SECTION B: Findings

COMMUNITY CONTEXT

Finding 1.     Wilsonville lacks a clear community core/center and a collective cultural identity.

Finding 2.    Demographic changes underway shape the future community.

CULTURAL NONPROFITS

Finding 3.     Wilsonville cultural nonprofit organizations are stressed.

Finding 4.    The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the condition of Oregon’s and Wilsonville’s cultural nonprofits

PUBLIC SECTOR

Finding 5.    The City lacks a comprehensive plan for supporting arts, culture and heritage facilities, programs and events.

Finding 6.    The primary units of local government coordinate on many issues and projects; community members seek greater support for cultural activities and programs.

Finding 7.    The community seeks public-sector leadership to support arts, culture and
heritage facilities, programs and events.

PUBLIC ART AND CULTURAL CENTER

Finding 8.    Public art is recognized as a significant cultural asset in Wilsonville.

Finding 9.    Substantial community demand exists for an arts and cultural center/facility.

FUNDING AND RESOURCES

Finding 10.  Funding and resource development are crucial to improve nonprofit organizational capacity and advance arts/culture programs.

SECTION C: Recommendations

COMMUNITY CONTEXT

Recommendation 1.    City adopts this cultural strategy and provides public-sector leadership
and coordination to support community arts, culture and heritage
facilities, programs and events.

Recommendation 2.    Make cultural diversity and ethnic inclusivity a priority.           

CULTURAL NONPROFITS

Recommendation 3.    Provide strategic assistance to Wilsonville cultural nonprofits in order to build organizational capacity.

PUBLIC SECTOR

Recommendation 4.      City forms an Arts and Culture Commission and provides supporting staffing resource.

Recommendation 5.      Improve inter-governmental collaboration and coordination to advance arts, culture and heritage.

PUBLIC ART AND CULTURAL CENTER

Recommendation 6.      Develop a long-term, sustainable public-arts program.

Recommendation 7.    The City works with partners to advance an arts and cultural center/facility.

FUNDING

Recommendation 8.   Improve and create sustainable funding mechanisms to support cultural activities, events and programs.

 

SECTION B: Findings

Following are findings based on interviews, surveys, public meetings and additional research.

COMMUNITY CONTEXT

Finding 1.  Wilsonville lacks a clear community core/center and a collective cultural identity.

While founded in 1846 and known as Boones Landing until formally named Wilsonville in 1880, the City of Wilsonville did not incorporate until 1969.

• Unlike many older historic cities that have an easily distinguished downtown “town center” core, Wilsonville’s downtown is difficult for residents and visitors to pinpoint. During this past 170 years, the Wilsonville “downtown” or town center has relocated three times:
  
  • First in the Old Town area, when Willamette River steamboats were the primary mode of transportation from 1850 through the 1890s, and subsequently with the “railroad” era that included opening in 1908 of the Oregon Electric Railway through Wilsonville with a train station in Old Town.
  • Then to the intersection of Boones Ferry Road and Wilsonville Road during the 1950s when I-5 was constructed, centered on the area located to the west between I-5 and the railroad tracks.
  • And finally to the current Town Center area during the 1970s when space constraints of the area between I-5 and the railroad tracks became evident for new development. While the Town Center area includes several important assets—including the commercial Town Center Shopping Center and publicly owned Town Center Park, Oregon Korean War Memorial, Community (Senior) Center, and City Hall—it is still developing. The Town Center Plan recognized that the area lacks the activity level that should accompany a vibrant downtown and has proposed major redevelopment to increase business and residential density and provide a more pedestrian friendly, attractive place to visit, shop and “hang out.”
• Wilsonville appears to many residents as not having one community core/center, and has developed various ‘centers’ over time, including Old Town area, Charbonneau Village, Town Center, Main Street, North Wilsonville Argyle Square area and Villebois parks and village center. While not diminishing the importance of neighborhood cores/centers, the lack of one central historical downtown town center has contributed to a perception that the community lacks a cultural center.
• Wilsonville has been one of Oregon’s fastest growing communities for 30 years, increasing more than 250% in population from 7,100 residents in 1990 to over 25,000 in 2020. Rapid growth induces change in a community’s landscape, businesses and kinds of jobs, and the residential population.
  
  • A number of survey respondents felt that Wilsonville lacks a cultural identity, a feeling often connected with communities experiencing rapid change and growth.
• However, a clear majority of residents participating in this planning process value local culture.
  
  • A survey conducted in 2018 by Taylor Consulting during phase one of the ACHS process showed 70% of respondents noting that they definitely need arts, culture, and heritage. See Appendix N: Draft Reports of the Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy (ACHS).
  • The fact that over 40 local-area residents volunteered to serve on the current Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy Task Force in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic shows strong support for local culture.
  • The public survey conducted for the 2018 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan found “music and arts in the parks” as one of the top three amenities and services for which the community reported a desire to add or expand. See Appendix C: Citations to City of Wilsonville Master Plans and Strategies.

 

Finding 2.  Demographic changes underway shape the future community.

Through each primary component of this planning process (Task Force meetings, interviews, outreach meetings with youth and Latinx families, and surveys) the call to embrace, support, and make more visible the diversity of Wilsonville—including ethnic background, age, socio-economic levels, sexual orientation and gender identification—was clear and consistent.

Specifically mentioned was highlighting the cultural traditions, especially celebrations and food, of Wilsonville’s minority-population residents of Latinx, Asian, South Asian/Indian, African-American, and indigenous descent. Recognizing the significant and growing population of students and their families of Latinx ethnic background, the School District committed in 2018 to producing all public communications in both English and Spanish.

As one public comment noted “Attention to diversity and inclusion are essential for a healthy community culture.”

As demographers have been reporting for several years, the ethnic composition of Wilsonville like the United States is changing, with an increasing proportion of the community identifying as of Latinx background. For more information, see Appendix A: Demographic Data.

The proportion of Wilsonville middle-school age children who identify being of Latinx or Hispanic ethnic background is twice or 100% greater than that of the community as a whole. This suggests that Wilsonville can expect a significant increase in the Latinx adult and family population.

