RACC Blog

Regional Arts & Culture Council sets course for new decade

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

>>Reorganization will focus resources and programs on artists and underserved communities

PORTLAND, ORE – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) today announced organization-wide changes to reflect a new vision and priorities. Under the new vision, RACC will continue its core grantmaking programs, public art projects and arts education while expanding its advocacy and fundraising programs with a deeper focus on reaching underserved communities. As part of the changes RACC will eliminate 5 positions that are currently vacant, lay off an additional 15 employees, and hire 15 new positions to support RACC’s new focus areas.

The rollout comes after a year of planning led by RACC’s executive director, Madison Cario, and with the support of the board of directors. Additionally, the proposed changes are responsive to the City of Portland’s audit of RACC in 2018 and the city’s current budget priorities. The changes are effective immediately.

“We take this transition very seriously and deeply appreciate the work of RACC employees, especially those leaving the organization. These changes respond to what we are seeing and hearing from our community, and position RACC to better serve our region today and in the future,” said RACC board chair Linda McGeady.

“When RACC connects artists with resources, opportunities and each other, our communities become stronger. We have a vision of establishing RACC as a champion for arts and culture locally, regionally, and nationally,” stated the City of Portland’s Arts Commissioner, Chloe Eudaly. “The organizational changes proposed by RACC will help us all better achieve that vision.”

Additional details about the restructure include:

• Enhancing public awareness and engaging community members in culture, creativity and the arts through strategic investments and partnerships
• Creating an advocacy team to make the case to the public and partners about the value of arts education and the city’s Arts Education and Access Fund
• Increasing engagement in public art projects and collections, grantmaking and other publicly-funded arts programs and investments managed by RACC
• Demonstrating how the arts build livable communities by connecting to politics, education, economics, development, planning, and civic engagement
• Strengthening relationships with regional elected officials and policymakers at all governmental levels
• Advancing racial equity, diversity, inclusion and access both within the organization and in our work with community partners
• Better measuring and demonstrating the benefits to residents of investments in public art, arts education, arts and culture organizations and individual artists
• Applying best practices from around the country to measure public participation in and perception of the arts as a means of gauging effectiveness and making improvements.

“To achieve this vision, RACC needs to become more fiscally sustainable, diversify our funding sources and streamline our organization,” stated Cario, who took the helm of RACC one year ago following an 18-month national search. They added, “I’m excited to see what we can do when we focus on incubating new ideas, innovating the role of an arts council in today’s world. I am inspired by our staff and board’s commitment to ensuring the arts are accessible to everyone in our community.” The detailed plan was presented this week by Cario to community partners, city officials, board members and staff outlining the changes and reasons. Changes include:

• Shoring up or eliminating unsustainable cost centers – including sunsetting RACC’s workplace giving program
• Moving management of The Right Brain Initiative, an arts integration program, to RACC’s long-time partner Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington, a nonprofit organization
• Creating a dedicated development team at RACC with clear fundraising goals to help increase and diversify revenue
• Better leveraging public dollars to secure new national and local funding
• Reorganizing staff positions to align with organizational changes, simplifying work groups and reporting relationships.

RACC’s year-end report was released in December, highlighting accomplishments in 2019 and celebrating the artists, arts workers and arts educators who make our community stronger. RACC will present its next “State of the Arts” report to the Portland City Council on February 27 at 2:00 p.m.

For more information, contact Heather Nelson Kent at hnkent@racc.org or by phone 503-823-5426 or mobile 503-860-6145.

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The Regional Arts & Culture Council is a local arts agency serving 1.8 million residents in the Portland, Oregon metro region including Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. RACC provides grants and technical assistance for artists and nonprofit organizations, with more than 5,000 grants totaling $44 million in the past two decades. RACC also manages a widely-celebrated public art collection of more than 2,200 artworks for the City of Portland and Multnomah County; conducts employee giving campaigns that have raised more than $8.5 million for local arts organizations since 2007; organizes networking events, forums and workshops; and integrates the arts into the broader curriculum for K-8 students through The Right Brain Initiative, serving more than 27,000 students a year. Online at www.racc.org.

MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Nelson Kent, Communications Manager, hnkent@racc.org, 503.823.5426

Hank Willis Thomas and Intisar Abioto featured in a new public art project, In—Between

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December  16, 2019 

Portland, Ore – A new temporary public art project has been installed along the median strip on NE Holladay Street between the Oregon Convention Center and the new Hyatt Hotel and parking structure. As part of a new series called In—Between, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) invited Portland-based artist Intisar Abioto and Brooklyn-based artist Hank Willis Thomas to create ten banners, each 10 feet tall, featuring the artists’ words and images. The banners will appear on five posts along NE Holladay Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 1st Avenue through May 31. 

Funding comes from the city’s Percent-for-Art ordinance, which sets aside 2% of the construction costs for Prosper Portland’s new parking garage to create public art. Kimberly Branam, executive director of Prosper Portland, commented, “Art teaches us about ourselves and our community, and we are proud to play a role in honoring the history and culture of the neighborhood through this work.” 

 RACC assembled an artist selection panel composed of community members, artists and representatives from Prosper Portland, the Oregon Convention Center, and Mayer-Reed Landscape Architecture. The panel agreed that goals for the project should include bold artwork that connects to the area’s communities and reflects the general concepts of movement, change, adaptation – addressing a general statement of “where are we going.” 

With this pilot exhibition, the panel seized on an opportunity to feature both internationally acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist Hank Willis Thomas, whose first major retrospective is currently on view at the Portland Art Museum through January 12, and Portland-based artist and storyteller Intisar Abioto.  A Memphis native, Abioto moved to Portland nine years ago with her mother and sisters, and has since gained recognition for her photography and her blog, The Black Portlanders. The intention of her portrait work is to allow the complexity of people’s natures to unfold in the work.   

Julia Dolan, the Minor White Curator of Photography at the Portland Art Museum, reviewed Thomas’s body of work with Abioto, who quickly gravitated to Thomas’s text-based series “I AM A MAN,” inspired by a 1968 Ernest C. Withers photograph showing a large group of protesters bearing the same message. Thomas’s series of paintings plays with the orientation and wording of the text (A Man I Am, I Be a Man, I Am Many, I Am The Man, etc.), ending with a painting that says, “I am. Amen.” Thomas states, “The greatest revelation should be that we are.”   

In responding to Thomas’s work, Abioto stated that her goal was “to honor the lived history and origin of the I AM A MAN statement as expressed through the work and trials of those living through the 1968 Sanitation Worker’s Strike. It was also to illustrate with images the I AM statement as lived in and by Black people in diaspora today.” Abioto selected images from her vast archive that “communicate a deep and internally rooted sense of I AM emanating from the individuals themselves. I AM. WE ARE. These statements are timely, timeless, and true, regardless.” 

Future installations of In—Between will evolve in focus, but will continue to reflect the overall theme of “where are we going.”  This will be the first of a series of temporary installations.  For opportunities to apply for future installations, artists can follow racc.org on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up to receive public art opportunities in their inbox at racc.org/public-art/public-art-email-list/.  

 

The artworks by Intisar Abioto and Hank Willis Thomas are on display along NE Holladay Street, between Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and 1st Avenue, through May 31. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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THE REGIONAL ARTS & CULTURE COUNCIL (RACC) provides grants for artists, nonprofit organizations and schools in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; raises money and awareness for the arts; convenes forums, networking events and other community gatherings; provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists; and oversees a program to integrate arts and culture into the standard curriculum in public schools through The Right Brain Initiative. RACC values a diversity of artistic and cultural experiences and is working to build a community in which everyone can participate in culture, creativity and the arts. For more information visit racc.org. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Hawthorne, Director of Community Engagement, jhawthorne@racc.org, 503.823.5258.

but you already knew that

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by Maya Vivas

As an artist, community member, and co-director of a small non-profit arts organization (Ori Gallery),  I’ve not only experienced what it’s like to navigate the Portland arts scene as a person holding multiple marginalized identities, but I am also a witness to what is prioritized, what is celebrated, and what is neglected. 

