RACC Blog

Regional Arts & Culture Council Announces Leadership Transition

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MEDIA CONTACT
Heather Nelson Kent
Communications Manager, Regional Arts & Culture Council
503-823-5426
hnkent@racc.org


Executive Director Madison Cario Departs for Bay Area Arts Enterprise

The Board of Directors of the Regional Arts & Culture Council announced today that Executive Director Madison Cario will depart on December 3rd to serve as CEO for both the Minnesota Street Project and the Minnesota Street Project Foundation in San Francisco. The Board and senior leadership are developing a transition plan to ensure smooth operations at RACC.

“The RACC Board is grateful for Madison’s leadership especially as we worked to meet the arts community’s needs during this devastating global pandemic,” said RACC Board Chair Nathan Rix. “Madison brought great vision and organizational capability to RACC, allowing us to be responsive, focus on equity, and strengthen our work with key stakeholders. The organization is well-positioned to lead and support Portland’s ever-evolving and growing arts community.”

Board Chair Rix outlined the transition plan in a meeting with RACC team members and board members on Wednesday. “We’re already mapping out our next steps for executive leadership and will be seeking community input and working with our stakeholders moving ahead,” he said.

The organization stands in a strong position having recently reorganized and realigned to better meet community needs, and secured funding and long-term partnerships, including a 3-year contract with the City of Portland, along with annual contracts with Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties and Metro. Under Cario’s leadership, the organization diversified its funding, securing grants from national, state, and local foundations, corporations, and private donors.

“My time in Portland has been meaningful and I am incredibly proud of how we rose to the challenges of this pandemic, responded to social justice issues and the needs of our community over the past three years,” said Cario. “RACC, and the communities we serve, will always have a vocal advocate and ally in me.”

The shutdowns and social distancing requirements caused by COVID-19 significantly impacted the arts community and artists across the region. The RACC leadership team, led by Cario, was instrumental in a statewide advocacy campaign that secured $50 million in federal CARES Act funding for arts organizations and venues across the state. Ultimately, RACC was tapped to administer millions in CARES funds to artists and art organizations. RACC distributed $13.2M through a new partnership with the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition; $2.5 M for local performing arts venues, and $190,000 in grants from the City of Portland’s CARES allocation designated for local Black, Indigenous, and artists of color.

“In my nine months as Arts and Culture Commissioner, I’ve enjoyed working with Madison tremendously,” said Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who serves as the city’s liaison to RACC. “They helped Portland’s arts and culture community through the challenges of COVID and being more inclusive of more artists in our community. Their time in Portland has left our city, and our city’s arts and culture community, better, and I wish them well in their next steps.”

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An independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, we support greater Portland’s creative economy by providing equitable funding and services to artists and art organizations; managing and growing our diverse, nationally acclaimed public art program; and developing long-lasting public and private partnerships. For more information visit racc.org. 

 

RACC Board of Directors Confirm Statues Should Not Be Returned

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RACC Team and Public Art Committee to outline next steps for community review process

Today the Regional Arts & Culture Council Board of Directors endorsed a recommendation that toppled and removed monuments not be returned to their previous location and to inform City officials of this recommendation. The recommendation not to return statues to their previous location does not mean that works will be permanently removed from the City of Portland’s public collection. The statues include: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt: Rough Rider, Harvey Scott, and Promised Land. City officials have decided that Elk will return to downtown Portland.

RACC’s Public Art Committee (PAC) made the recommendation not to return the five statues to their previous locations. The committee oversees and guides Public Art Program policies for the selection, placement, and maintenance of works of art acquired through the Percent for Art Program and other public/private programs RACC manages. The committee is made up of artists, art administrators, and community stakeholders. The PAC recommendation is consistent with recent action by the Portland City Council recommending new public art representing more diverse cultural identities and histories for the South Park Blocks. The George Washington statue cannot be returned to its former site as that site is privately owned and the owners do not wish to have it in that location anymore.

The recommendation not to return these statues to their previous locations raises the question of what happens next. Should the monuments be assigned a new home? Should all of them remain in the public collection? According to RACC’s Public Art Program policies, consideration of these questions requires meaningful community engagement. The Board directed the RACC team and PAC to come back to them at a meeting in October with a process for engaging stakeholders in a conversation about what happens next with each statue.

