Salem, Ore. – Applications are now live and open for Oregon’s Coronavirus Relief Fund
(CRF) Cultural Support program. Funds allocated to the Oregon Cultural Trust will be
available to Oregon cultural organizations facing losses due to the COVID-19 health
crisis. The $25.9 million in funding was made available through a $50 million relief
package for Oregon culture recently approved by the Emergency Board of the Oregon
Legislature.
The distribution plan for the CRF Cultural Support program was approved at the Aug. 6
Cultural Trust Board of Directors meeting. Applications are due by noon on Monday,
Aug. 24, and approved funds must be distributed by Sept. 15.
“We are grateful to the members of our Board for authorizing us to move forward with
the distribution plan as soon as possible,” said Brian Rogers, executive director of the
Cultural Trust. “We have worked hard to develop a statewide, equitable distribution plan
and look forward to supporting our cultural community in surviving this unprecedented
crisis.”
All Oregon cultural nonprofits and community venues are welcome to apply. Eligible
grant recipients include, but are not limited to, cultural institutions, county fairgrounds,
cultural entities within federally recognized Indian Tribes based in Oregon, and festivals
and community event organizations. Funds will be distributed through the Cultural Trust
statewide network of County and Tribal Cultural Coalitions. Funding will be determined
based on eligible request amounts, an award allocation formula that establishes a base
amount of funds per county or tribe and the organization’s fiscal size. COVID-19
expenses previously reimbursed by other federal CARES Act programs are not eligible.
Complete guidelines are posted on the Cultural Trust website.
The intended use of the CRF Cultural Support funds is to provide financial assistance to
cultural nonprofit organizations and community venues that have canceled or postponed
public programming because of public health executive orders associated with the
2
COVID-19 pandemic. Guidelines for the funding are in accordance with the U.S.
Department of the Treasury.
The federal CARES Act requires that CRF funding only be used to cover expenses that:
are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency; were not
accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of
enactment of the CARES Act); and were incurred during the period that begins on
March 1, 2020, and ends on Dec. 30, 2020.
The Cultural Trust is committed to serving Oregon’s culturally diverse and traditionally
underserved communities.
_________________
About the Oregon Cultural Trust
Created in 2001 by the Oregon Legislature, the Oregon Cultural Trust is a testament to how
much Oregonians value culture. No other state provides a 100 percent tax credit to inspire
cultural giving. As uniquely Oregonian as public beaches and the bottle bill, the Oregon Cultural
Trust was designed as an ongoing funding engine for arts and culture across the state.
Oregonians fund the Cultural Trust. We, in turn, fund the artists, potters, poets, acrobats and
dreamers who define our famous quality of life.
In 2019 Oregonians gave $4.5 million to the Cultural Trust. Sixty percent of that went straight
back to the field. The remaining 40 percent helped grow our permanent fund. Our three grant
programs fund our five Statewide Partners, 45 County and Tribal Coalitions and 1,450+
qualified cultural nonprofits through competitive Cultural Development Grants.
More information at culturaltrust.org.