• U.S. Census data shows that 11%–12% of the Wilsonville community is “Hispanic or Latino Origin.”
• West Linn-Wilsonville School District demographic data shows that 25% of Wilsonville middle school students identify as “Hispanic.”

See Appendix A: Demographic Data.

The Portland-area Metro regional government provided in 2016 the following 50-year population forecast to the year 2070:

“The Hispanic population group in the region is expected to grow rapidly during the next 50 years due to natural increases and strength in net in-migration…

“The Hispanic (or Latino) population segment is expected to add another 665,000 people by 2060, the largest increase in a race or ethnic population. Whites will grow by another 285,000 followed by another 250,000 Asians.

“People of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity are expected to be one-third of future migrants, almost double the region’s current share of population. Asian migrants are expected to account for one-fifth of future net migrants, representing 3 times over the share of Asians in the region today. The share of future migrants of Black, Native Indian and Pacific Island descent are expected to be about the same as today’s regional shares, respectively, 3%, 1%, and 1%.

“The future migration profile reinforces the racial profile of future births in the region such that we anticipate a majority of minorities by about the year 2070. The ascension of majority minorities is about 25 years delayed as compared to the U.S. as a whole (according to Census Bureau middle series projections) because of the much higher concentration of white residents from the onset of the forecast. 2070 is when we expect the shift in status – assuming extrapolations and various other growth assumptions are correct.”

See Appendix A: Demographic Data: Race, Ethnicity, Age and Gender Forecast for the Portland MSA and 3 counties – FAQ: Metro 2060 Population Forecast, July 2016.

Additionally, stakeholder interviews indicated that an older, retired cohort composed primarily of Wilsonville area and Charbonneau District residents were once the primary proponents of advancing public art and cultural activities. Many former residents who helped to organize and lead the Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art—including the late Keith Amundson, Tony Holt, Mick Scott, Steve Spicer and retirees Alan Kirk (former City Councilor) and Theonie Gilmore—are no longer actively engaged.

 

 

CULTURAL NONPROFITS

Finding 3.  Wilsonville cultural nonprofit organizations are stressed.

The Wilsonville City Council recognized that cultural nonprofits that provide valuable community services were having capacity problems to fund and execute programs and events over the past several years. Local nonprofits make up an essential part of the delivery system of local arts, culture, and heritage. Anecdotal reports indicate that most of the community’s nonprofit organizations—especially those involved in arts, culture and heritage—are experiencing financial problems and having difficulties recruiting and retaining volunteers.

During the past several years, several community nonprofits have either become inactive or dissolved, including Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art, Just Us Guys, Garrets Space, Friends of the Wilsonville Center, Wilsonville Lions Foundation and Charbonneau Lions Club.

Other organizations have experienced some problems with funding and volunteers, including Wilsonville Community Sharing, Wilsonville Sister City Association, Wilsonville Kiwanis, Wilsonville Celebration Days, Wilsonville Arts & Culture Council and the Wilsonville-Boones Ferry Historical Society.

Recognition of this issue led the Council to make creating an Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy as a 2019-20 City Council Goal.

An examination of the publicly available Form 990 federal tax-returns over a three- to five-year period of 22 Wilsonville nonprofits empirically demonstrates an overall decline in income and reserves for cultural nonprofits. Following is a summary of findings from “Report on Nonprofit Forms 990 Quantitative Analysis,” commissioned by the City and conducted by VISTRA in August 2020.

• “Organization Size. Nearly one-half of the nonprofits included in this analysis are small organizations with gross receipts of less than $50,000 in one or more of the years 2013-2019. In spite of the limited financial resources of these organizations, they may have significant positive impact on the community.
• “Organization Requirements. All nonprofits have compliance and operational requirements such as Form 990 filing, state registrations, financial management, board management, program management, etc. Organizations with limited financial resources are likely unable to hire staff to manage these activities and often rely on volunteers to perform these functions.
• “Revenues. Three (3) of the 13 organizations filing Forms 990/990-EZ reported overall decreases in Revenues on their most recent Forms 990/990-EZ filed between 2013 and 2019.
• “Net Income. Six (6) of the 13 organizations filing Form 990/990-EZ reported overall decreases in Net Income on their most recent Forms 990/990-EZ filed between 2013 and 2019.
• “Estimated Reserves. Estimated reserves are based on Total Assets, Total Liabilities, Total Non-liquid Assets and Expenses. Two (2) of the 13 organizations filing Form 990/990-EZ reported overall decreases in Estimated Reserves on their most recent Forms 990/990-EZ filed between 2013 and 2019. Three (3) organizations had years with no reserves based on our calculated estimate.”

Note: bold italic emphasis added; See Appendix H: Nonprofits Analyses and Reports for nonprofit organizations’ Form 990 analysis.

Even after this cursory review by a professional firm the need still exists to better understand the specific financial and organizational issues of Wilsonville’s cultural nonprofits and determine next steps.

 

 

Finding 4.  The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the condition of Oregon’s and Wilsonville’s cultural nonprofits.

Just as many for-profit businesses are struggling to weather the COVID-19 pandemic storm, the Oregon nonprofit sector is also struggling to survive. The nonprofit World of Speed Motorsports Museum, a significant and well-financed Wilsonville cultural asset, closed in 2020 as a direct result attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey of 1,600 Oregon charitable nonprofits conducted in June 2020 by the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, Portland State University’s Nonprofit Institute, Mercy Corps Northwest and Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters showed that:

• 54% of nonprofits reported losses in earned income, with 35% losing more than 50% in earned income.
• 56% have concerns that they will not be able to maintain levels of service.
• 46% say they are worried about covering operating expenses through the end of the year.

Arts and education nonprofits reportedly face the biggest challenges to surviving in the long term. Forty-eight out of 56 nonprofits in this cohort report concerns over their future survival and ability to sustain their funding, fundraising and programs.

Most of these nonprofits have small operating budgets: 40% have budgets of between $1,000 and $5,000, and 22% have budgets between $1 million and $5 million.