For nearly two years I’ve worked as an arts organizer at Ori Gallery, a collaborative project between myself, Leila Haile, and the Portland Community. We aim to uplift the voices of Trans and Queer Creatives of Color via art exhibitions, community organizing, and mobilization through the arts. Located in the heart of a gentrified neighborhood that was previously a Redlined area of town Ori Gallery is first and foremost about the reclamation of space and prioritizing the leadership of those most impacted by white supremacy, transphobia, and ableism. Our location here is significant because Mississippi/Albina area is historically black neighborhood and was once teeming with culture of black and brown Portlanders. As it stands right now, out of the 80+ that dwell on Mississippi Ave. the only black-owned spaces are Ori Gallery and the St Joseph Grand Lodge (founded in 1940). Ori Gallery has become an act of radical reclamation and a landmark in a city where working-class creatives of color struggle to make space for themselves.

Within the context of Oregon and Portland specifically, I see an extreme lack of representation by artists who depict the racial, gender and sexual diversity that exists here. Divestment, gentrification, and disenfranchisement have crippled our communities and within that, the cultural production that comes from that very struggle is often co-opted without due credit or compensation. This manifests in the continued struggle for studio space, the closing of smaller artist-run galleries, lack of opportunities and financial support. Most efforts to rectify the need for space feel as though it’s a little too late. The inertia of gentrification has already taken hold and the result is the continued prioritization of business over people. People who create culture. This leads to closures of DIY spaces that deserve just as much attention as any museum. If we seek to view Portland as a cultural hub there must be support for artist-run spaces that lend a platform to those most marginalized. I fear that if we continue down this path, we fail to support the next generation of creatives.

Support for artists means more than commissioning a mural in a gentrified area. Support means giving much-needed resources for the most marginalized artists to explore and develop their own practice. Those in positions of power must be careful to not repeat paternalistic practices and trust that artists know what they need and that they will, by nature, be the creators of culture. When speaking to my community I hear cries for more accessible ways to apply for and receive grants and other means of financial support. When support is given, often times this comes along with a deluge of bureaucracy. Which, for smaller organizations whose members often work multiple jobs to sustain themselves, gets in the way of doing the work or deters one from asking for help altogether. I hear calls for institutions to take the time to talk to people on an individual level and get to know the work up close and personal. For the organizations that do grant financial awards, there is much opportunity to strengthen community via serving as a bridge between grantees. Connecting them to create a cohort that can collaborate and mutually support one another. And to offer more assistance in navigating things such as taxes, accounting, and city bureaucracy. 

But we know this already. 

When asked to assess something so nebulous as the state of the arts in Portland it is really difficult for me to not come from a place of cynicism. It feels as though our repetitive, calls for resources and support, from the very institutions that claim to be civil servants, are being ignored. So we, as we have done since time and memorial, create our own spaces. Spaces where there is no need for an explanatory comma. I want to be hopeful. I want to live in a reality where my community feels celebrated and valued. This is why we do the work.

 

 

As part of RACC’s 2018 State of the Arts report to Portland City Council, three local creatives shared their experiences as artists and arts administrators in Portland. (You can watch their 2018 testimonies here.) This article was written as a current reflection to the “state of the arts” in Portland. What is their experience now? What makes them anxious? What makes them hopeful? What issues do they and/or their communities face as the city continues to change? What is their vision for the future? 

Other essays from this report can be read here 

Maya Vivas is a ceramic sculptor and performance artist based in Portland Oregon and co-founder of Ori Gallery. Whose mission is to redefine “the white cube” through amplifying the voices of Queer and Trans Artists of color, community organizing and mobilization through the arts.

