The Lowdown

Arts Partners is a collaborative initiative to bring arts education to every student in the Portland metropolitan area. This effort is a systemic approach intended to address the inequity in delivery of arts services to the children of our community. The emerging vision – arts resources for every school and integration of arts and culture into every elementary classroom in the tri-county area. The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is the convening partner. The initial planning for this regional effort has been facilitated by the Arts Partners Visioning Committee under the guidance of leaders from Big Thought, a highly successful model in Dallas, Texas. Big Thought selected Portland as the only city they will mentor through the process of developing a local partnership.

In August 2007, nearly 200 educators, artists, business leaders and community members attended a public unveiling of the Portland area Arts Partners initiative. In October and November, a series of community meetings were conducted throughout the tri-county area which were designed to identify the values and educational priorities of area residents. Simultaneously, school district leaders and arts/cultural providers were interviewed in order to identify their organizational goals and needs. The results of these conversations were shared in the Stakeholder Feedback Report which provides information needed to further define the scope and direction of this initiative.

During a site visit in late November, Big Thought consultants presented the report and facilitated continued conversations with the Portland arts and cultural community and regional school district leaders. The Visioning Committee reconvened to review findings and implications from these meetings and to make decisions on how to proceed. The Visioning Committee will retire in early spring as program design begins and a governance structure is in place. Implementation in 15 to 20 pilot sites across the tri-county area is slated for September 2008.