The survey reveals how many organizations are suffering from a lack of volunteer help because of closures and social-distancing requirements. This statewide survey matches anecdotal observations and interview comments that many of the lead volunteers for arts, culture, heritage in Wilsonville and throughout Oregon are aging, stepping aside as board members and volunteers. The COVID-19 pandemic has further made volunteer participation and board recruitment increasingly difficult.

The 2020 report concludes: “Without immediate attention and firm commitments of resources to this critical sector, our efforts to recover and move forward as a state will be severely impeded.”

Wilsonville nonprofits largely fit the profile of nonprofits noted in the survey of 1,600 Oregon charitable nonprofits. Volunteer leaders of local nonprofits are seeking to adjust to the new reality of physical social-distancing, mask-wearing and reducing the size of indoor public gatherings. Examples include:

• The Charbonneau Arts Association’s modified 37^th annual art show entitled for 2020 as “Art with Flair – The Virtual Exhibition.” For the entire month of October, the virtual show presents a gallery art-show featuring all major art-media formats with artist, artisan, and musician portfolios and profiles, with online links routing attendees to artists’ websites and social media for purchase. Additionally, the online event showcases local student art works and special projects, as well as a fund-raising silent auction.
• The Korean War Memorial Foundation of Oregon, in conjunction with the City’s Park and Recreation Department and the Korean War Veterans Association (KWVA)/Oregon Trail Chapter, is advancing plans and fundraising for a long-sought Korean War Memorial Interpretive Center to be located inside the Parks and Recreation Department’s administration building in Town Center Park.

See Appendix H: Nonprofits Analyses and Reports.

 

 

PUBLIC SECTOR

Finding 5.  The City lacks a comprehensive plan for supporting arts, culture and heritage facilities, programs and events.

There is no clear vision for a vibrant cultural scene in Wilsonville. The lack of a municipal ‘master plan’ for public support for arts, culture and heritage has prevented the City from focusing resources that would help to create a culturally vibrant community.

The closest that the City may have come to advancing an arts program occurred in 2003 when the City Council adopted Resolution No. 1817, “A Resolution of the City of Wilsonville City Council Acknowledging the Formation of the ‘Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art’ Committee and Authorizing City Staff to Assist the Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art Committee in the formation of their Organization and Placement of Art in Prominent Public Locations in the City.”

The City Council agreed to provide direct public support to this group of residents:

“1. Based upon the above recitals, the Wilsonville City Council acknowledges the organization of the Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art Committee and hereby authorizes the appropriate members of City Staff to assist this Committee in its implementation of initial placement of art pieces in Wilsonville, and arrangement of necessary procedures to move towards becoming an independent not-for-profit organization in support of public art in Wilsonville.”

“2. A separate pass-through account is established for the Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art Committee by the City's Finance Department, to hold funds of the Committee and disburse funds for their expenses until such time as they have established themselves as an independent not-for-profit organization to receive its own funding.”

See Appendix D: City Support for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

Thus while not a comprehensive strategy for advancing public art and community culture, the City Council’s direction set into motion a coordinated effort by the City and residents to acquire and display public art. Changes in City Council, staff and volunteers coupled with negative financial impacts of the Great Recession appear to have resulted in gradual decline of the public arts program starting in 2008. Appendix G: Wilsonville Public Art lists public art in Wilsonville that has been acquired over time by the City, other government agencies and the private sector.

During the 2020 phase of the ACHS, the following themes toward a cultural vision came up consistently in this study process:

Cultural Vision

• Actively embracing all cultures in Wilsonville
• Need for greater cultural opportunities
• Arts/cultural center that is flexible, multi-purpose, inclusive
• Schools and City collaborating around local culture
• A comprehensive strategy must build on strengths and address challenges/barriers to cultural participation. Following are the core strengths and challenges/barriers that emerged through this process.

When asked in a 2020 public survey for residents’ “vision for culture” in Wilsonville, the following ‘word cloud’ of most used phrases arose from responses:

Cultural Strengths

• Local area parks
• Wilsonville Public Library
• Willamette River and associated history and heritage (indigenous, pioneer, etc.)
• Cultural programs within West Linn-Wilsonville Schools
• Existing events, programs, cultural organizations
• Diversity of community, including ethnic and socio-economic
• People — Wilsonville is perceived by many in the community as a welcoming, friendly place

When asked in a 2020 public survey for residents’ “cultural attributes or strengths” of the  Wilsonville area, the following ‘word cloud’ of most used phrases arose from responses:

 

Challenges/Barriers to Participation in Local Culture

• Lack of physical community core/center, focal point, and cultural direction
• Shortage of cultural facilities for both Schools and City
• Lack of cultural inclusion / sense of exclusion: how to reach and engage marginalized populations that specifically include youth, Spanish-speaking, LGBQT and low-income.
• Time – people are busy commuting/working, caring for families, etc.
• Cost of living in Wilsonville is high. The City’s 2020 Equitable Housing Strategy found that "Many residents are paying more than 30% of their income on housing. Almost a quarter (23%) of all households in Wilsonville are cost-burdened, defined as spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. Renters are particularly impacted: 42% are cost-burdened or extremely cost-burdened (spending more than 50% of their income on housing costs)."

When asked in a 2020 public survey for residents’ “challenges or barriers to you or others participating in local culture in the Wilsonville area,” the following ‘word cloud’ of most used phrases arose from responses:

 

Finding 6.  The primary units of local government coordinate on many issues and projects; community members seek greater support for cultural activities and programs.

The two primary local governments responsible for providing key public infrastructure and educational services respectively to the residents of Wilsonville and the general public—the City of Wilsonville and the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, and to a lesser degree Clackamas Community College—communicate and engage regularly on issues pertaining to transportation infrastructure, development planning and technical assistance. See Appendix F: City of Wilsonville and West Linn-Wilsonville School District Collaborations for more information.

The City has tended to focus on providing first-rate public-works infrastructure for treatment of water, wastewater and stormwater, transportation facilities including roads and sidewalks, public transit services, and parks and recreational programming. Fieldwork research showed that City’s foremost cultural institution—the Wilsonville Public Library—is exceptionally well regarded for providing cultural resources and programming.

