Portland’5 Centers for the Arts is celebrating its telephone area code day by raising funds for the Arts Education Program, which offers free culturally relevant education programming to teachers and students in Title-I schools around the region.
The goal is to raise 503 donations of $20 by the end of the day on Thursday, May 3. All donations are tax deductible.
During the 2016-2017 season, the Portland’5 Education Program served more than 12,000 students and staff from Multnomah county schools. They hope that with the support of generous donors, they can provide more fun and educational programming to more students next season.
Lack of arts education opportunities disproportionately affects students and families from communities of color and low-income households. Many attend schools that do not provide comprehensive arts programming if any at all.
Additional barriers to the arts include limited access to transportation, lack of expendable time, lack of disposable income, little or no exposure to the arts, and a misperception that the arts are exclusive. There is no charge to any school, student, or family to attend an Education Program event.
Since it was established in 1994, the Portland’5 Foundation has provided more than $1.5 million in capital improvements to maintain high-quality venues that attract premiere performances. The foundation also supports the work of broadening access to the performing arts for people of all means, cultures and ethnicities.