Metro received 78 applications from around the region asking for more than $1.4 million for the 2019 cycle of Community Placemaking grants. Applications were reviewed in two rounds by an external, community-based advisory group who assessed alignment with the program's objectives, the extent to which they advance equity outcomes, the meaningfulness of their impact and their feasibility. Advisory group members have expertise in community development, social justice, public art and urban planning.
The winning projects support conventional and progressive placemaking projects. They come from and support multicultural communities and include Rohingya, Latinx, Somali, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Indigenous, African American, immigrant and refugee communities, parenting youth, incarcerated youth and disabled youth, and the LGBTQ community.
Mercy Corps: Community Investment Trust, $19,550
East Portland
This project supports the enhancement of a community space at Plaza 122. Partner organizations, Plaza 122 tenants and CIT investors will work with artists, who will design a panel for the outside walls of Plaza 122. After installation, they will hold a cultural fair at Plaza 122, where artists will share the story behind their panel and how it represents their culture.
Photo courtesy of Morpheus Youth Project
Morpheus Youth Project: MYP Youth Arts and Culture, $25,000
Various locations
This grant supports arts and cultural opportunities for at-risk and incarcerated youth. These artistic and cultural learning opportunities provide youth with a safe space to build identity, create community connections and experience new creative outlets. Programming will include dance competitions and workshops, painting murals, song writing, recording music, cultural and historical presentations and multimedia.
PlayWrite: Healing Dialogues for Refugee/Immigrant Communities, $19,140
East Portland
This grant will bring representatives of refugee/immigrant communities together for facilitated, trauma-informed, intra-community conversations. The series of conversations will include themes of identity, separation and belonging, coping with trauma in the context of the family, and moving toward integration and healing. Each series will include an artistic performance and will culminate in an Intercultural Welcoming Ceremony hosted by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Oregon Human Development Corporation: Supa Fresh Youth Farm – Durham Children's Garden, $24,585
Tigard
This grant supports leadership development for high school-age youth in the Young Parent Program at the Durham Education Center, which provide parenting students with childcare, training and support while attending school. Youth leaders will conduct a robust engagement process and design and build a Children’s Garden for the childcare center located onsite.
Photo courtesy of The Living School of Art
The Living School of Art, $12,000
East Portland
This grant supports The Living School of Art, an alternative art project in a large affordable housing apartment complex in East Portland. Programming includes an artist residency program for artists of color, a lecture program centered on POC professionals in leadership positions in our region and active coalition building between the apartment community, guest speakers, and cultural/nonprofit organizations in the neighborhood area.
Photo courtesy of Indigenous Come Up
Indigenous Come Up: Portland Indigenous Marketplace, $25,000
Various locations
This grant directly supports the region’s inter-generational Indigenous vending community by funding the creation of twelve Indigenous marketplaces, ensuring Indigenous vendors have an opportunity to sell their wares at an affordable and culturally respectful vending events. The larger markets will include entertainment such as music, storytelling and other performing arts. A vendor dinner at the beginning and end of the series will keep the vendors informed on the event schedule and provide an opportunity to collect feedback.
Photo courtesy of Ori Gallery
Ori Gallery: Ori Gallery 2019 Programming, $25,000
North Portland
This grant supports programming focused on creating collaborative and equitable spaces for queer and trans POC artists to create, display and process their work. This includes hosting workshops, lectures, panels and exhibitions that foster dialogue, political and cultural education, skill sharing and movement building.
Tucker Maxon School: Growing Community – The 28th Place Parklet, $10,100
Southeast Portland
This grant engages deaf and hearing students and the surrounding community by enhancing a new parklet that provides a meeting place to forge new, intergenerational relationships within the neighborhood. To draw neighbors into the space as a destination, the project will install a bocce court and add art, repainting a street mural. Students will decorate bollards that stop traffic and create an art installation.