Oregon Public Broadcasting

Artists across Oregon are gearing up to give it away.    Several arts and cultural groups, mindful of the economic squeeze, are making a gambit amid they hope will result in long-term stability.

Wednesday, free arts and cultural events will be staged in towns from Lincoln City to Hood River to Pendleton. Organized by the Oregon Cultural Trust, they are branded as a state-wide Day of Culture.

The idea is to remind Oregonians about their cultural resources, and the Trust's Cynthia Kirk says organizers are encouraging people not to limit themselves to the scheduled concerts, poetry readings, and dance performances.

Cynthia Kirk: "So you can visit a library, you can hike a heritage trail, you can go to a museum, attend a performance, participate in your child's art class at school. The possibilities are endless."

This is no mere exercise in enjoyment. The Cultural Trust recommends that we not merely take part in culture, but donate to them as well.

Kirk says cultural non-profits know this is a difficult time to ask people for money. But she says it's precisely in times like these that ticket sales and philanthropic donations start to lag. That's when museums, libraries, and interpretive centers are most in need of help to keep operating.

Cynthia Kirk: "Those things are free to us, but they are not free to the organizations that produce and provide them. So by making a donation or becoming a member, it's a way to say thank you for what they are giving the community."

Kirk says the government does offer an incentive, in the form of tax deductions for cultural donations.   The Cultural Trust website has a listing of all  free events.

At the same time, a group of sixteen theaters in the Portland area are taking an even more radicalized approach.

They've banded together to offer free tickets--intended for people who may never have been to the theater before.

Shows range from Eurydice to Guys and Dolls -- even an improv show inspired by Portland Mayor-elect Sam Adams.

A few tickets are still available. The Portland Area Theater Alliance has info on its website.

Online:

Cultural Trust - Day of Culture

Portland Area Theatre Alliiance

Free Night Of Theatre 2008