The City’s support for the School District has come primarily through sponsoring voter-approved levies and the use of urban renewal or tax-increment financing to support the development of school facilities that benefit the greater community, purchase of land that can be traded with School District for siting schools and parks, and infrastructure-related projects. Some examples include a 1992 City urban renewal agency contribution of $2 million for “joint community/high school facilities in Wilsonville,” City support for serial levies in 1994 and 1997 that also featured “programming of Wilsonville High School and sports fields, gang prevention activities for youth, and a full-time DARE officer,” urban renewal funding during 2010-12 of the $800,000 I-5/Wilsonville Road underpass public-art/pedestrian sidewalk-safety project known as “Beauty and the Bridge,” and leasing of a City-owned facility for use by the District as the Arts and Technology High School.

The School District by definition has focused on providing high-quality public education and supporting services in grades K through 12 that include strong support for community cultural activities, events and programs. The District routinely opens its facilities and playing fields for community use when their facilities are not being actively used by students and school programs.  For example, the District hosts in school facilities various community uses after school hours and on the weekends that primarily include youth sports, scouting troops, student clubs, ecumenical groups, STEM groups (robotics), childcare and the similar groups. The District provides logistical support for student participation in the annual Festival of the Arts event, as well as storage space at no charge for Wilsonville Arts and Culture Council to store Festival of the Arts supplies.

One of the remarkable findings that interviews and surveys highlighted was the amazing amount and quality of arts education and cross-cultural activities and events conducted by the School District. For example, Wilsonville High School’s Día de los Muertos celebration and the primary schools’ International Night events are popular with both students and their families and community leaders. Additionally, members of the community’s youth spoke highly of their art teachers, school-based cultural events and the varied arts curriculum offered by Wilsonville schools. The ACHS fieldwork research showed that the schools are considered one of the primary source sources of cultural activity and programming in Wilsonville. Both students and teachers expressed during meetings and interviews that they wished they could expand the school’s cultural programming to the community, and stakeholders interviewed in this planning process had the same notion.

Recognizing the significant and growing population of students and their families of Latinx ethnic background, the District committed in 2018 to producing all public communications in both English and Spanish.

Interviews conducted for the ACHS tended to show that members of the community want City government to take more of a leadership role to actively support local arts and culture — to both improve quality-of-life and create economic-development opportunities. Additionally, residents engaged in performing arts, including music, theatre and dance—desire use of District auditorium facilities.

Successful passage in 2019 of a School District bond measure included funds for relocating Arts and Technology High School to a district-owned facility and construction of a new, larger auditorium at Wilsonville High School. The School District is in the process of designing and constructing a new Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Wilsonville High School that may facilitate greater community utilization.

In commissioning the ACHS, the Wilsonville City Council recognized that the City did not have a mandate in the form of a policy document to more actively support cultural endeavors in the community.

 

 

Finding 7.  The community seeks public-sector leadership to support arts, culture and heritage facilities, programs and events.

A constant refrain from the fieldwork research, including the Cultural Vision Survey and stakeholder interviews in 2018 and 2020, demonstrated a desire for greater public-sector engagement in cultural affairs and increased support for community nonprofits involved in arts, culture and heritage. Additionally, the Municipal Survey of Cultural Facilities and Programs demonstrated that active public-sector engagement with the nonprofit sector produces a greater volume and quality of cultural programming and events.

While the City has an annual Community Opportunity Grant program ($25,000 total budget) overseen by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and an annual Community Tourism Grant program ($25,000 total budget) overseen by the Tourism Promotion Committee, neither board nor committee has a focus on arts, culture and heritage. The grant programs have been funded at the same level for the past 20 years; no funds were awarded from the Community Tourism Grant program in FY19-20.

For some time, members of the Tourism Promotion Committee have felt stymied in awarding tourism grants that provide key support for cultural nonprofits that sponsor mostly ‘community-oriented’ events/programs, while being mandated by state law for tourism funds that are to target visitors from over 50 miles away. The Wilsonville Visitor Profile Survey conducted in 2018 found that “visitation in Wilsonville is largely regional [with] a majority of visitors” (80%) originating from nearby counties. The Visitor Profile Survey also notes the opportunity for rallying residents around local culture and turning them into the best promoters for tourism. “A targeted campaign to local residents to inform them of things to do, new restaurants and lodging, attractions, and events would be beneficial since they could potentially be Wilsonville’s most compelling evangelists when it comes to word of mouth marketing and referrals.”

The Wilsonville Public Library, with support from the Wilsonville Friends of the Library and the Wilsonville Public Library Foundation, has advanced a rich literary arts and humanities program embracing cultural diversity aimed at increasing literacy primarily among families with young children. The Library also houses the Wilsonville-Boones Ferry Historical Society archives collection. The Library was constantly named as the City’s primary cultural venue in survey results, interviews and meetings.

However, no City volunteer leadership body or staff focus solely on supporting, developing and coordinating community cultural activities, events and programs.

 

 

PUBLIC ART AND CULTURAL CENTER

Finding 8.  Public art is recognized as a significant cultural asset in Wilsonville.

Wilsonville area citizens have been active in gaining artwork in key public spaces since at least 2003. The existing collection of artwork stands as a testament to these dedicated residents, the former Wilsonville Citizens for Public Art, Wilsonville Arts and Culture Council and local donors.

When asked about local culture, survey respondents and interviewees often reference the public art that is currently on display in Wilsonville. Many area residents enjoy the public art, and some call for greater diversity in public art forms, including murals. Others would like to see more consistent placement, programming and management of public art. From our survey of 15 municipalities, public art stands out as the #1 consistent area for programming. Over 80% of municipal respondents provide assistance with public-art acquisition and programming.

The City Public Works Department together with GIS Division cataloged all public art in Wilsonville, and is creating a plan for on-going maintenance of City-owned public art. See Appendix G: Wilsonville Public Art.

