PLEASE NOTE: THIS POST IS DATED OCTOBER 7, 2020. WE HAVE LAUNCHED NEW FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AS OF NOVEMBER 2020. PLEASE VISIT OUR HOMEPAGE FOR CURRENT INFORMATION.
Between April and October 2020, the Miller Foundation shifted our focus to supporting our current grantees in the arts and education sectors. We have provided direct support as well as emergency relief through statewide several funder partnerships. We have worked closely with our current grantees to offer flexibility as needed. Options include adjusting reporting dates, accelerating payments, and converting project and capacity funding to general operating support. In many cases, we also provided additional funding.
To date, in addition to our $10M standard funding in 2020, we have awarded just shy of an additional $3.5M in relief funding to arts and education nonprofits, individual artists, and organizations serving communities impacted by wildfires. Many of these awards have been made directly to our current grantees. $250,000 was awarded through the Oregon Arts and Culture Recovery Program, which awarded a total of $4M earlier this year to almost 400 arts and culture organizations statewide.
The Miller Foundation also contributed $250,000 to individual artists through the Artist Relief Program, which is administered by the Oregon Arts Commission in partnership with the Oregon Community Foundation. The program provides relief funding to Oregon artists who have experienced financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic due to cancellations of exhibitions, performances, rehearsals or other activities with a stipend, events, teaching opportunities, book signings, or other professional presentation opportunities. While the deadline passed November 10, more information remains available on the Oregon Arts Commission’s website.
The staff and board of the Miller Foundation stand with our Oregon communities in this time of crisis. Thank you for your hard work.
