Even in these tough times Portland is beginning to make arts funding a priority by announcing yesterday that the:

Portland City Council approved the FY10 city budget with a $4,325,300 allocation to the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), including whole funding for most RACC programs. The budget, which was approved 5-0, also includes additional one-time funds for the Creative Advocacy Network to deliver a regional, sustainable dedicated funding solution for arts and culture funding as well as The Right Brain Initiative to support integrated arts education programs.

Yes PORT can be hard on RACC for not being challenging enough sometimes (for public art and individual project grants), still this is a major victory for them in these difficult times. They have been making steady progress in the past few years and this only consolidates their gains. Congratulations are in order as this allows them to continue the momentum.

If you want to count more beans there is more info from RACC here.