Oregon’s Cultural Trust was established by law in 1999 with funding mechanisms approved in 2001 in large part due to the dedicated commitment of our former State Treasurer and beloved Central Oregonian, Ben Westlund.
Ben believed, as we do, that art and culture play an enormous role in preserving the high quality of life we treasure in this state and he aimed to not only preserve and enhance our humanities, museums, theatres and works of art but to create jobs for the numerous people you will find working in the creative fields.
Since the concept’s inception nearly $25 million has been donated to the Cultural Trust, with at least another $25 million given directly to cultural nonprofits. The number growing every year, 21,000 donors have contributed to the Trust.
That is a huge amount of leverage and tremendous funding for art and cultural projects that might not have happened if the opportunity had not been created to allow people to double their donation capabilities.
A permanent endowment stands at almost $15 million as of June 30, 2011 with $9.7 million in 775 grants distributed all over the state. Just as businesses establish cash reserves for leaner economic times, so does the Cultural Trust through its endowment, stabilizing funding for our cultural resources in leaner times just like the ones we are facing today.
Grants for fiscal year 2012 will be announced by August 1. In July 2010, the Trust announced $1.47 million in grants benefiting 57 heritage, arts and humanities nonprofits statewide; 40 county and tribal coalitions, which redistribute the funds to community cultural nonprofits and five statewide partners including the Oregon Arts Commission and Oregon Humanities, which use Trust funds to augment their grant programs.
A particular concern, in today’s economy, is whether we should even have tax credits and would the money be best used for other state purposes. We encourage you to look at it this way:
• The Arts Commission and Cultural Trust’s budget impact is minimal and amounts to less than .0006 percent of the state’s overall $16 billion budget – it only reduces state income tax revenue by about $3 million a year. But that $3 million is offset in the numerous jobs the Trust is able help generate and retain through its granting process.
• The Trust has been compared to the bottle bill and vote-by-mail as among Oregon’s most forward-thinking public policy measures. No other state in the nation has a cultural funding mechanism like it. With the Cultural Trust, Oregon is once again showing public policy leadership as the Trust model is being explored by several other states across the nation.
• The Oregon Cultural Trust is broad and inclusive. It’s much more than the arts…it’s humanities and historic preservation; children and elders; community heritage traditions and festivals; it’s century farms, botanic gardens and pioneer trails. The Trust funds major arts organizations and small historical societies…symphony orchestras and school bands…capital campaigns and website development…the established and the emerging…pioneer homesteads and native languages and artifacts. It helps keep writers, dancers, sculptors, painters, teachers, musicians, dancers, actors, set designers, choreographers, numerous people in the creative fields, employed and contributing to our cultural life.
• The public sector has invested in culture in good times and bad. The federal government employed artists, writers and photographers in the WPA, establishing the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps, and building enduring structures like Timberline Lodge. Today, the Cultural Trust is investing similarly: the Friends of Timberline Lodge has received two Trust grants, the CCC cabins at Camp Sherman were preserved in part through Trust funding and historic structures across the state including Kam Wah Chung in John Day, have been stabilized and repaired because of Trust donations.
In 2010 six million Oregonians and visitors experienced the arts in Oregon and over 500,000 young people were touched by arts and cultural programs.
Our cultural attractions (museums, heritage centers, galleries and public works of art) bring visitors to Central Oregon who contribute to our economy by spending money here.
From the Deschutes County standpoint, a few months ago the Central Oregon Arts & Cultural Alliance collected the expense budget information from some of the then 20 members of the alliance. The amount invested back into the Sisters, Bend, and Sunriver Communities is over $18 million annually.
If the only thing that was important in today’s challenging times is creating jobs, then our arts and cultural industry is doing just that. The Cultural Trust is a competent asset that we hope can be preserved. We encourage our elected officials, Senator Chris Telfer, Representative Jason Conger and Gene Whisnant to consider the Cultural Trust as a means to boost our economy and enhance the quality of life in all of our communities. pha
How the Cultural Trust Works
The cultural tax credit – the Trust’s chief fundraising mechanism – can be claimed by anyone who pays Oregon state income tax (even Washington residents).
Unlike a tax deduction that only reduces the amount of your taxable income; a tax credit reduces the amount of tax you owe. Your gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust will reduce your April Oregon Income Tax bill dollar for dollar…a 100 percent credit for every dollar you give to the Trust ($500 for individuals, $1,000 for couples filing jointly and $2,500 for Oregon corporations).
For instance if you gave the Theatre of the Cascades $250 and the High Desert Museum $250, as an individual you can claim a $500 tax credit when you give the Trust $500.
Since memberships in public broadcasting, art museums and historical societies; contributions to school music boosters and public school foundations count as cultural donations, nearly everyone is a cultural donor.