How can the community get involved?
Community engagement and stakeholder input are part of the process. Follow this link to provide input. Sign up for RACC’s online newsletter to be notified of future engagement opportunities at www.racc.org/about/newsletter/

Public Art Program Background
The Public Art Committee, in consultation with city leadership, reviewed the Public Art Program policies and criteria as they relate to donation and deaccession of memorials, monuments, and statues. The PAC updated those policies to align with RACC’s mission, vision, and values and the City’s value of antiracism. The updated policy states that public artworks can be removed if the “subject or impact of an artwork is significantly at odds with values of antiracism, equity, inclusion.” They also expanded circumstances that can lead to the removal of a piece of artwork, if it becomes a rallying place for “gatherings centered on racist or bigoted ideology.” RACC’s board endorsed the policy changes in May 2021.

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An independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, we support greater Portland’s creative economy by providing equitable funding and services to artists and art organizations; managing and growing our diverse, nationally acclaimed public art program; and developing long-lasting public and private partnerships. For more information visit racc.org. 

MEDIA CONTACT
Heather Nelson Kent
Communications Manager, Regional Arts & Culture Council
503-823-5426
hnkent@racc.org

Next steps for toppled and removed monuments – FAQ

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Updated following RACC Board Action 9/29/2021

What is the status of statues that were removed or toppled in 2020 protests?
The statues from the City of Portland’s public art collection are secured in a temporary storage facility. This includes: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt: Rough Rider, Harvey Scott, Promised Land and Elk.

Will these statues be returned to their former locations?
RACC’s Public Art Committee (PAC) oversees and guides Public Art Program policies for the selection, placement, and maintenance of works of art acquired through the Percent for Art Program and other public/private programs RACC manages. On Wednesday, Sept. 29 the RACC Board endorsed the Public Art Committee’s recommendation not to return these statues to their previous locations (excluding the Elk) and to notify City officials of the recommendation. The recommendation is consistent with recent action by the Portland City Council recommending new public art representing more diverse cultural identities and histories for the South Park Blocks. The George Washington statue will not return to its former site as that site is privately owned and the owners do not wish to have it in that location anymore.

What happens next?
RACC’s recommendation to the City Council sets in motion a process for considering next steps. Should the monuments be assigned a new home? Should all of them remain in the public collection? According to RACC’s Public Art Program policies, consideration of these questions requires meaningful community engagement. Each of these statues has its own unique story and engagement may vary depending on the stakeholders.

What about the Elk statue?
City officials have determined separately that the Elk will return to downtown Portland. The project details, budget and timeline are being developed.

RACC’s Public Art Committee revised policies regarding the donation and removal (deaccession) of art from the public collection. What were the major changes?
The committee, in consultation with city leadership, reviewed the Public Art Program policies and criteria as they relate to donation and deaccession (removal) of memorials, monuments, and statues. The PAC updated those policies to align with RACC’s mission, vision, and values and the City’s value of antiracism. The updated policy states that public artworks can be removed if the “subject or impact of an artwork is significantly at odds with values of antiracism, equity, inclusion.” They also expanded circumstances that can lead to the removal of a piece of artwork, if it becomes a rallying place for “gatherings centered on racist or bigoted ideology.” RACC’s board endorsed these changes in May 2021.

What happens to a statue if a determination is made to remove it from the public art collection?
If a decision is made to “deaccession” an artwork (remove it from the collection), it could be traded or sold, returned to the donors, recycled or destroyed.

How can the community get involved?
Community engagement and stakeholder input is required as part of the process. Follow this link to be notified of engagement opportunities and provide input.

Here and There – Three Conversations with Mural Artists

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We are thrilled to introduce HERE AND THERE, a new series of conversations between Portland-area muralists and muralists working outside of our region. This three-part series, unfolding monthly through  October, hopes to serve as both a professional development opportunity for aspiring and working muralists and a point of connection for our communities to relate more fully with the art that surrounds us. Join us to listen, ask questions, and learn!

Check out the second in our fall series of conversations between Portland-area muralists and muralists working outside of our region. Next up, a virtual conversation between local muralist Alex Chiu and Brooklyn, NY artist Katie Yamasaki. Join us to listen, ask questions, and learn!

Thursday, Sept. 23, 6 p.m. Free of charge.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/here-and-there-a-mural-conversation-series-alex-chiu-and-katie-yamasaki-tickets-169675942311

How are artists today helping us understand our place in time? Kyra Watkins and Cece Carpio explored this question, and others, along with our Public Art Senior Specialist Salvador Mayoral IV in the first our series on August 27. You can hear more from these two artists – one from “Here” and the other “There” – by watching the video recording. Here’s a link to the full video: https://youtu.be/c9uSGdWYIK8 

Watkins, who is based here in Portland, plainly shares her point of view. “As artists we are historians,” she says. “We capture the moment. We canonize what’s happening in time. There’s the text but there’s also the visuals and we’re in charge of setting that.” Follow Kyra Watkins @hernamewaskyra.

Self-described “visual storyteller” Cece Carpi, who is based in Oakland, CA explains why she focuses on “everyday people” in her work. “We are worth the attention,” she says. “Our stories are magic.” Follow Cece Carpio @cececarpio.

 

Our three-part series wraps up in October. It’s an opportunity to hear from working muralists and connect with our communities. Learn about their practices and the role of artists and artmaking in a time of change.

October 21, 6 p.m. Watch for sign up details.

 

September – December Edition Newsletter 2021

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Welcome to the first edition of our new K-12 Arts Educators newsletter, #newsforyourheart. As we work to reconnect and engage with this brave new world, we know it will take time, it will be painful, it will be hard, but we will also find joy, hope, and love. I hope that this newsletter will illuminate some of the work we are doing at RACC, direct you to opportunities, professional development and resources. You’ll find features about our district arts educators and arts partners. With your help we can showcase student work from our six districts. Spread some joy! Please share #newsforyourheart with your colleagues and students!

– Chanda Evans (she/her), Arts Education Program Specialist


Features & Highlights

 

Arts Education and Access Fund New Logo

Vincente, Rose Waterfall, logo design 2021

During the Spring of 2021, RACC and the Arts Education and Access Fund (AEAF) Oversight Committee unveiled our new student re-designed AEAF Logo. We encourage you to help guide the process of having your school proudly display this on their websites. As we work to reframe the narrative around arts funding in schools, we know that this is a small step in letting our neighbors, family, and friends know their yearly $35 payment is worth it. It goes to arts education! We thank you. To learn more about how funds from the Arts Education and Access Fund are used to support students and increase access to arts and culture in our community, click here.

All of the AEAF Oversight Committee meetings are open to the public. For more information click here.

 

 

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Two Questions for AEAF Oversight Committee Chair, Laura Streib (she/her).

What is your favorite memory around the arts? My favorite elementary arts memory is in my 3rd-grade class. Our teacher had us do a project where we dipped yarn into various palettes of tempera paint, and then we curled them onto a large piece of black construction paper and then fling/pull it back to create these amazing abstract painted flowers. Now, my adult self is blown away that she had a class of 30 nine-year-olds flinging yarn with paint on it around her classroom! But it was very memorable and fun!

Laura Strieb smiles at the camera. She is wearing a long necklace and blue blouse.

Laura Streib

What made you choose the arts as a career? Growing up within a public school system that was so supportive of the arts and music helped guide me into a career in the arts. By the time I was in high school, half of my school day was filled with arts-focused classes from symphonic band and concert choir to photography. This is why I was motivated daily to go to school, where I developed community, connected, and built life-long friendships. I founded an arts education nonprofit in Portland to help support educators and ensure that kids have an opportunity and access to build a community and have a creative space to flourish. Until our Portland Metro schools have that opportunity for kids to have continuous K-12 arts pathways – that is where I will continue to pour my efforts. Kids deserve to have a robust arts education as part of their K-12 educational experience.

Laura is at aeafpdx@gmail.com

 

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artlook®oregon

Since 2010, RACC has had a unique partnership and relationship with the Kennedy Center, which brings several programs into the fold of Arts Education: Any Given Child and the Partnership for Education. In 2018 RACC was one of nine sites across the United States selected to participate in a 3-year pilot program to launch artlook®. Through this relationship with the Kennedy Center and Chicago-based developer Ingenuity, artlook® provides communities with an arts-based interactive mapping database platform. This allows school districts to understand their local arts and culture landscape and create more equitable and accessible arts and culture education opportunities for all students. School districts, educators, families, and the community can navigate arts and culture education opportunities in their region. One of RACC’s goals in arts education is to expand to other school districts and create robust arts and cultural partnerships across Oregon as they join the artlook® platform.

 

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Arts Education Resources 

A comprehensive curated resource list from RACC’s Arts Education Program is available for download. Click here 

Back-to-school resources on social emotional learning and trauma can be found here. This information is from Trauma Informed Oregon.

Colorful textile art with day of the dead imagery.

Orquidia Violeta, Árbol de la Vida, 2020

 

Professional Development: Trauma Informed Care Workshop Series
In partnership with Trauma Informed Oregon, RACC presents a series of workshops for arts educators. Please join us for our second workshop October 8. This free event will be held remotely, as we continue to center health and safety for all. Look for our Eventbrite invitation in your inbox coming soon.

 

 

 

The Beat: Interviews from the Field

 

Jessica Juday (she/her), Music Educator from West Powellhurst Elementary School, David Douglas School District

What inspires you when you teach arts education to your students?

I believe that children are inherently joyful. When I see them have fun, I am always inspired to find new ways to teach. They love experiencing new things and they are so easily swayed by excitement. Teaching music at the elementary level is so much more than reading rhythm and singing songs…. It’s about creating a love of music and sharing joy with those around you. Every day I get to watch children discover new things, and they do it with such thought and care… it’s hard to not be inspired!

Jessica Juday looks directly at the camera. She has long, curling brown hair and wears a black hat.

Jessica Juday

What have you learned from your students?

I have learned that there is something out there for everyone! Some students may never truly love singing, but they excel at the recorder. Other students who struggle at playing the marimba end up being incredible at rhythm dictations. I even have students who say music isn’t their thing…but they are SO excited to help design the set for our musicals. Working with students from all over the world has taught me that music is just ONE beautiful part of what makes us human! I teach music to teach the whole child, not just the musical parts!

What brings you joy when you teach? 

The children! Being able to watch a student go from struggling to understanding is an incredible thing. I love watching a student develop their skills from just reading rhythm all the way to composing their own song. Every tough part of my job is worth it when I see how proud students are of themselves when they learn a new skill or get better at an old skill. They are always so excited! One of my favorite times during the year is showing Kindergartners the moment in “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy opens the door, and the film goes from black and white to color… They gasp with wonder, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

 

 

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Mrs. Langston (she/her), Music Educator from Prescott Elementary School, Parkrose School District

What inspires you when you teach arts education to your students?

Inspiration comes from many sources. The students themselves are the most inspiring part of teaching music in schools. Their enthusiasm, engagement, and inquiry for all things musical lifts and carries me through the years. Other inspiration comes from the music I teach…is it of the highest quality? Does it nurture the musical mind? Does it connect us and help us better understand ourselves and the world we live in? Does it endure? High-quality professional development is another source of inspiration. I relish the times when World Music Drumming and Hot Marimba are in town! I also keep an ear to the airwaves and find inspiration in current music-making by all types of artists. Knowing who I teach is yet another way I find inspiration. Who are these people? What are their backgrounds (culture, class, race)? What impedes their access to education? What supports them? What do they want to learn? Ideally, I use all this information to develop tuneful, beautiful, artful humans.

What have you learned from your students?

Bright blue eyes shine out of the smiling face of Mrs. Langston

Mrs. Langston

Flexibility. Let me state that again…FLEXIBILITY. Gone are the days of a meticulously planned lesson with no time or space for anyone or anything that was not anticipated in advance. Don’t get me wrong, I still plan! I plan and prep and practice and plan some more. Then, children enter the room and things shift – really shift. What I have learned is to grab onto those shifts and use them to accomplish the same goal. Let the kids drive! My role is to facilitate and guide; going deeper is better than going wider. What’s the rush? Let’s explore together!

What brings you joy when you teach?

Time with students is most joyful for me. When I watch and listen to students who are genuinely struggling to master a skill or concept and then…they get it. I love seeing/hearing others as they break through and gain a level. When there is a room full of 8-year-olds playing drums, and marimbas and we’ve been working on sticking the ending and then…we achieve a perfect cutoff. I love seeing the effect of community and non-verbal communication on young musicians. When we’ve slogged through a particularly difficult piece of music for far too long and then…a child asks “why are we working so hard?” I love helping develop critical thinking in children. When we are invited to perform on our high school stage and these adorably small people are freaking out because they are now “big time” and then…they sing and play so well they get a true standing ovation. I love helping children achieve performance success. Every day I get to work with children, I am filled with joy!

 

A street mural with whimsical robotic characters in front of a bike rack.

Gary Hirsch, Questions for Humans, 2015

What brings YOU joy?

We would love for you to share your thoughts with this question.

 cevans@racc.org. 

 

A collage made from newspaper pieces show a group of people holding signs of protest

Hampton Rodriguez, Protests in Portland, 2020

Student Art Showcase

Call for student work to be featured in our Winter edition. Student work will be chosen randomly by district submission.

Please submit student artwork to cevans@racc.org by Dec. 1 for consideration.

 

 

 More Interviews from the Field

Featured Arts Organization

 The Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) The mission of the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) is to provide affordable access to space, tools, and resources for creating independently published media and artwork, and to build community and identity through the creation of written and visual art.

An interview with Alley Pezanoski-Browne (she/they), Executive Director of IPRC. 

When youth participate at IPRC, what do you want them to take away from their experiences?

A group of young art students hold up their colorful prints.

Photo courtesy of IPRC

We want youth to know the history of printmaking and zines as tools for sharing community stories and highlighting historically excluded voices. We also want them to learn that art making & writing are about experimentation, problem-solving, creative thinking, and collaboration. Most of all, we take them seriously as artists, so we give them opportunities to teach what they’ve learned from others (most often their peers or their parents) as well as make art with their instructors and fellow students. We teach them the tools, but we want them to bring their own ideas and originality to making art that will mean something special to each of them. We hope that they will develop a life-long interest in art making and for experiential learning.

How can schools help encourage students to include media in the arts?

I think that a really unique part of printmaking is that, because it’s meant for easy reproduction, it’s meant to be shared. I think that school can help students to include media in the arts by really emphasizing the social  communications element. It is very common in IPRC classes for youth to trade prints and zines. It helps students to be less perfection-minded and to recognize the value in their voices. They also think about how they communicate their thoughts to the world when they know it is made to be shared.

When you think of art, what inspires you? 

I get really inspired by people who make art together in order to change the world they are living in, which is why I admire projects like the Living School of Art, KSMOCA or SHED.PDX. 

 

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Public Art & Arts Education: Featured Artist, Laura Camila Medina

By Morgan Ritter (she/her), RACC Public Art Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator

Image from video shows hands on a blue plate holding a clay figure of a person

Laura Camila Medina, Consuming a Past Self, 2020

What comes to mind when you think of “Public Art”? Maybe a stoic, bronze monument of George Washington or another political figure we may have learned about in U.S. History classes, or a sanctioned street mural. Maybe Public Art for you is a mere landmark that tells you what street to turn on to find your way. Public Art can be so much more than these common perceptions–it can build worlds. It can gesture towards untold histories, bridge communities, and remind individuals of all ages that our imaginations enhance our quality of life.

At RACC, the Public Art Team avidly works to directly support a wide range of artists in the region, including both established and emerging artists. This includes artists who have wildly different approaches to what art can be including artists working in traditional, craft-based practices, or fine art, as well as artists who work experimentally at the nexus of multiple genres.

As the Public Art Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator, a crucial part of my job is engaging directly with local artists and helping RACC to imagine new opportunities for their radical creativity to be supported. One of the new initiatives I manage is Support Beam. Support Beam’s intent is to strengthen artists’ long-term creative practices and overall livelihood, by giving them money to continue making their work, without a fixed expectation of art production or media restrictions. At the end of their work periods, one piece of art is acquired from these artists into the collection. This initiative prioritizes Black, Indigenous, artists of color and emerging artists. Artists were funded between $3-$5,000 each.

Laura Camila Medina, Consuming a Past Self, 2020

Laura Camila Medina is one of the phenomenal, emerging artists that we recently funded through Support Beam. Laura’s practice is based around memory and identity as a response to personal, cultural, and historical research. Her work utilizes a unique combination of traditional mediums within digitally constructed spaces to create immersive visual analogies of cultural hybridity. Medina engages in a practice of self-reflection as a means to create a personal mythology. This mythology brings her closer to building her own world, both real and imaginary, where her identity becomes whole.

“Consuming a Past Self” is the piece she made through the Support Beam initiative, and is now part of the Public Art Collection. It is a hybrid video that combines painted collage, stop-motion animation, and performance.