Public art—specifically as a tool of creative-placemaking—is called for in both the 2019 Town Center Plan and the 2018 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan; see Appendix C: Citations to City of Wilsonville Master Plans and Strategies. It is important to note that nationally public art as a tool of placemaking is less about placing static artwork in public spaces and more about commissioning artwork that is well integrated with the site, honors the site’s history and stories, and engages the viewer/participant. Art then becomes a tool for building both physical community and human community. (See Appendix Q: Articles and Studies Related to Arts, Culture and Heritage.)

 

 

Finding 9.  Substantial community demand exists for an arts and cultural center/facility.

A resounding call for a Wilsonville cultural center arose from all of the outreach efforts in phase one of the Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy in 2018 and again in 2020. That is, surveys, interviews and meetings cumulatively conducted over a two-year period demonstrated a repeated refrain for a community cultural center where residents and visitors can participate in cultural activities including performances, exhibits, lectures, events, and classes.  See Appendix K: Survey Instruments and Summary of Responses for Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy (ACHS).

The broad mission for the center is to provide a range of cultural opportunities, bring together community cultural assets, serve as performance home for organizations such as WilsonvilleSTAGE, and highlight/promote the cultures of Wilsonville.

An arts and culture center is most often seen as a flexible, multi-purpose, welcoming facility. The scale, programming, and business model for such a facility must be specific to Wilsonville, just as each of the municipalities surveyed through this planning process have a specific approach and funding base. Based on the needs of specific arts and cultural activities and the potential number of participants, more than one facility may be appropriate.

The 2018 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan calls for “design, fund, and improve new performance area (in Town Center Park).” See Appendix C: Citations to City of Wilsonville Master Plans and Strategies.

 

 

FUNDING AND RESOURCES

Finding 10.  Funding and resource development are crucial to improve nonprofit organizational capacity and advance arts/culture programs.

Below are key pertinent findings around funding and resource development from the survey of 15 comparable communities that operate municipal arts and cultural facilities and/or programming. Identifying a blend of funding and resource development approaches is key to creating a sustainable cultural affairs program.

• Having both a dedicated staff person and dedicated funding are vitally important.
• Creating a diversified, sustainable funding stream for cultural programming is crucial for long-term success. Reliance on one primary funding source can place cultural programming in a vulnerable position to a change in conditions. A balanced funding model and a robust public/private partnership is often key to success.
• Wilsonville’s cultural organizations appear to largely lack deep financial or volunteer support from local corporations. Yet these corporations benefit from being in a community with a vibrant cultural life.
• Stay responsive to the community as you develop resources.
• Position the program(s) as additive rather than a repetition of something that’s already regionally available.
• Where possible, operate within the City’s structure (for the benefit of retirement, higher compensation, departmental support), yet stay agile as an independent non-profit can be. Trying for the best of both possible worlds—public-sector and nonprofit-sector—often produces strong results.

SECTION C: Recommendations

The following recommendation have been vetted through the ACHS Task Force and public review. All comments received have been reviewed, discussed, and where feasible integrated with recommendations.

COMMUNITY CONTEXT

Recommendation 1.  City adopts this cultural strategy and provides public-sector leadership and coordination to support community arts, culture and heritage facilities, programs and events.

For the City to build on community cultural assets and create a cultural vision identified by residents in this study, the City must step forward and lead. Findings 3 and 4 show that the community’s cultural nonprofits are unable to do so without City leadership and support.

The local-area educational institutions of the West Linn-Wilsonville School District and Clackamas Community College cover a wider territory than the Wilsonville community and are focused on serving students and their families.

Leadership does not mean doing everything, but it does mean stepping forward to strengthen and mobilize assets, address challenges/barriers, leverage resources, and actively work toward achieving the cultural vision. Untapped resources to support growth and development of local culture includes private sector corporations which will benefit from a more vibrant local cultural scene.

Stakeholders, through interviews, consistently call for this kind of City leadership. Adopting this cultural strategy will immediately demonstrate City leadership to advance a culturally vibrant community.

 

 

Recommendation 2.  Make cultural diversity and ethnic inclusivity a priority.

In 2017 the Wilsonville City Council adopted Resolution No. 2626 declaring the City of Wilsonville as a welcoming and inclusive city; see Appendix D: City Support for Arts, Culture and Heritage. The resolution states that Wilsonville is “an inclusive City that has and will continue to welcome the collective contributions of all persons, honoring and respecting people of every race, color, national origin, immigration or refugee status, heritage, culture.”

This City Council directive sets the stage to embed inclusivity in all arts, culture and heritage thinking and practices. Some participants in this research process said that they choose to live in Wilsonville instead of neighboring communities because it is more ethnically diverse.

Developing a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens and practice requires serious commitment and effort, but can advance many Wilsonville goals well into the future. The Director of the Chehalem Cultural Center in Newberg said as advice to the City of Wilsonville: “I would also encourage bringing in voices from traditionally marginalized groups as early as possible to shape the project from the start. It is harder to reverse engineer that process and bring them on once things are moving.”

The outreach meetings with youth and Latinx families during this planning process were very productive. The City should stay in continual dialogue with youth, Latinx, LGBQT, and other under-served populations as the City works in partnership towards greater equity and inclusion.

 

 

CULTURAL NONPROFITS

Recommendation 3.  Provide strategic assistance to Wilsonville cultural nonprofits in order to build organizational capacity.

Working with local cultural non-profits to build their capacity to serve the community must be a priority of the proposed new Arts, Culture, Heritage Commission (below). Non-profits are essential elements of a healthy community arts ecology.

Following is a summary of recommendations from “Report on Nonprofit Forms 990 Quantitative Analysis,” commissioned by the City and conducted by VISTRA, August 2020; see Appendix H: Nonprofits Analyses and Reports.

• “Training. The 10 organizations in the sample that report gross receipts of less than $50,000 could benefit from fund development training such as the courses offered by the Nonprofit Leadership Center (https://nlctb.org). Investing in training can lead to improved efficiency and sustainability for the organizations.
• “Consolidate or Collaborate. The administrative burden of operating a nonprofit can be overwhelming for some organizations, particularly those with all volunteer management. Wilsonville nonprofits may find it beneficial to consider consolidating or collaborating to gain efficiencies in management requirements.
• “Program vs. Independent Organization. An approach that offers cost savings and increased efficiencies is for new or small nonprofits to become programs of appropriate larger nonprofits, rather than becoming or remaining independent organizations with all of the administrative and compliance requirements.”

