44 BRAND STORY PRODUCED BY THE OREGON BUSINESS MARKETING DEPARTMENT youth. Funds will help host traditional events that accompany the ceremony: craft nights, food gathering trips and first-food processing classes. “Culture is the bedrock of community. It’s critical for our sense of self and self-esteem. The ways that we express our humanity and Rejoice: Diaspora Dance Theater of Portland, supported by the Cultural Trust and Oregonians who invest in the Cultural Tax Credit BY NATALIA HURT The map of Oregon features a mosaic of counties and tribes with their own diverse stories and contributions, but they all share something in common: Every one of them has a cultural plan and is allocated annual support from the Oregon Cultural Trust. The decades-old initiative funds transformative cultural programs that strengthen a sense of wellbeing and belonging within Oregon communities. The Cultural Trust, established in 2001, receives funding through an innovative Cultural Tax Credit, which allows Oregonians to funnel their tax dollars toward cultural organizations across the state via the Trust. For the upcoming year, Oregonians have allocated $3 million to be paid out in grants by the Oregon Cultural Trust. Nearly $1.5 million will go directly to 86 cultural organizations, each serving different geographic regions. The remainder will be allocated to the Cultural Coalitions of 45 counties and tribes, and the Trust’s statewide service partners: Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Humanities, State Historic Preservation Office and the Oregon Historical Society. Oregon Cultural Trust’s transparent, community-based approach has supported decades of positive change. Nurturing Oregon’s Cultural Ecology This year’s recipients of the Cultural Trust direct grant programs are as varied as the communities themselves. The Warm Springs Community Action Team, for example, requested and received a grant of nearly $33,000 to preserve its Name Giving Ceremony, a rite of passage for Native An image created by artists Shelby David and Crystal Schenk that depicts the Salmon Run sculpture for the Oregon Coast Aquarium’s new lobby, supported by a FY2024 Cultural Trust grant award.
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