The following writing is included alongside her video:

Consuming my past self is
Accepting my past self
It is processing my past self
It is digesting my past self
In order to nourish my
Future self

Laura explained that when she eats arepas (a food made from ground maize dough, originating from pre-Columbian South America), she has a memory of sitting in her grandmother’s dining room, looking at the reproduction of a painting that had drastically different colors than it did when it was new, with faded pinks. She remembers the flavor of the arepas combined with her grandmother’s milky coffee while looking at this faded painting. In this memory now, she contemplates the truth that everything ages, and aspires to recreate that taste memory.

Click here to view Laura’s video alongside other artists who participated in Support Beam.

Learn more about the other Support Beam artists on Instagram through the virtual posts #raccsupportbeam 

Laura Camila Medina (b. 1995) is an interdisciplinary artist born in Bogotá, Colombia. Her immersive installations and animated collage work have been exhibited at the Center for Contemporary Art & Culture, PLANETA New York, Fuller Rosen Gallery, Wieden+Kennedy, the Portland Art Museum, and with the Nat Turner Project. She was at Open Signal, Artist in Residence at the Living School of Art, IPRC Artists & Writers in Residence Program, ACRE Residency, and most recently the Centrum Emerging Artist Residency. She earned her BFA at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and is currently based in Portland, OR. Learn more about Laura’s work here: https://lauracamilamedina.com/

For a database of public art in the Portland region, click here.

 

Workshops • Events • Lectures*  

Sign-up for alerts about lectures, workshops, events, and conferences from local colleges and universities. Here are a few highlights:

Patricia Vázquez Gómez, Untitled 1, 2020

Latinx Heritage Month September/October, celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. Teachers guide for Latinx Heritage Month (free).

Portland Latin American Festival, opening at the Hollywood Theatre  in person on the big silver screen. September 22, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.

Oregon Humanities is offering an online fall course of Humanity in Perspective (HIP), a free college-credit class and learning community for students 18 years or older in Oregon who face barriers to continuing their education. Learn more and apply.

Portland Metro Stem Partnership: Join a new Elementary STEAM Leaders cohort. 15 spots for teachers for the NEW 2021-2022 Cohort.  All partner districts elligible to apply, including: Banks School District, Beaverton School District, Forest Grove School District, Hillsboro School District and Portland Public Schools. Click here for more information.

Portland Open Studios October 9-17 (free).

Portland Pumpkin Patches, Corn Mazes and Hayrides, for local fall family-friendly activities and events.

Portland Film Festival Oct. 6-Nov. 8 (various venues).

Save the Dates!
The Kennedy Center National Partnerships Convening Feb. 7-8, 2022
Any Given Child Feb. 8-9, 2022 Partners in Education Annual Meeting – VIRTUAL

If you know of an event, workshop, lecture, or art exhibition that is coming up please go here to submit an opportunity.

*Please note: Some workshops/events/lectures might have changed due to COVID-19. Please check before you make plans.

The Scoop – Grow your Brain

We are often curious of what research is happening behind the scene in the space of arts education. Take a look!

 

Art for Life’s Sake: The Case for Arts Education 2021 report from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Americans for the Arts Logo Americans for the Arts – COVID-19 July 2021
NEA - edjustice logo edjustice – Click here for valuable resources

 

Thanks to all of our partners, supporters, and funders supporting arts education.

Portland General Electric Foundation Awards Arts Education Grant to the Regional Arts & Culture Council

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 20, 2021

logo for PGE FoundationPortland, Ore. – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is pleased to announce its Arts Education Program was awarded a Community Creative Expression Grant for $10,000 from the Portland General Electric Foundation. The purpose of the grant is to expand arts education advocacy and equity in Multnomah County’s middle and high schools with the expansion of advocacy into Clackamas and Washington County. This is a collective impact project with a focus on equity and access to arts education in underrepresented and underserved communities in the tri-county area compromised of Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties. As we emerge into a new post-COVID world with a focus on equity and access we look to include more counties (Washington and Clackamas) school districts on the artlook® platform, a unique data driven arts education platform that connects schools, families, students and arts organizations to quality arts programs in their neighborhood.

RACC will conduct outreach and engagement, and offer professional development opportunities for arts educators in seven elementary schools in the Reynolds School District in East Multnomah County, which are currently unserved by the Council. This effort will support equity and access in arts education in the tri-county region through advocacy, outreach, and engagement. RACC’s mission is to enrich our communities through arts and culture. Support for artlook® Oregon will support this through collaboration and community engagement.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council wishes to thank the PGE Foundation for recognizing the past work in arts education and appreciate their acknowledgment with this grant in RACC’s pivot to expand the scope of services, advocacy, and community engagement.

