WHO: Noble Architect by artists Ruth Frances Greenberg and David Laubenthal
WHAT: Sculpture Unveiling
WHEN: Friday, December 14, 2012 at 3:30pm
WHERE: Corner of NE Alberta Street at 18th
NOTES: Artists Ruth Frances Greenberg and David Laubenthal conceived of the sculpture to “mirror the ebullient, raw and wonderful vigor of nature as well as our relationship to it.” Many different species of animals inhabited and thrived in this area before it was settled as the Portland we know. One of the abundant animals was the beaver. Its pose is dignified and vaguely humanized, standing on its stump, at just over six feet tall. This artwork was selected by a local panel of artists and citizens, and will become part of the City of Portland’s Public Art Collection, administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Refreshments to follow at Alberta Main Street, just next door.
Artists have begun creating three new large-scale public artworks in Portland, funded through the 2% for art ordinance as part of the Eastside Portland Streetcar expansion. Artist Jorge Pardo is creating a sculptural shelter at Broadway and Weidler, and Lead Pencil Studiois creating a pair of sculptures on Grand Avenue near the on-ramps for the Hawthorne and Morrison Bridges.
An eccentrically-shaped art shelter (at right), created by Jorge Pardo, will feature a “rain on the outside, sunshine on the inside” experience for waiting streetcar passengers. Fabricated of steel, wood and fiberglass, the new shelter measures 35’ long by 18’ wide by 16’ tall. The multi-faceted structure will include over 300 individual panels in shades of gray on the exterior, with warm hues of orange and red on the inside. Ultimately, it will shelter passengers north of the Rose Quarter in a highly visible and fantastically colorful way. Los Angeles based Pardo was the recipient of a 2010 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship; this is his first municipal project in the United States.
Inversion: Plus Minus (below) is a set of towering site-specific sculptures created by artists/architects Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio. Using weathered steel angle iron, the artists are presenting “ghosts” of former buildings at two similar sites along SE Grand Avenue. One site, at Hawthorne Boulevard, will feature a matrix of metal that almost appears as a solid building. The second, at Belmont Street, will render an enclosure around the perimeter of a “building,” emphasizing the negative space of the subject. In the artists’ words, “The sculptures reference the outer shells of ordinary industrial buildings found in the Central Eastside Industrial Area like those that once existed on the project sites.”
Construction on Inversion Plus Minus continues as weather permits, and the sculptures are scheduled to be completed by summer.
Lead Pencil Studio, based in Seattle, has strong Oregon connections. The artists have taken up local residence and rented a fabrication shop for the duration of this project. Han is a graduate of David Douglas High School, and both Han and Mihalyo are alumni of the University of Oregon School of Architecture & Allied Arts. The artists received the 2007-08 Rome Prize for Architecture from the American Academy in Rome.
These public artworks, managed by RACC and selected by a panel of local artists and community members, will be completed by the end of the calendar year. To arrange a site visit and/or interview with the artists, contact Kristin Calhoun at 503-823-5401 or kcalhoun@racc.org.
Funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust will help RACC restore three significant sculptures in Portland’s public art collection
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has received a $5,000 Cultural Development Grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust to support general restoration of three key historic monuments in the City of Portland’s public art collection: George Washington (located at NE Sandy & Alameda), Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste (Washington Park) and Portlandia (Portland Building).
The grant will help underwrite primary conservation treatments for George Washington and Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste, including:
removal of built-up oxidation on their bronze surfaces;
hot-wax treatment to control future oxidation;
cleaning of monuments bases and pedestals.
Portlandia—the second largest hammered copper sculpture in the U.S. behind only the Statue of Liberty—will receive a complete condition assessment along with an inspection of its internal steel frame and mounts to assess the accumulation of guano and other grime due to bird infestation.
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians sustaining, developing and participating in our arts, heritage and humanities. Keith Lachowicz, RACC’s public art collections manager, thanked the Trust for their support. “Caring for these large scale works requires a significant investment each year, and maintenance funds were never set aside for older monuments that were grandfathered into the collection,” he said. “This year’s conservation grant from the Trust will help ensure that more expensive treatments are not required in the future.”
