(Girls in traditional attire celebrate during a Centro Cultural del Condado de Washington County community cultural event. The image will be featured on the Arts Build Communities grant program page of the new Arts Commission website | Photo courtesy of Oregon Arts Commission)
A new, more user-friendly Oregon Arts Commission website will launch the week of August 21, 2023. The URL will be artscommission.oregon.gov (not live until after launch). Visitors to the old website will be automatically redirected after the new site launches.
“The new website is a simple, straightforward design with easy access to grant opportunities, information and timely news items, including community impact stories made possible by Arts Commission funding,” said Arts Commission Executive Director Brian Rogers. “It also features photographs depicting the arts throughout Oregon.”
The homepage will include links to all grant programs and resources for arts organizations and individual artists. Economic impact data of the arts and a focus on art-based community development will also be featured.
The new site also will mark a transition from a .org to a .gov platform, ensuring ongoing recognition as an official Oregon state agency website.
The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, special initiatives and services. Nine commissioners, appointed by the Governor, determine arts needs and establish policies for public support of the arts. The Arts Commission became part of Business Oregon (formerly Oregon Economic and Community Development Department) in 1993, in recognition of the expanding role the arts play in the broader social, economic and educational arenas of Oregon communities. In 2003, the Oregon legislature moved the operations of the Oregon Cultural Trust to the Arts Commission, streamlining operations and making use of the Commission’s expertise in grantmaking, arts and cultural information and community cultural development.
The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust.