Five Salem organizations will split $81,100 in grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust. The awards are part of a record $4.5 million the state fund is distributing to more than 450 groups across Oregon.

The grants, announced Sept. 11 by the Trust, support programs ranging from youth theater to Spanish-language television, according to KYKN.

A sixth Mid-Valley recipient, the Western Oregon University Development Foundation in Monmouth, will receive $30,000 for its Smith Fine Arts Series, bringing the region's combined total to $111,100.

Capital Community Media received the largest local award at $40,000 to develop a Spanish-language television broadcast featuring Salem-specific content. The Chronicle reported on that grant Sept. 12.

The four other Salem recipients and their awards:

Children's Educational Theatre: $15,000 for its 2027 summer season, a five-week program serving 250 students in grades three through 12. The season is expected to produce eight public performances reaching more than 2,000 audience members.

Theatre 33 at Willamette University: $15,000 for its 2027 Regional New Play Festival, which uses a donation-based attendance model allowing patrons to contribute according to their financial circumstances.

Willamette Master Chorus: $6,000 to expand access to its 22nd annual Veterans Concert, helping remove cost barriers for veterans, Gold Star families and student performers throughout the Mid-Willamette Valley.

The Music Lessons Project: $5,100 to continue providing instruction to roughly 400 low-income band, orchestra and choir students during the 2026–27 school year. The volunteer-run nonprofit serves eight Title I secondary schools in the Salem-Keizer School District, contracting professional instructors for students who cannot afford private lessons.

Those four grants total $41,100.

Statewide, the Trust awarded $2,250,846 through 104 competitive Cultural Development grants, with individual awards ranging from $5,000 to $40,000. Donations from more than 10,000 Oregonians during fiscal year 2026 funded the record total.

"… This unique funding model is becoming a critical resource for supporting learning, historic preservation and valued engagement for communities large and small and in every corner of the state," Amy Lewin, Oregon's director of arts and culture, said in Oregon ArtsWatch's Sept. 11 coverage of the announcement.

The Cultural Tax Credit that funds the Trust must be renewed by the 2027 Oregon Legislature. The Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon is working with state Rep. Rob Nosse, a Portland Democrat, on a bill to renew the credit and raise the maximum amounts, which have not been adjusted for inflation since the program began 25 years ago.