The Unity Project: Unlocking Exploration in Our Foster Youth

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by Taryn Sauer

When we invest in the creativity of our youth, we open doors to fundamental facets of learning and self-discovery. This is exactly what Color Outside the Lines has been involved in for almost a decade: harnessing creative expression in foster children and opportunity youth* as a way of connecting with themselves and their community. For Color Outside the Lines’ latest RACC-funded program, the Unity Project, they paired 24 youths with 24 Portland artists to create original works of art that will adorn the Burnside Rocket Building at 1111 E Burnside St.

Youth in artist’s studio for the Unity Project.

Sitting five stories high, this structure will be refreshed with hand-painted 4×6 panels showcasing unique images and stories from each collaborative pair’s creation. From a shared love of dragons and psychedelic colors to an iconic bison representing a foster youth’s Native American heritage, this large scale mural is as diverse as the partnerships who composed them. All of this was by design.  Color Outside the Lines Founder and Creative Director Anna Barlow, alongside Development Director Crystal Ramberg, interviewed dozens of local artists. They sought to connect each foster youth with an artist whose style matched their interests. As Barlow explained:

“When we found out a little boy was into heavy metal and skateboarding or a young girl who loved everything whimsical, we knew who to pair them with. We wanted these relationships to go beyond a teaching experience and see these partnerships grow.”

What began as a summer apprenticeship between local artists and foster youths blossomed into a mentorship between two creatives. Studio time became bonding time. As each pair’s paintings grew, so did their shared vision and strong sense of camaraderie. This could not be more true for nine-year-old D and her artist partner, Jennifer Gillia Cutshall whose joint mural panel is emblematic of the bonds formed through their creative expression. It was said their connection was instant. “D’s artistic spirit matched mine and we worked together well, allowing inspiration to flow freely between us,” Cutshall remembers. “We made decisions together and altered the initial design to mirror the symbolism that matched us as a team.”

Entitled “Lady Justice is the High Rise of Unity,” their painting combines Cutshall’s fascination of powerful empresses with D’s love of nature and animals. Peaceful doves became city pigeons, those often overlooked yet resilient birds. And as D danced around the studio and sang her favorite song, “Blackbirds” by the Beatles, she and Cutshall thought black birds should also grace their painting. “We used pigeons and blackbirds because people don’t usually notice them,” D noted. “The pigeons are the underdogs and the blackbirds symbolize freedom from oppression.”

D and artist Jennifer Gillia Cutshall painting the final touches on their piece.

All of this from nine-year-old D who entered into the project overflowing with enthusiasm. She couldn’t wait to get to the studio after school and paint alongside Cutsall. Over paint brushes and acrylics, talks about their days became conversations of inspiration and hope; discovering deeper connections in one another each session. During the process of Cutshall painting spruced up bird nests with soft grays and browns, she looked at D and realized, D is Lady Justice: “She is hope, possibility, and she possesses the triumphant spirit of a brave warrior.”

Cutshall asked D if she would be the model for their empress and D delightedly exclaimed, “Yes!” The apprentice became a muse and together they merged their creative ideas into one. Little by little, their painting revealed progressive nuances in their completed mural. Their Lady Justice, who is traditionally blindfolded, gazes out onto the city with the awareness of youth’s power to overcome and shape a future in equity and unity. The unyielding power in their message is translated in every brushstroke that grew stronger through their time together.

For Cutshall, this partnership was a win-win. When Ramberg tapped her for the Unity Project, she embraced the opportunity. To be able to possibly inspire a young person and witness their growth was all she hoped for, but what she received was far more than she expected.

“There’s a bond that happens when you create something,” Cutshall said with a smile. “It sort of fast paces the friendship or connection to the person. D probably brings that out in everyone. She’s a super great kid to just be around. I’m sure I’m not alone in connecting with her instantly and I’m just grateful to have experienced this with her.”

