The community showed up to make trusted, local arts news accessible, providing $27,827 in individual donations during the annual fund-raising campaign from Nov. 1-Dec. 31, 2025. 

THANK YOU!

The $25,000 goal was met on Dec. 30, so a $2,000 stretch goal was added just for Dec. 31. As if written for a movie script, the clock ticked toward midnight on New Year’s Eve, and just when I wondered whether we would meet the mini one-day goal, a $500 donation from special friends dramatically pushed it over the finish line. I’m sure it was the blubbery movie on TV that made me tear up just a bit. Then a few more donations came in under the wire with the final donation hitting the books at 11:59 p.m., just beating out the ball drop in the nick of time.

The Deets

• $27,827 raised, well surpassing last year’s record of $22,599
• 273 donations
• $5,925 raised from 97 new donors
• $7,730 just through Give!Guide from 125 donations

It takes a proverbial village

Let’s zero in on those 273 donations. Now that’s an amazing group of people that understands the power of reliable local news and how it can lift up and connect a community. It’s a true partnership. We’re all in this together. Again, THANK YOU!

Still want to join the celebration? It’s never too late to donate.

Remarkable fact

A longtime friend and former colleague sent an email saying hello and that she was trying to track down someone who had been featured in an ArtsWatch story some years back. I didn’t recognize the name and had never been in contact with the person she was trying to find so I had no way of reaching out. But a few hours later that very person donated through Give!Guide, someone who had never donated previously to ArtsWatch. The story in which the person was featured ran more than 5 years ago in 2020.

People love Barry

The ArtsWatch Insider story about our beloved founder Barry Johnson especially struck a chord with lots of feedback about how much people appreciated it. Deservedly so. A whole lot has happened for ArtsWatch in 15 years, with lots of bushes and flowers and trees that have sprouted up, but NONE of it would be here if Barry hadn’t first planted the seeds.

Sponsor

Forward facing

Speaking of seeds … we germinated a few during this campaign that we’ll continue to tend and carry on.

ArtsWatch Insider might continue to spring up now and then when we have behind-the-scenes info to convey, but just in story form on the website for now. We’ll fire up Special Edition emails again in November and December, though we might tinker with the format. We welcome suggestions of what you’d like to know about. You can comment on this story or send feedback privately.

The 35 and Under artist features that played out weekly on social media received such a great response that we’ll figure out a way to profile Upcoming Artists to Watch more frequently on the website. We already have our first nomination! Stay tuned for more on that score.

– Laura Grimes
Executive Director
Oregon ArtsWatch