RACC will work with Robert Krueger, Object Conservator & Proprietor of Cascadia Art Conservation Center, to perform the restorations. The total cost of the maintenance work is expected to be $12,337, and the restorations will be completed by April of 2013.
The George Washington Monument in NE Portland. A grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust will help RACC restore areas where the elements worn away the statue’s protective wax coating.
Oxidation of Sacajawea’s bronze surface is beginning to take hold on the hand and face.
The last large scale cleaning of Portlandia was completed in 2006
Six large scale mural projects are recently completed or underway in Portland this summer – all recipients of grant funding from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. RACC’s public art mural program, financed by the City of Portland, provides funding for community murals that reflect diversity in style and media and encourages artists from diverse backgrounds and range of experience to apply. Murals approved through this program become part of the City’s public art collection. The new murals include:
Rosewood Initiative – Antwoine Thomas, Artist
16150 SE Stark St (south wall of Union 76 Gas Station); RACC Funding: $3,000; 14’H x 46’L
Photo: Courtesy of RACC
In developing this fantastical design for a mural in the Rosewood Neighborhood, Antwoine Thomas, with the assistance and support of Addie Boswell, began collaborating months ago with local residents through The Rosewood Initiative community meetings and activities like Youth Night to create a design that represents the positive change occurring in the neighborhood. Throughout the energetic mural one can identify recognizable elements from Rosewood including roses, community gardens, diversity, and local businesses. There are also elements that link the neighborhood to the greater Portland metro area, honoring some of the neighborhoods from which many residents have relocated. While the mural contains these true elements, the design is also highly detailed and fantastical, meant to entice the senses and invite the eye to linger and keep discovering.
A celebration is scheduled for Saturday, August 11th, 1:00-4:00PM.
Photo: Courtesy of RACC
Keller Auditorium – Una Kim and Students from Portland State University 222 SW Clay; RACC Funding: $3200; 18’H x 108’L
Over the last few weeks, Korean-American artist, Una Kim, has been feverishly working on a mural on the east wall of the Keller Auditorium with the assistance of students from Portland State University who enrolled in a class to specifically work on this project. The mural is located on the bottom half of the east facing wall of the Keller Auditorium along SW 2nd Street between SW Clay and SW Columbia. The design is influenced and inspired by such works as Degas’ ballerinas, Mary Cassatt’s At the Opera, and Dufy’s The Yellow Violin. Also included are a modern dancer, two musicians in an orchestra, and a jazz musician along with an acrobat to represent the large scope of the theater.
According to Kim, the mural serves three main goals: (1) as a Korean-American female artist, she wishes to be a role model to all students including those with different backgrounds; (2) the mural is a teaching tool on the creative process of designing and painting murals in the public sector while collaborating with other artists in the public sector; (3) providing a gift to the public. In Kim’s words, “It is clear to me that murals can inspire and uplift.”
A celebration is scheduled for Friday, August 17th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM (on SW 2nd)
Photo: Courtesy of SpaceCraft Mission to the Arts
Albina Maintenance Yard Building – Spacecraft Mission to the Arts 3150 N. Mississippi Ave.; RACC Funding: $10,000; 14’H x 177’L
Over the last several months, a mural has begun to take shape along the west side of the City’s Albina Yard Maintenance Building. Throughout the design development, community engagement has been the driving force—the Boise Neighborhood Association, community members, and the maintenance workers have all contributed their voices as to how they want themselves and their neighborhood depicted. More than a way to deter graffiti, it is a powerful, collaborative, self-reflective vision of the neighborhood created by those who live in it. The mural embraces a theme of “perpetual collaboration” through time. Community practices and industries that affected the local Portland-Albina neighborhood can be found among the local mountains, bridges, gardens, parks, icons of communities, and city workers behind the scenes that keep the city functioning. Included are symbols of the neighborhoods’ transitions of communities from the Native American, Volga German, Finn, Chinese, and African American communities. You can follow the project on https://www.facebook.com/spacecraft.missiontoarts.
Photo: Courtesy of RACC
The People’s History of Hawthorne – Artist, Chris Haberman Fraternal Order of Eagles, SE 50th & Hawthorne; RACC Funding $2,400; 10’H x 150’L
Work continues on this ambitious mural that extends along the north and west walls of the building that serves as the Portland headquarters for the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The mural’s theme, “The History of Hawthorne” – or the “people’s history” — celebrates this SE neighborhood, located between an extinct volcano (Mt. Tabor) and the 100 year old Hawthorne Bridge, both components of his design. Scattered throughout the mural are notable historical figures (such as Dr. Hawthorne), the asylum, pioneers, the street car line and the always changing figures that have been part of Hawthorne for 100 years. It is Haberman’s first mural grant and he is “very proud to have such a piece of art in public view and to have so much support for my crazy looking art in the city.” A celebration was held on July 1st. The west wall will be completed late summer/early fall.
Photo: Courtesy of artist (proposed mural)
Alberta Street Crossing – Loey Hargrove, Artist 4824 and 4905 NE 42nd Avenue; RACC Funding: $3,000; 11’H x 77’W and 13’H x 50’W
Finishing touches are underway on a pair of twin murals at NE 42nd & Alberta. Members of 42MSC began working on the project at the Alberta Court Crossing — one on the north-facing wall of the Morel Ink Building and another on the south-facing wall of Doggy Business. The murals aspire to invoke community through a “Tree of Life’ theme symbolizing process, change, the continuity and connectivity of life. Words submitted by members of the surrounding neighborhoods are being added to the mural and are intended to reinforce the symbiotic relationship between the commercial district and area residents.
Photo: Courtesy of artist (proposed mural)
Lutz Building – Mike Lawrence, Artist 4625-4639 SE Woodstock Blvd; RACC Funding: $6,000; 15’H x 60’L
This proposed mural is situated centrally in the Woodstock Neighborhood and is highly visible from the street. The mural aims to highlight the best of the neighborhood and instill a sense of community pride. Local artist Mike Lawrence designed a mural for the building’s west wall that celebrates commerce, education and the outdoors. The Lutz tavern wall that will host the mural is divided into three sections, as is the mural. A strong central figure grounds each section. Each figure is adorned with symbols of Greek Gods that represent the theme of each section. The project is still fundraising and hopes to begin the project next Spring.
For more information and a copy of the mural program guidelines, visit www.racc.org/public-art.
Nationally renowned filmmaker Todd Haynes is the subject of a one-of-a-kind portrait that posted today on eBay. This ten-day auction supports a good cause: Haynes donated the giclee print to benefit The Right Brain Initiative’s arts education programming in Portland, Oregon area schools. The print is signed by both Haynes and the portrait’s artist, Steve Cohn. Cohn is brother-in-law to Haynes, and works under the pseudonym Jasper Marks.
Cohn rendered the portrait in homage to Haynes’ remarkable body of work in filmmaking. Haynes, a Portland resident, is the creative mind behind Far from Heaven, a feature film starring Julianne Moore, for which he was nominated an Academy Award for original screenplay; and I’m Not There, a biopic about Bob Dylan. He is also the writer/director of Mildred Pierce, a 2011 HBO miniseries nominated for an unprecedented 21 Primetime Emmy awards.
The original oil painting of this portrait hangs in Portland City Hall, inducted in April 2011 by Mayor Sam Adams as a testament to the city’s dedication to supporting independent artists and cultural leaders. “This office is honored to display such a beautiful portrait of one of our most prolific artists,” said Adams at the hanging.
The Right Brain Initiative’s dedication to providing rich arts education to all K-8 students in Portland resonates with Haynes’ personal experience as a student. “Music, art was all part of basic curriculum that most of us grew up with in the public school system. It’s a really different story today,” he said. “I’m extremely honored to have played even the smallest part in supporting The Right Brain Initiative and its commitment to bringing art and the value of creative experience into the lives of so many young people.”
The auction closes at noon on Sunday, August 5. Portlanders can see the work in person during business hours at the Lara Sydney Framing Gallery, 1230 NW Hoyt Street (including the First Thursday art walk on the evening of August 2) through the end of the auction. www.larasydney.com
The giclee print is available in an eBay auction through Sunday, August 5.