Thus, in addition to training on nonprofit organizational requirements and fund-raising, these recommendations suggest a more ‘United Fund' approach to collaboration and fund-raising, and may go further to even suggest consolidation of community cultural nonprofits. Given the recent past, current and future prospects for volunteer/board recruitment and participation, Wilsonville’s cultural nonprofits need to seriously consider these recommendations. The City is in a position through the ACHS to work in partnership with and support building the capacity of local cultural nonprofits.

 

 

PUBLIC SECTOR

Recommendation 4.  City forms an Arts and Culture Commission and provides supporting staffing resource.

Twelve of the 15 communities in the Portland metropolitan area surveyed during this planning process, have, or are in the process of forming, an arts/cultural advisory body to City Council. Wilsonville lacks this level of commitment to and coordination of local culture. Staff of the 15 cities interviewed provided “advice for the City of Wilsonville” for the composition and duties of an Arts and Culture Commission; see Appendix K: Survey Instruments and Summary of Responses for Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy (ACHS).

By definition, an Arts and Culture Commission would be a multi-disciplinary body that ‘crosses over’ various City departments, including Library, Parks & Recreation, Community Development, Public Works, and Administration. Thus, the Commission would have a relationship with other City bodies and supporting nonprofits relevant to these departments, including respectively the Library Board, Friends of the Library, Wilsonville Public Library Foundation, Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, Heritage Tree Committee and the Tourism Promotion Committee.

In order to propel the work of the Arts and Culture Commission, the City should consider creating a full-time position that could also work with the City’s Tourism Promotion Committee and program. Currently, no City staff are dedicated solely to the Tourism Promotion Program. Rather, the relatively new Tourism Promotion Program that the City Council created with the Tourism Development Strategy of 2014 has been staffed primarily by Administration staff as ‘other duties as assigned,’ and to a lesser degree with Parks & Recreation staff. A full-time staff person dedicated to tourism and cultural affairs would allow the City to develop greater expertise, networking connections and dedicated work product to advance an integrated tourism and cultural affairs program. Thus, the Tourism and Cultural Affairs Coordinator would staff both the Tourism Promotion Committee and the Arts and Culture Commission.

In the tourism realm, the City works closely with the lead Clackamas County Tourism and Cultural Affair Department, doing business as Oregon’s Mt. Hood Territory. Since arts, culture and heritage activities and programs are often attractive to visitors and act as a tourism draw, a full-time staff position of Tourism and Cultural Affairs Coordinator is recommended. Thus, the City’s arts-culture-heritage and tourism-promotion efforts would be similarly organized as the lead County agency responsible for tourism and cultural affairs.

The Commission should be composed of representatives of Wilsonville residents and employers who have an interest in advancing local arts and culture and have the time and skills to serve in this important leadership capacity. The majority of commissioners should also be knowledgeable in one or more of the key cultural disciplines, including:

• Arts/Designs/Handcrafts, such as ceramics, handcrafts, mixed-media art and others.
• Heritage, such as folklore, history, language arts and others.
• Literary Arts, such as the humanities, poetry, writing and others.
• Performing Arts, such as dance, music, theater and others.
• Visual Arts, such as painting, photography, sculpture, video and others.

Some Commissioners may represent related areas such as local or regional media, architecture/design, tourism, or bring other important skills such as fund development, strategic planning, enterprise development, etc. Commissioners should also represent the ethnic diversity of Wilsonville.

The Arts and Culture Commission would most likely:

• Oversee implementation of the ACHS and make recommendations to the City Council for new initiatives and funding requests.
• Look to seize opportunities to support and grow Wilsonville’s cultural assets. Advocate and troubleshoot within the City structure for nonprofits and artists/creatives.
• Recommend specific strategies to support artists, creatives, and cultural nonprofits. (The term “creatives” indicates people with an intense desire to make, create, produce original work that can include artists, designers, craftspeople, scholars and teachers, writers, documentarians, historians and heritage specialists, librarians, and others.)
• Encourage collaboration with the schools, community cultural nonprofits and other key partners toward common goals.
• Oversee programs, including a public art program, grants and/or technical assistance, and key cultural events. The intent is for the City to support events of community non-profits such as the Historical Society’s well-attended history lectures at McMenamin’s Old Church and Pub.
• Closely coordinate with other City departments and their respective Council-confirmed boards and commissions including:
  
  • The Library and Library Board.
  • Parks and Recreation Department and the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and the Tourism Promotion Committee.
• Provide input on cultural facility studies and implementation.
• Seek opportunities to leverage funding and other resources to advance cultural programs.
• Consider creating a “Cultural Calendar” on the City’s websites, including the tourism-oriented ExploreWilsonville.com.

A Tourism and Cultural Affairs Coordinator position could include duties such as:

• Local/community arts and cultural activities:
  
  • Coordinating activities, fundraising and programs with the community’s cultural nonprofits.
  • Assisting Administration, Library and Parks and Recreation Departments with working with cultural nonprofits.
  • Staffing the Arts and Culture Commission and the Tourism Promotion Committee, including arranging meetings, taking meeting minutes and other functions.
  • Supervising contractors, such as the Tourism Promotion and Destination Marketing Contractor for the Tourism Promotion program.
  • Cultivating supporters including board members, donors and sponsors.
  • Working with the Mayor and Economic Development Manager to call on Wilsonville businesses and encourage participation and sponsorship of local cultural endeavors.
  • Developing relationships with funders and composing grant requests to funding bodies.
• Regional arts and cultural activities:
  
  • Networking with other municipal organizations’ arts and culture programs and facilities.
  • Keeping in contact with regional resource organizations including the Regional Arts and Culture Council (Portland), Clackamas County Arts Alliance, Clackamas Cultural Coalition and Clackamas County Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department.
• International cultural affairs:
  
  • Staffing the Wilsonville-Kitakata/Japan Sister City program.
  • Arranging visits from South Korean delegates to the Oregon Korean War Memorial.
  • Coordinating with the Korean War Memorial Interpretative Center in conjunction with the Korea War Memorial Foundation of Oregon and Korean War Veterans Association (KWVA)/Oregon Trail Chapter.

