Chachalu receives Oregon Cultural Trust grant

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has been awarded a $33,543 cultural development grant from Oregon Cultural Trust that will be used for curatorial space during the Phase II expansion at Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center.

The Tribe was one of 85 organizations to receive an Oregon Cultural Trust grant.

According to a July 22 letter sent to Tribal Planning and Grants Manager Kim Rogers, 165 Oregon cultural nonprofit organizations applied for grants and more than 50 percent of applicants received more than $1.28 million in total funding.

“The grant review process was rigorous and projects selected for funding reflect significant cultural projects and activities across the state,” said trust Executive Director Brian Rogers in the letter.

The Oregon Cultural Trust grant funds must be spent between Aug. 1 and July 31, 2016.

The Oregon Cultural Trust was founded by the Legislature in July 2001. The trust awarded its first round of grants in May 2003 and in July 2013 the Legislature renewed the cultural tax credit that helps fund the trust for six years.

As of July 2013, more than 24,000 Oregonians had donated to the trust through the tax credit and the trust had granted more than 1,000 awards worth $14 million and developed a permanent fund for culture totaling almost $20 million.