Artists in residence at Portland Archives will discuss their project on October 24

PORTLAND, ORE. — The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has commissioned local artists Kaia Sand and Garrick Imatani for an artists-in-residence project with the City of Portland Archives & Records Center (PARC). In celebration of National Archives Month, the artists will discuss their work in progress on October 24th at 6:30pm, followed by a short reception.

Admission is free but seating is limited, and RSVPs are encouraged; please RSVP Ahmed Yusuf ayusuf@racc.orgwith “Archives Talk” in the subject line.

WHO: Kaia Sand and Garrick Imatani
WHAT: A discussion with artists-in-residence at the Portland Archives
WHEN: Thursday, October 24th at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: City of Portland Archives & Records Center (PARC), 1800 SW 6th Avenue, 5th floor

In exploring materials at PARC, the artists have titled their work The Watcher Files Project. For the past several months, they have been focusing on the surveillance files the Portland Police Bureau gathered on activist groups in the 1960s, ’70s, and early ’80s. Much of their work centers around unheard voices and visual gaps in the official record, asking the questions “How would people who were surveilled talk back?” and “How do we find form for this?” This residency is a Percent for Art project funded through the building of PARC, administered by RACC.

The artists have collaborated with Sasha Burchuk to launch a website with progress reports based on their art, poetry and research. Each report includes a document or photograph from the files. The artists are also creating a limited edition loose-leaf notebook publication that will be built and delivered to subscribers in four installments. The first issue will include a sculpted binder designed by Garrick, poetry by Kaia, and various material works in collaboration with Katherine Ball, Jules Boykoff, Inge Bruggeman, and Lloyd Marbet. The publication can be purchased online.

The artists are providing some of the materials free of charge in electronic (PDF) format. Subscribe to the artists’ website to receive materials and occasional updates via email.