An issue for City consideration is which department or departments should “house” or oversee the proposed Arts and Culture Commission and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Coordinator position. The results of the survey of 15 municipalities that own or operate arts and culture programs and/or facilities show that no one single department is constantly singled out as having primary responsibility for cultural programming. Rather, cities have variously housed an arts and culture commission and supporting staff in either Administration Department (City Manager’s Office), Library or Parks and Recreation Department; and occasionally the commission is under one department and support staff in another department.

The variety of departments assigned “arts and culture” responsibilities varies in large part apparently due to the multi-disciplinary nature of arts, culture and heritage activities and programming, as well as the capacity or orientation of various cities’ departments. Like many communities, much of the City of Wilsonville’s cultural and heritage events and programs are organized and sponsored by the Library. However, also like many communities, the Parks and Recreation Department is highly engaged in siting public art and hosting cultural events or programs in city parks, as well as sponsoring hands-on art classes and activities. Unlike traditional municipal public-works functions, perhaps because of the “newness” of a city having to operate cultural programming at a higher level of awareness and activity, the Administration Department or City Manager’s Office works to with the Council-appointed commission and to coordinate the various departments’ events and programs.

As noted above, the Wilsonville Administration Department staff has been the primary City personnel working with the Tourism Promotion Committee and advancing the tourism promotion program, with some support from Park and Recreation Department staff. Since the proposed Arts and Culture Commission and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Coordinator position would work in close collaboration with the Tourism Promotion Committee and program, and coordinate with both the Library and Parks and Recreation Department, it may make sense to continue to house the new commission and staff in the Administration Department. The City’s marketing-communications and public information office functions are also housed in the Administration Department. Siting in the Administration Department also provides additional opportunity to engage and coordinate with the Mayor and City Council members who could be engaged in recruiting commission members, as well as seeking support from nonprofit volunteers and members of the business community to support and sponsor cultural programming.

However, whichever department is ultimately chosen to house the Commission and staff, it is crucial that the three primary departments with arts, culture and heritage-related duties coordinate closely.

 

 

Recommendation 5.  Improve inter-governmental collaboration and coordination to advance arts, culture and heritage.

As indicated throughout this report, the School District’s arts and cultural programs and activities are highly valued. Several respondents, including both youth and interviewees, discussed how great it would be if the School District’s cultural activities could “spill out” into the community.

Wilsonville parents highly regard the School’s International Evenings. Youth and others give high marks to the Días de los Muertos festival which drew approximately 1,000 participants in 2019. These events have the strong engagement, creativity, and relevance that people want to see more of in the community.

Both the School District and the City have a lack of cultural facilities, and the School District is now in design phase for a new performing arts center at Wilsonville High School. The community will benefit if both the School District and the City carefully coordinate and potentially collaborate on facility use. That said, it is most often very difficult for high school performing arts facilities to be shared with community use during the school year. But there is opportunity to collaborate around potential summer facility use and programming that benefits both the City and the School District. Another partner to include in these conversations is Clackamas Community College.

A process for coordination and collaboration between the public cultural providers needs to be created. The proposed Tourism and Cultural Affairs Coordinator would be in a position to provide this level of coordination with the public-sector, nonprofits and cultural creatives that enables a greater community celebration of culture.

 

PUBLIC ART AND CULTURAL CENTER

Recommendation 6.  Develop a long-term, sustainable public art program.

Wilsonville’s public art is definitely appreciated by both residents and visitors. During the Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy process, community members repeatedly called for additional public art that embraces a greater range of styles, intent, and artistry.

The following recommendations focus on creating clear policies and procedures toward a public art program and collection, not only individual pieces.

• Develop a public art plan so that artwork is thoughtfully commissioned as part of a public collection. The plan would identify a vision for the program and public art collection, goals and standards, as well as needed policies and procedures for commissioning.
• Review various funding strategies for community acceptance and ability to implement.
• Set aside dollars with a schedule for annual maintenance and upkeep of public art. The same is also needed for Wilsonville’s heritage markers.
• Identify resources to support consultation with public art professionals, potentially to manage projects.
• Continue to engage local and regional artists in the design, planning, and implementation of the public art program. This engagement should include building awareness and skills of local and regional artists in the area of public art.

 

 

Recommendation 7.  The City works with partners to advance an arts and cultural center/facility.

Survey respondents and interviewees repeatedly in both 2018 and 2020 identified the lack of both a physical community cultural center/core and a cultural focus in Wilsonville. This makes sense, given the rapid growth of Wilsonville and the number of times it has re-sited “town center” locations.

Participants consistently identified a community arts/culture/heritage center as a way to ensure cultural opportunities are manifest. The word opportunities comes up consistently as both a current “lack” and a “hope.” There is a clear call among participants in the Strategy process for an arts/culture/heritage center. Most participants are modest in their vision of a center, but consistently imagine a facility that is:

• Flexible: can grow/change with the needs/demands of Wilsonville.
• Multi-purpose: can accommodate a variety of cultural uses including performances, exhibitions, lectures, special events, and classes.
• Home to Wilsonville Theatre Company (WilsonvilleSTAGE) and potentially the Wilsonville Historical Society, both of which have physical assets deserving proper care. Certainly the center would be home for performing arts.
• Inclusive of a space(s) for visual and other arts exhibitions. The intriguing idea for a cooperative gallery such as the Spiral Gallery in Estacada and Portland’s Blackfish Gallery was also proposed.
• A facility study should also review how to better utilize existing municipal facilities and potentially imagining a set of facilities with cultural uses.
• The 2018 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Plan calls for “design, fund, and improve new performance area (in Town Center Park).” See Appendix C: Citations to City of Wilsonville Master Plans and Strategies.