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An independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, we support greater Portland’s creative economy by providing equitable funding and services to artists and art organizations; managing and growing a diverse, nationally acclaimed public art program; and developing long-lasting public and private partnerships. For more information visit racc.org. 

Stronger Together – Reflections on RACC’s Advocacy and Engagement

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by Mario Mesquita, Manager of Advocacy and Engagement

Image of a large building mural with two hands clasped, one red and one grey, emerging from the flowers.

David Flores’ large outdoor mural, Helping Hand, located on the Century Building in downtown Portland, 1201 SW 12th Ave. The mural faces Outside In directly and can be seen clearly from the I-405 freeway. Mural supported by RACC.

Saludos, Greetings, and Hello fellow community members, supporters, artists, artist folx, and friends of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.

Hands outstretched in an embrace with one another. One hand reaching for the other, both springing from different colored bouquets, one red, one grey. Located at Southwest 12th Avenue in Portland, David Flores’ mural, Helping Hand, embodies what the past year and a half have been for many of us. As the artist himself put it: [it’s about] “…people helping people. Help a worn and weary [person]. Neighbors helping friends. Families helping families….This is what life is all about.”

It has now been a little more than eight months since I’ve taken the role of the newly developed position of Manager of Advocacy and Engagement at RACC and have had the pleasure of getting familiar with the region’s thriving creative community, and the fundamental contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to Oregon’s arts and cultural sector. I was excited to return to Oregon after more than a handful of years of working and attending school in southern California. In particular, I was enthusiastic about joining an arts organization that valued accessibility, advocacy, equity, diversity, community, and innovation of the arts and culture for everyone.

I bring to the role experience from my previous position as Manager of Education at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. A curious student and life-long learner, I’m always looking for communal solutions, constantly learning and sharing. Having joined RACC in a global moment of growth and reckoning, I look forward to using my experience advocating for funding, social justice, and artistic expression, as well as connecting people and bridging organizations.  I hope through our work together we will grow access, broaden perspective, close gaps, and make more sustainable connections with one another.

While it is not news to anyone, we have been reminded over and over again this past year and a half of the importance of advocacy as a way of helping people and the importance of arts and culture as key elements of not only self-expression but also in healing and recovery. Arts and culture have always played big roles in repair, knowledge sharing, and solution making. During this time, RACC has continued to raise up our values – advocating for equity in the arts, access to resources, and the role of our independent nonprofit as a connector of artists and opportunities.

Advocacy has always been a part of my professional path and artistic practice. As an active educator, artist, and activist, I returned to Oregon, my home state, to delve into reimagining and reintroducing what a regional arts organization can be and grow into. In this past handful of months, as part of RACC, we have been able to collaborate on advocating for federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, driving the conversation for equity, distribution, and resources to marginalized communities; filled gaps when necessary, with an ear to the ground listening to our community members. We have built connections internally and externally, updated the Arts Education Arts Fund logo and produced a video supporting Cultural Arts Advocacy Day with Executive Director, Madison Cario outlining RACC’s legislative priorities.

We have a busy year ahead of us as we continue to show up and take action together in support of our communities. Through various forms of recovery fund disbursement, bringing down barriers of access, facilitating community conversations, engagements, and opportunities, we will continue to move services and dollars into our communities and directly support artists and creatives. Through direct conversations and engagement, we are building connections across all three regional counties, participating in the City of Portland’s cultural and recovery planning, and developing partnerships that center the creativity of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

It sometimes feels overwhelming to know where to show support, how to show up, and what to focus on. Where do we begin? How do I contribute? Will my voice matter? As with many cities across the U.S., Portland is reexamining and reckoning with its history, future, and the role of public art as memorials, or beacons of painful pasts. Questions about relevance and representation are at the forefront of these discussions, highlighted by the destruction of the York statue that mysteriously appeared on the pedestal of what once held the now toppled Harvey Scott. What are your thoughts? We need to hear from you. We want to engage with you in the decisions about possible replacements and future monuments – and other topics that affect our community. Look for opportunities to share with us. Together we are stronger.

 

What Kind of Public Art Do We Want Now?

