The 2007 Arts Breakfast of Champions

On November 14th, Northwest Business for Culture & the Arts (NW/BCA) honored Portland’s arts and business communities at the Arts Breakfast of Champions. One of our longest running programs, the Breakfast celebrates that partnership, and the fall Breakfast recognizes the Top Business Donors to the Arts in the region. Each year, NW/BCA works with arts organizations and corporate donors to compile a list of the top 10 large, mid-size and small companies ranked by cash contributions made from July 2006 to June 2007 and defined by the number of tri-county area employees. A consolidated list of the top 25 is also published in the November 9th edition of the Portland Business Journal.

Alan Johnson accepts the award for Wells Fargo from performers from Lakewood Theatre Co.

NW/BCA congratulates this year’s winners:

• Large Company Wells Fargo (500 or more employees)
• Mid-Size Company KeyBank (100 - 499 employees)
• Small Company American Express (fewer than 100 employees)

NW/BCA also honors selected businesses for exemplary in-kind donations. This year NW/BCA recognized an entire business sector - the design and construction industry, including architects, designers, construction companies and developers. These companies have collectively contributed millions in labor and materials to build and refurbish the arts facilities that have helped define Portland’s arts and culture scene.

The featured speaker was Sam Adams, Portland’s Arts & Culture Commissioner. Sam’s speech, Building a Culture of Creativity and Innovation, provided his view of what Portland needs in order to attract, retain and support the creative community that brings our region inspiration, economic opportunities, and international recognition. Commissioner Adams is spearheading a Creative Capacity Initiative (www.creativecapacity.org) to address these important issues.

“Art must be given the public space to create, to react and to change us,” Commissioner Adams said. “It must not be an afterthought but forethought. It must find its way into our collective ethos, just as walkable neighborhoods and clean rivers have.” To read Sam’s entire speech, click here for the PDF.

Sam highlighted several collaborations between City Council, NW/BCA and RACC including Work for Art. RACC, in partnership with NW/BCA, reaches out to businesses and engages employees to create new arts supporters and new contributions. Last year, Sam led an effort by City Council to create a public match of these contributions, which has generated $446,000 for the arts. Sam concluded his speech by honoring the ten companies who raised the most through their employees and through matching gifts, and the award for the Top Work for Art participant was presented to The Standard.

The event also featured anniversaries of several cherished organizations. Table centerpieces were from Oregon College of Art and Craft in honor of the college’s 100th anniversary. In recognition of Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre’s 35th anniversary, the troupe performed an excerpt from Pinocchio. And to celebrate Artists Repertory Theatre’s 25th anniversary, Susannah Mars, who is performing Mars on Life: The Holiday Edition at A.R.T., served as awards emcee and ended the event with a song. The Breakfast was sponsored by Portland General Electric and co-sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Henry V and Washington Trust Bank.