While the scope of this project does not seek to identify a specific location and operating model for an arts/cultural/heritage center, several locations have been suggested, including the prior Albertsons grocery building at Lowrie Marketplace, Frog Pond (United Methodist) Church, soon-to-be former Art and Technology High School building (former Wesleyan Church, now owned by City), and the Town Center area. There are pros and cons to clustering cultural assets in one facility versus multiple cultural uses in various locations. The City should engage local artists, creatives, and cultural organizations in the conversations about potential site(s), uses, and operating models. And definitely consult with the Library; it serves as a beloved, inclusive cultural center.

Our survey of fifteen municipalities showed two primary models of owning and operating a cultural facility.

• Both the Walters Arts Center in Hillsboro and the Sherwood Arts Center are owned and operated by municipalities.
• The Chehalem Cultural Center (Newberg) is owned by the Chehalem Parks and Recreation District but operated by the Chehalem Cultural Center (501c3). The Center for the Arts in Beaverton (in construction) will be owned by the City of Beaverton but operated by the Beaverton Arts Foundation (501c3.)
• When considering a new or improved Wilsonville cultural facility, review the data collected in this survey, and meet with key staff and visit other community facilities (especially Sherwood, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, Hillsboro, Vancouver, and Newberg.)

 

 

FUNDING

Recommendation 8.  Improve and create sustainable funding mechanisms to support cultural activities, events and programs.

Advice for the City of Wilsonville from colleagues in communities surveyed that operate cultural programs provided a variety of funding options to consider. Below are reflections toward a funding model that surfaced in this planning process; note this is not an exhaustive list.

• Focus on creating a balanced, reliable and diversified funding mechanisms to create a financially sustainable arts and cultural affair program.
• Be careful of funding sources that can drop suddenly because of visitors not traveling or residents not spending dollars on entertainment. This includes Transient Room Occupancy Tax and entertainment tax revenues that can vary greatly.
• Avoid developing a fund development mechanism/strategy that local cultural organizations perceive as competing with their own fund raising.
• Local cultural organizations discussed the difficulty of leveraging local business dollars for support/sponsorship. This is key for City consideration since Wilsonville is such a strong center for business/commerce. Growing donor business support for arts, culture, heritage is important.
• Consider leveraging City funds with other funding sources, such as the Travel Oregon/Oregon Tourism Commission Competitive Grants Program and Metro Community Placemaking Grants program.
• The Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce should be thoroughly on-board with fund development approaches that support arts, culture, and heritage as positive business attractors to Wilsonville. 

Other options discussed in stakeholder interviews include potential local sources of funding operations:

• Review and evaluate two existing City grants programs—the Community Opportunity Grants and Community Tourism Grants—to determine if each is serving its purpose, if total awards should be increased, and if the Community Tourism Grants program should be potentially changed to Cultural Events Grants program.
• Wilsonville-Metro Community Enhancement Program (CEP), funded by a surcharge on solid-waste transferred in Wilsonville, can award funds to a wide range of activities and programs that benefit the community, including:
  
  • Improve the appearance or environmental quality of the community.
  • Result in rehabilitation or upgrade of real or personal property owned or operated by a nonprofit organization.
  • Result in the preservation or enhancement of wildlife, riparian zones, wetlands, forest lands and marine areas, and/or improve the public awareness and the opportunities to enjoy them.
  • Result in improvement to, or an increase in, recreational areas and programs.
  • Benefit youth, seniors, low income persons or underserved populations.
• Wilsonville Cultural Fund. Create a mechanism for receiving gifts/donations/bequests possibly within the Oregon Community Foundation. The City of Hillsboro has such a foundation that should be consulted to better understand various issues before developing similar plan for Wilsonville.
• A per-capita or per-household tax, such as the City of Portland Arts Tax.
• Transient occupancy tax revenues that flow into the City of Wilsonville general fund.
• Payroll tax on employers. A payroll tax since Wilsonville has a robust annual payroll for a community of approximately 25,000.
• Joint fundraising approaches to support nonprofits (a “United Fund” approach.)
• Leveraging donors via Oregon Cultural Trust. The Oregon Cultural Trust’s fund campaign is based on the following steps.

1. Donate first to a local cultural non-profit.
2. Donate the same amount to the Oregon Cultural Trust.
3. The amount donated to the Oregon Cultural Trust is returned to the donor as a refund on state income taxes.
4. Donations to the Oregon Cultural Trust support culture in Oregon, including the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition and local projects and organizations funded through the CCCC.

This (above) is not an exhaustive list of potential funding sources. Appendix P: Funding Options Information to Advance the Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy (ACHS) describes a real estate tax being considered by a New Jersey community.

Local funding sources associated with capital construction

• Urban renewal / tax increment financing: The City has strategically used tax-increment financing via the Wilsonville Urban Renewal Agency to fund a range of public improvements over the past 25 years, including the Beauty and the Bridge I-5/Wilsonville Road underpass public-art/pedestrian-safety project.
• Public percent-for-art ordinance to ensure the integration of public art with public capital construction projects. Percent-for-art policies generally apply to any municipal capital improvement project where a determined percentage of the total project budget is set aside for public art. These policies also address how the money is to be spent on the acquisition, commissioning, and maintenance of public artworks.

Passed in 1975, Oregon’s Percent-for-Art legislation mandates that 1% of the direct construction funds of new or remodeled state buildings with construction budgets of $100,000 or more be set aside for the acquisition of art work. The Oregon Arts Commission oversees the Program and maintains archives of slides, photographs and related documentation for the works of art selected.

• Public art in private development: Incentives or requirements to gain public art or other cultural amenities in private development should also be considered. Gaining public art in commercial development is identified in the 2014 Tourism Development Strategy and 2019  Town Center Plan. Over time, some private developers have incorporated art on public display in Wilsonville, including at Argyle Square and Lowries Marketplace. See Appendix C: Citations to City of Wilsonville Master Plans and Strategies: 2018 Parks and Recreation Comprehensive Master Plan calls for integration of public art.