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) announced today that Boston based artist, Mikyoung Kim, has been selected to create public art for the Sellwood Bridge, slated to open in 2016. The art is funded through the city’s percent for art program and will be owned by the City and maintained by RACC.
Kim, an award-winning international landscape architect and artist has completed projects as diverse civic gardens and municipal playgrounds to large scale parks and institutional master plans and was selected by a panel of local artists, community representatives and project team members. Her concept, “Stratum Project,” is a “series of ecologically inspired geologic sculptural totems. Layers of various recycled and formed materials create a quilted surface that represents earth, water and sky as the gateway to the Sellwood Community”. The multi-part installation will line both sides of the block just east of the bridge, up to 6th and Tacoma.
Kim will talk about her past work and conceptual proposal for the Sellwood Bridge on Thursday, July 12th, 5:30-7:30 PM, at the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion. The event is free and open to the public.
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) announced today that 48 local arts organizations have been awarded a total of $1,728,290 for FY13. These organizations, headquartered in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties, submitted proposals through RACC’s competitive “general support” grant program, which helps fund the overall mission of qualified arts organizations that are delivering year-round services in the community. Funds are awarded based on an applicant’s ability to demonstrate artistic excellence, fiscal responsibility, and broad community support including a stable base of audiences and donors.
“These are stellar organizations that have extraordinary impacts in our community,” said Eloise Damrosch, executive director of RACC. “We are honored to invest in all of the work they do to inspire and provoke us; to bring our communities together; to support the economy; and to enhance our children’s education.”
Damrosch pointed out that this year’s general support total is 5% higher than FY12, including support for four new organizations – Bag & Baggage Productions, Independent Publishing Resource Center, NW Documentary Arts & Media, and PHAME Academy. Funding for RACC general support grants is provided by The City of Portland; Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties; the Oregon Arts Commission; Metro; and Work for Art, RACC’s workplace giving program. The City of Portland is by far the largest contributor to RACC, although budget cuts resulted in a 1.2% decrease in FY13. Clackamas County investments were reduced by 20% in FY13, while funding from Washington County was up 14%, and funding from Work for Art was up 8%.
Despite the record size of these awards, RACC still provides less local public funding support than comparable metropolitan areas. Said Damrosch: “We look forward to increasing the size and number of grants for organizations that are based in Portland if the Creative canadapharmacymedonline.com Advocacy Network’s proposal for a new Arts Education and Access Fund is approved by voters in November.”
General support grants are awarded every year, but applications are only accepted every two years; the next opportunity for arts organizations to apply will be in the spring of 2014. In addition to competing on the criteria mentioned above, organizations must meet minimum eligibility requirements, including 501(c)(3) status; a mission centered on producing or presenting art; having one or more paid administrative staff members; and annual revenues of at least $80,000. ? Organizations receiving RACC general support in 2012-13 are: Artists Repertory Theatre $56,920 Bag & Baggage Productions $11,600 Blue Sky Gallery $13,890 Bodyvox $24,890 Broadway Rose Theatre Company $36,740 Cappella Romana, Inc. $13,350 Chamber Music Northwest $53,450 Children’s Healing Art Project $12,760 Do Jump Movement Theater $29,740 Ethos Music Center $17,700 Film Action Oregon $17,970 Friends of Chamber Music $21,140 Imago Theatre $29,750 Independent Publishing Resource Center $11,040 Lakewood Center for the Arts $37,320 Literary Arts, Inc. $45,070 Live Wire! $12,710 Metropolitan Youth Symphony $30,330 Miracle Theatre Group $29,990 Northwest Children’s Theatre $28,390 Northwest Dance Project $16,000 NW Documentary Arts & Media $11,040 Oregon Ballet Theatre $85,900 Oregon Children’s Theatre $60,280 Oregon Repertory Singers $26,630 Oregon Symphony Association $143,860 PHAME Academy $11,040 Playwrite, Inc. $16,730 Portland Art Museum and NWFilmCenter $193,740 Portland Baroque Orchestra $25,500 Portland Center Stage $90,560 Portland Chamber Orchestra $15,710 Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra $14,090 Portland Gay Men’s Chorus $16,790 Portland Institute for Contemporary Art $29,000 Portland Opera $140,060 Portland Piano International $15,630 Portland Taiko $37,420 Portland Youth Philharmonic $31,050 Profile Theatre Project $23,360 Tears of Joy Theatre $31,310 The Portland Ballet $18,510 The Third Angle New Music Ensemble $11,500 Third Rail Repertory Theatre $13,400 White Bird $51,460 Wordstock, Inc. $14,780 Write Around Portland $20,140 Young Audiences of Oregon $28,050
RACC provides numerous other grants and services throughout the year, including project grants for schools, arts organizations and individual artists, which will be announced in December.
