Big crowd turns out in Salem in bid to boost arts and culture funding in Oregon

For about 350 people, it was an evening of politicking and performances at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27.

The event was the formal launch of the new Oregon Arts and Culture Caucus, a group of legislators determined to improve state funding.

Those attending the free event sampled top-quality ice cream and other treats and watched performers, from the master rope artist Antonio Huerta to members of the Salem Trumpet Quintet, a group of high school players who are on the way to Colorado later this month for national competition.

The founding members of the caucus from the Legislature were there plus another half-dozen or so who came for the show.

With the 2023 Legislature underway, the caucus is backing:

•$50 million in recovery funding for arts and culture organizations and grants to be administered by counties and tribal governments through House Bill 2459.

•$200 million in lottery funds invested to generate about $10 million in awards that would go to some of the 1,600 arts and culture nonprofits in Oregon through House Bill 2498.

•$10 million increase in funding for the Oregon Arts Commission.

Musicians Hunter Noack and Thomas Lauderdale perform at the formal launch of a new legislative caucus to push arts funding at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27 (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

David Harrelson, the Cultural Resources Department manager for The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and a member of the Oregon Arts Commission, addresses the crowd during the launch a new legislative caucus to push arts funding. More than 300 people attended the event at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27. (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

Members of the Salem Trumpet Quintet perform at the launch of a new legislative caucus to push arts funding. They are, from left, Nicholas Peterson-Hunt, a junior at West Salem High School, Keegan Arnsmeier, a senior at McNary High School, and Kaden Blake a junior at West Salem. More than 300 people attended the event at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27. (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

Jenny Green of Bend, chair of the Oregon Arts Commission, addresses the crowd during the launch a new legislative caucus to push arts funding. Joining her are Harlen Springer, commission vice chair from Florence, and Niki Price of Lincoln City, chair of the Oregon Cultural Trust Board. More than 300 people attended the event at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27. (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

Antonio Huerta, a master in Charreria, performs at the formal launch of a new legislative caucus to push arts funding at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27. He is skilled with a form of sophisticated rope use dating to the 1500s. (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

Supporters of arts and culture efforts mingle in the lobby of the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27, ahead of the formal launch of a new legislative caucus to push arts funding. (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

Jason Graham, the creative laureate of Bend known as MOsley WOtta, was emcee at the formal launch of a new legislative caucus to push arts funding at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27 (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

A poster captures the players who help launch a new legislative caucus to push arts funding. More than 300 people attended the event at the Elsinore Theatre on Monday, Feb. 27. (Eric Schuman/Special to the Enterprise)

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