A Blossoming April Newsletter
Our collective seeds of creativity are ready to bloom
Hi Portland in Color Community!
We’d love to kick off our April Newsletter with gratitude for your ongoing support towards our mission . This month we hope to return the favor by offering resources that will nurture our creative intentions and fostering more opportunities for us to thrive and connect online and in-person.
Friendly Reminder: Our Sitka applications have come to a close and we look forward to reviewing everyone’s applications and announcing our inaugural two artists in residence in the coming weeks.
Community Spotlight
PIC member Melina Kiyomi Coumas is the Director of Programming for PORTLAND PANORAMA, a brand new international film festival here in Portland, picking up the mantle left behind by PIFF and the Northwest Filmmakers Fest! The festival begins today, April 10th, and runs through the 20th.
The first half of the festival is dedicated to national/international films, while the second half is a showcase of Northwest filmmakers and their works. Check out the festival schedule here, and a spotlight on these titles made by BIPOC filmmakers:
ASHIMA *Filmmaker Attending!
+ All International and NW Short Film Programs!
PIC Community members can enjoy a 20% discount with the code Pano_CP20 🎥✨
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
BIPOC Peer Support Group - First and third Thursdays of every month from 7-8:30pm, this is a virtual support group for BIPOC living with mental health conditions. To receive the meeting link, sign up is required.
Clackamas County Cultural Coalition Spring 2025 Grant Cycle awards of up to $5,000 for projects and general operating support related to arts, heritage, or humanities.Artists and organizations based in Clackamas County, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area, are eligible to apply. Applications due April 17, 2025, at 11:59 pm PT.
The Vital Impacts Annie Griffiths Grant awards $2,000 to support storytelling on the natural world and humanity’s connection to it. Apply by Earth Day, April 22, 2025.
Voices, A BIPOC Adoptee Reading
BIPOC adoptees have suffered from family separation and ethnic displacement. Many of us are immigrants who have also been separated from our homelands from injustices stemming from imperialism and colonialism. The event is open to the general public and will feature 5 BIPOC adoptee authors. April 26, 2025 from 6:30-9pm.
RACC’s Professional Development Grant Program assists artists or arts administrators by offsetting expenses related to specific, unique opportunities with the potential to significantly impact professional development. An opportunity may be one of many things, but the proposal must clearly demonstrate how the activity will benefit the applicant long-term. An applicant may request any amount up to $2,000 and must target activities happening only between July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. Apply by April 30, 2025 at 5pm.
Sing People Sing: A Queer and POC led Song Circle in PDX
This event is taking place in the Center for Joy at Sabin CDC, an affordable housing community that works toward social equity by stabilizing & improving the livability of culturally-diverse Portland neighborhoods, with a special focus on African American households, by encouraging community partnerships for local economic development, and by offering youth & senior programs. This is a BIPOC-only Space. April 30, 2025 at 6:30pm.
BIPOC Affinity Night Event
Join Portland Center Stage for a pre-show panel discussion as part of BIPOC Affinity Night for The Brothers Size, featuring Black Men’s Wellness on April 30, 2025. This conversation will explore themes of brotherhood, healing, and mental well-being in Black communities, connecting the play’s powerful narrative to real-life experiences.
From Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight, Choir Boy) comes a story of freedom and family. Steadfast and responsible, Ogun Size fights to connect with Oshoosi, his aimless younger brother, who has recently been released from prison. Weaving together the mundane and the mystic, this play invites us into the Louisiana Bayou, showing us a world of poetry, stories from the Yoruban cosmology, and music. A fresh and contemporary tale of belonging, brotherhood and the ties that bind. Showing April 20 to May 18, 2025.
Shout it Out Open Mic, a Friends of Noise benefit show raising funds for Brown Girl Rise. Join to listen to some amazing youth performers and spend time in community. All proceeds will go to supporting BGR's Summer program. Tickets are sliding scale. May 17, 2025 from 1-3pm.
The 2025 Craft Archive Fellowship will foster archival research on underrepresented and non-dominant craft histories in the United States, such as feminist, intersectional, queer, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities and approaches that may not be specifically listed here. Up to 6 Center for Craft Archive Fellows will receive a $5,000 stipend to conduct research in an archive of their choosing. Apply by May 20, 2025.
Social Justice Fund NW Seed Grant (Quarter 2) is offering $5,000 to new or emerging organizations (three years or younger) in Oregon and other Northwestern states. Priority is given to organizations led by BIPOC communities or those operating in rural areas. The application deadline for the second quarter is May 29, 2025.
Making sure our newsletter serves you
Some of you have given us feedback that our newsletter is a useful resource so we wanted to ask more openly what the community would like to see:
Wondering how you can support us?
Donate: Every contribution is greatly appreciated. We are a 501(c)3 so all donations are tax exempt.
Spread the Word: Do you know a BIPOC creative who has not signed up for our directory? Let them know the perks of visibility, networking, and community connection that happen when you are a member of the Portland in Color directory
Volunteer: We can always use extra help! If you believe in our mission and have the means to donate your services, space, or time we would love to collaborate. Contact us at portlandincolor@gmail.com