This is the first in a series of residencies for the Portland Archives & Record Center (PARC). The artists will create work that engages and/or is a result of working with the collections and staff at PARC. City Archivist Diana Banning says “We hope that this artist residency will help to breakdown stereotypes of how people use the historical collections. Seeing how artists interpret materials will bring a new perspective.” Within the next couple months, Imatani and Sand will work with PARC staff to develop a specific outline of what they intend to accomplish during their residency within the $25,000. The outcome will include public presentation(s) of the project through temporary installation/s, screening/s, exhibition/s or performance/s at PARC or other public locations. As the project develops, there will be additional media advisories.

This residency is funded by the City of Portland Percent for Art requirement from the building of the PARC within the Portland State University Academic & Student Recreation Center (ASRC). The Archive Artist Residency panel, made up of artists, representative of PARC and community members, selected Imatani and Sand through an open call process. A portion of the Percent for Art funds for PARC was used during the building of the facility to commission artist Keiko Hara to create glass artworks for the Research Room.

About the Artists:
Garrick Imatani researches the performative role of public monuments, the documented vs. undocumented, social rituals and civic duty. His work takes many forms from graphite documents, cyanotypes and video to sculpture, installations and collaborative public events. He has received multiple awards, including grants from the Oregon Arts Commission, Maine Arts Commission and Ford Family Foundation. He teaches interdisciplinary courses at Lewis & Clark College where he is Assistant Professor of Art and Studio Head of Foundations.

Kaia Sand is the author of two poetry collections, Remember to Wave (Tinfish Books 2010) and interval (Edge Books 2004), a Small Press Traffic book of the year. Her poetry is investigative and documentary, frequently incorporating research. She also moves poetry outside the book and into other contexts such as art spaces, walks, and a magic show, and co-authored a book on that subject, Landscapes of Dissent: Guerrilla Poetry and Public Space (Palm Press 2008). She teaches humanities in the Portland State University Honors Program and ecopoetry at Pacific University. She is the past recipient of two RACC project grants.