PORTLAND, OR – The nonprofit arts and culture industry in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties generates more than $253 million in annual economic activity, according to Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, a national economic impact study. The study was conducted in 182 communities nationwide by Americans for the Arts, with local support from the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) and Business for Culture & the Arts (BCA).
According to the study, the region’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations spent $152 million during fiscal year 2010. This spending is far-reaching: organizations pay employees, purchase supplies, contract for services and acquire assets within their community. The industry also leverages more than $101 million in event-related spending by its audiences; as a result of attending a cultural event, attendees often eat dinner in local restaurants, pay for parking, buy gifts and souvenirs, and pay a babysitter. All combined, these dollars support 8,529 full-time equivalent jobs, generate $195 million in household income for local residents, and $21 million in local and state government revenues.
“Arts organizations add tremendous value to our community, but it’s not always something we can quantify,” said Eloise Damrosch, executive director of RACC. “We know that the arts have the power to inspire us and provoke us, delight and engage us. They foster creativity in the classroom and stimulate innovation in our workplaces. But now we see exactly how much arts and culture organizations contribute to the local economy – and it’s significant.”
Deborah Edward, executive director of BCA, added that arts organizations are important local businesses, too. “They hire employees and purchase goods and services in our community. They also anchor tourism and our after-work lives, supporting local restaurants, retailers, and hotels. Culture inspires commerce and our economy is all the better because of this dynamic. Plainly, the arts are good for business.”
The study found the total attendance at arts and culture events in 2010 was 4.6 million, and that 16.3% of these were visitors from out of town. Nearly 70% of all visitors say that the primary reason for their trip is “specifically to attend this arts/culture event,” and visitors who stay overnight in a local hotel spend an average of $154.79 per person as a direct result of their attendance.
The Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study was conducted by Americans for the Arts and supported by The Ruth Lilly Fund of Americans for the Arts. RACC, BCA, and the Creative Advocacy Network (CAN) contributed time and other support, including the collection of local data. The full text of the local report is available here.
Nationally, the study reveals that the nonprofit arts industry produced $135.2 billion in economic activity during 2010. This spending—$61.1 billion by nonprofit arts and culture organizations plus an additional $74.1 billion by their audiences—supported 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs and generated $22.3 billion in federal, state and local tax revenues. The national report is available here.
“This study shines a much-needed light on the vital role the arts play in stimulating and sustaining economic development,” says Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “Contrary to popular belief, the arts are a bustling industry that supports a plethora of diverse jobs, generates significant revenues for local businesses and to federal, state and local governments and provides quality of life that positions communities to compete in our 21st century creative economy.”
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is the local arts agency for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties, providing grants for artists, schools and nonprofit organizations; conducting workplace giving for arts and culture (“Work for Art”) and other advocacy efforts; presenting workshops and other forms of technical assistance; providing printed and web-based resources for artists; and integrating art into public spaces.
Business for Culture & the Arts (BCA) is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to strengthening Oregon’s cultural and economy vitality. BCA’s advocacy, strategic alliances, membership programs, research, networking and celebratory events help to connect businesses and the arts for mutual benefit. Approximately 180 Portland businesses are members of BCA, which is an affiliate of the national Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. www.nwbca.org.
Rosewood Initiative – Antwoine Thomas, Artist 
