Contact Information
Meech Boakye, Communications Lead, RACC, mboakye@racc.org
Portland, OR — September 18, 2025. The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), in partnership with the City of Portland Office of Arts & Culture, is excited to announce an exhibition of 21 artworks newly acquired for the City’s Visual Chronicle of Portland collection. The exhibition will be hung in the City Gallery space on the second floor of the Portland Building. The public opening event is on Thursday, October 2, at 3pm, and all are welcome to attend.
The artists whose work was selected are Stephanie Buer, Jax Chow, John Cline, Paul Higgins, Hermon Joyner, Kendra Larson, Jim Lommasson, Ivan McClellan, Robert Minervini, David Rice, and Chris Russell.
“These 21 artworks speak to the rhythms and tensions of life in Portland, from the moments of joy and connection to the shifting relationships between people and place,” according to Kristin Law Calhoun, Director of Partnerships and Programs, Regional Arts & Culture Council. “They represent a wide range of voices and approaches that remind us of the depth of talent in our creative community, together they capture how artists make sense of our city.”
“The Portland Office of Arts & Culture is thrilled to present a new set works for the Visual Chronicle of Portland at the Portland Building,” said Eric Fredericksen, Public Art Administrator at the Office of Arts & Culture. “We look forward to further collaboration with the Regional Arts & Culture Council to create new opportunities for public engagement with this important project that collects artists’ responses to the city over the past 40 years.”
See images and key information about the selected artworks here.
About the Visual Chronicle of Portland
The Visual Chronicle of Portland is a City-owned collection of works on paper that offers a dynamic portrayal of artists’ views of the city’s social and urban landscapes. The intent of the collection is to capture “the spirit of the times” and artists’ sense of “Portlandness” as the city evolves and changes. It serves as both an eclectic view of life in Portland as well as a record of artists working in the city. The artworks in this acquisition were selected through a four-stage review process led by RACC and including the participation of an independent panel made up of artists, community members, and City employees.
The collection strives to reflect a diversity of populations, artistic disciplines, and points of view. Artists not yet represented in the collection were prioritized, to expand the range of expression and representation in the Visual Chronicle of Portland. The Visual Chronicle of Portland was started in 1985 following the suggestion of artist Henk Pender, whose hometown of Amsterdam has a similar collection. During its 40 years, this collection has grown to 463 works by 270 artists that are displayed in City-owned spaces throughout Portland.
About the Regional Arts & Culture Council
For decades, RACC has aimed to serve every neighborhood of our region to ensure that arts and culture are accessible to all. Our nationally acclaimed public art program enlivens parks, community centers, government buildings, libraries and health clinics; brings people and communities together; and makes our region a more vibrant and welcoming place to be. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we work to elevate the voices and visibility of individual artists, creative organizations and arts nonprofits – especially those that serve underrepresented communities – amplifying their impact through grants, professional development and other vital resources. Through strategic partnerships, our team works to build coalitions and lead new initiatives, crafting a shared vision for an equitable future for arts and culture in our region. For more information, please visit racc.org.
About the Office of Arts & Culture
Established in July 2024, the City of Portland’s Office of Arts & Culture supports Portland’s arts and culture ecosystem and expands opportunities for Portlanders to participate in creative experiences. It does so through arts education coordination, cultural planning, grantmaking, public art and the Percent for Art program, and more. Arts & Culture’s vision is to put arts at the center of public life in Portland.
About the City Gallery at the Portland Building
Formerly known as the Installation Space, the City Gallery is an open exhibition space on the second floor of the Portland Building, freely accessible to the public. The Office of Arts & Culture has recently assumed responsibility for programming the space, and will focus on presentations from City collections, including the Visual Chronicle of Portland, while developing longer-range plans for the gallery.