Written by

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 19, 2021

Three photos of the granit pedestal; one with people touching and reading the plaque, one without the artwork and one with the bronze head of Yorkrtwork atop a granite pedestal surrounded by tall fir trees.

Photo Credits: Mark Graves, Dave Killen of The Oregonian

A conversation with PSU Professor and York historian Darrell Millner, the unidentified York artist, and Kristin Calhoun, Director of Public Art, Regional Arts & Culture Council

Portland, Ore. – The Regional Arts & Culture Council today released a pre-recorded conversation with the unidentified artist who created York and PSU Professor of History and Black Studies, Darrell Millner. York, a piece of artwork depicting an enslaved man and significant member of Lewis and Clark’s “Corps of Discovery,” was mysteriously installed at Mt. Tabor Park in February. RACC’s Public Art Director, Kristin Calhoun, moderates the conversation. In the 50 minute podcast they discuss and answer many of the questions posed by the public. They also thoughtfully consider the benefits and risks of a “permanent” York sculpture that could continue to be a target of harmful and racist acts.

“Art is not neutral,” notes Madison Cario, Director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council in Portland. “York has sparked important conversations about who we are and what we stand for as a community.”

The public response to York demonstrates the power of art to raise new and hidden narratives and for community healing. The destruction of York, also elevates our knowledge that there is never a single narrative when it comes to our nation’s history and the political act of making art.

“Our goals for public art include integrating a wide range of art into public spaces in every community,” explains Calhoun. “As we consider the next steps for the statues toppled last summer, we see an opportunity for more interaction with temporary and permanent artworks representing more diverse cultural histories and identities. We also want to hear from the communities most impacted, recognizing how art has been used to reinforce power dynamics.”

Background
The bust of York, created and placed on the empty pedestal at Mt. Tabor Park by an unidentified artist, replaced Harvey Scott. The statue of the controversial local newspaper editor was pulled down during Portland’s racial justice protests last summer. The statue is one of many memorials and monuments in the public’s collection that were donated to the City by private donors that were toppled in 2020 and had to be removed.

Today, formal processes of commissioning artists and selecting artwork guide the addition of art to local public collections. RACC commissions, cares for, and maintains the City of Portland and Multnomah County’s public art collection. In recent years, they have worked to ensure that artwork added to the collection reflects the diversity of artistic disciplines, identities, and points of view. Memorials, monuments, and statues make up a small portion of the public’s collection.

After the temporary artwork of York was destroyed and removed, hundreds of people contacted RACC via email, phone, and on social media. Community members expressed anger at the destruction and anti-Black racism that appears to have fueled the act. Many offered support for installing a permanent version of the sculpture that would be indestructible. Others wanted to get involved in the conversation about what happens next.

This spring RACC’s Board voted to update City and County policies related to donations and deaccession (when an artwork is removed from a collection). They added review criteria to look at works through an anti-racist lens. The new Deaccession Policy paves the way for a community engagement process to determine what happens next to monuments toppled last summer, and an opportunity for RACC and partners to continue supporting thoughtful community dialogue about new and existing monuments, informed by a commitment to racial equity and representation. On July 30, the City Council issued a joint statement on the York sculpture, condemning what they viewed as a racially motivated act of destruction and reiterating their unified commitment to disrupting racism.

Join the Conversation!
Participate in the conversation by subscribing to Art Notes at https://racc.org/about/newsletter/ or by following the Regional Arts & Culture Council on Instagram or Facebook @regionalarts. You can also send an email with your thoughts to info@racc.org.

Also, check out Prototypes, a six-week exhibition that is part of Portland’s Monuments & Memorials Project Led by Converge 45 and supported by RACC’s Public Art Committee. The exhibition includes online and public events designed to bring people together to consider the conditions and impacts of public monuments. Through an open call, the project collected ideas for new and re-envisioned monuments and memorials. Indigenous tribal communities, artists, disabilities rights activists, neighborhood associations, and other groups and individual community members have submitted ideas and proposals. See them at Prototypes events.

Events are currently scheduled for 6 p.m., Aug. 25, and Oct. 9. 

Listen here

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An independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, we support greater Portland’s creative economy by providing equitable funding and services to artists and art organizations; managing and growing our diverse, nationally acclaimed public art program; and developing long-lasting public and private partnerships. For more information visit racc.org. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Nelson Kent, Communications Manager, hnkent@racc.org,  503-823-5426