark Theatre. 7:30 pm Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23 and 24. nwdanceproject.org
Marsha Blovotnik and the Marvelous Magical Chicken Soup at Artists Repertory Theatre. Oct. 27–Nov. 22. artistsrep.org
An Iliad at CoHo Theatre. Nov. 6–22. thirdrailrep.org
Music
Montavilla Jazz Festival, locations vary. Friday–Sunday, Sept. 4–6. montavillajazz.org
Anaiis at The Old Church Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Sunday, Sept. 13. tocportland.org
Piazzolla & Edna Vazquez at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20. orsymphony.org
NoPo Big Band at Alberta Abbey. 6 pm Wednesday, Sept. 23. albertaabbey.org
Kanekoa at Walters Cultural Arts Center. 7:30 pm Friday, Sept. 25. cityofhillsboro.ticketspice.com/kanekoa
Opening Night: Gaby Moreno at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. 7:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 26. thereser.org
Isaiah Collier at The Old Church Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 1. tocportland.org
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4. orsymphony.org
Protégé Recital Series: Claire Wells at Irving Levin Performance Hall. 4 pm Sunday, Oct. 4. cmnw.org
Julia Bullock (soprano) and Conor Hanick (piano) at Lincoln Performance Hall. 3 pm Sunday, Oct. 4. focm.org
American Strings: Leyla McCalla at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 7. thereser.org
Holst’s The Planets at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Thursday and Saturday, 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 8, 10 and 11. orsymphony.org
Haunted Haas at Zidell Yards. 7:30 pm Friday, Oct. 9. thirdangle.org
Creo by Hyo-Won Woo with Portland Youth Philharmonic Camerata at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. 7:30 pm Saturday and 4 pm Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18. orsingers.org
Black Belt Eagle Scout at Walters Cultural Arts Center. 7:30 pm Friday, Oct. 23. cityofhillsboro.ticketspice.com/black-belt-eagle-scout
Uncle Jumbo at Patricia Reser Center for the Arts. 2 pm Saturday, Oct. 24. thereser.org
Kahane, Still & Copland at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25. orsymphony.org
Gabrielle Montero at Lincoln Performance Hall. 4 pm Sunday, Oct. 25. portlandpiano.org
Dover Quartet: Brahms, Pura Fé & Dvořák at Flanagan Chapel. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Oct. 28. cmnw.org
Stravinsky & Beethoven at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. orsymphony.org
Raphaël Feuillâtre: Latin Passions at The Old Church Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Thursday, Nov. 5. cmnw.org
Jan Lisiecki at Lincoln Performance Hall. 4 pm Sunday, Nov. 8. portlandpiano.org
Verdi’s Requiem with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at Skyview Concert Hall. 7 pm Saturday and 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8. pschoir.org.
Kaeru: Portland Taiko Fall Concert at Lincoln Performance Hall. 7 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 14 and 15. portlandtaiko.org
Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. 7:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 14. portlandyouthphil.org
See the rest of the 2026 Fall Arts Guide here!
