Submitted by mar@giarts.org on August 4, 2025
GIA Spotlight: James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation
Celebrating Oregon’s Creative Spirit
At the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, we are inspired every day by the resilience and innovation in Oregon’s arts sector. Through wildfires, a pandemic, and ongoing economic shifts, our state’s artists and arts organizations have continued to create, challenge and connect us.
The Miller Foundation has been supporting arts organizations across the state for over 20 years through our standard grants. At the start of the pandemic, our small team launched the Fast Track Arts program, designed to quickly deliver operating support to smaller and more rural arts organizations. That program continues to grow and strengthen the cultural fabric of communities statewide.
Last year, we launched our newest program: the Spark Award for Oregon Artists, a three-year, $1.5 million pilot program to provide support to 60 individual artists working in different disciplines. Each year, 20 midcareer artists receive $25,000 awards, empowering them to use the funds in whatever way will best support their artistic practice, from living expenses such as rent, childcare or healthcare, to research or material support. Our inaugural 2024 cohort of performing artists has already begun sharing powerful stories of how this flexible funding is advancing their creative development. We are currently reviewing our 2025 literary and media artist applications, and are amazed by the talent, vision, and originality of the applicants. In 2026, we will be supporting Oregon’s visual artists.
In addition to grantmaking, the Foundation has stepped into a more active role in championing the arts in recent years. As GIA members since 2011, we are looking forward to this fall’s conference in the Twin Cities. We are eager to connect with colleagues across the country who are championing individual artists, and to hear how our peers are navigating the challenges and opportunities facing artists in their communities.