Once the Unity Project was complete, all artist pairs reunited on October 12th where art lovers and supporters gathered at the Red Ecotrust. The 24 murals were on display for all to enjoy as the young artists reflected upon their time spent together–a summer filled with warm days in a studio that came to feel more like their own; a season they won’t soon forget.

In early November, the Burnside Rocket will be enhanced with these mini murals for the entire city to see. As these young artists grow, memories of a summer spent in self-discovery and creativity will live on for many years to come.

As for the future, the Unity Project seeks to create more opportunities like this and the collaborative artworks are just the beginning. Through community partnerships, the next phase dives deeper into nurturing each participant’s interests by opening up more avenues of expression through dance, digital media, music, sculpture, and more. The possibilities for creativity are boundless. All they need is that first spark of connection.

 

*opportunity youth: This term seeks to reframe language around the depiction of “at-risk youths.” By developing new words to describe our young people who face unique life challenges, we can reshape the trajectory of their future.

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Taryn Sauer is an industrious writer with a copyeditor’s eye and a poet’s hand. Her work has appeared in a variety of newspapers and culinary publications, but what she’s proudest of is the small press zine, Facade, she created with her friends to raise funds for Planned Parenthood. When she’s not writing, you can find her in the kitchen recreating her grandmother’s New Mexican recipes. Check out more of Taryn’s work here.

Introducing Giyen Kim, City Arts Program Manager

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The City of Portland has hired Giyen Kim to serve as the new City Arts Program Manager.

With a public service career spanning nearly two decades, Giyen’s diverse background includes work in affordable housing, environmental conservation, policy development, homeless response, marketing and emergency management. She also brings a strong interest in the arts and a commitment to creating access to art in every part of the city.

Photo: Giyen Kim (right) and her daughter, Jaeeun. Jaeeun works at the Office of Arts and Culture in Seattle.

Photo: Giyen Kim (right) and her daughter, Jaeeun. Jaeeun works at the Office of Arts and Culture in Seattle.

Giyen’s passion for serving the community began at Capitol Hill Housing, where she oversaw the day-to-day management of the organization’s $100M affordable housing portfolio and increased access to housing by revising housing eligibility requirements that disproportionately impacted communities of color. In 2009, Giyen transitioned to the environmental sector as the Operations Director for Forterra, a nonprofit organization working to create a more sustainable future for all by securing and protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of urban, rural and wild spaces. There, she co-chaired the organization’s first conversation on diversity and equity, and later as Director of Marketing and Development, oversaw a rebranding effort which pivoted a traditional land conservancy into a regional organization that advocated for smart growth as an impetus for preserving of natural landscapes. She also organized Forterra’s first “Art and the Environment” series, connecting Forterra’s donors and stakeholders with local artists and makers.

Most recently, Giyen worked for the City of Seattle, where she was a Strategic Advisor for Seattle IT and a Business Analyst for Seattle Public Utilities. She also served as part of the Mayor’s homeless response team, where she coordinated interagency outreach and mitigation efforts. We asked Giyen a few questions to help introduce her to the local arts community.

 

RACC: Welcome to your new position! How are you approaching the role of City Arts Manager?

Giyen: I am approaching this role in the same way as I approach most things in my life—listen and be curious about people and how things work.

You recently moved here from Seattle, but you grew up on the Southern Oregon Coast and have lived in Portland before. Can you tell us a little bit about your observations of Portland, and how it compares to Seattle?

This is the most frequently asked question since I’ve moved here! Portland is a breathtaking city, and my observation of Portlanders is that they are exceedingly nice. People say good morning to strangers on the street—which doesn’t always happen in Seattle—and I enjoy connecting with neighbors this way.  Since it’s only been a few weeks, comparing the two cities is hard. What I will say is that while Portland and Seattle face such similar challenges around issues like affordability, gentrification, and homelessness—the approach to addressing them appears different. Part of it is having so many jurisdictions in one small geographic footprint and part of it is that the DNA of this region is to think outside the box.

How do you define “culture” and “the arts”?

I personally define “the arts” in the broadest sense—as vehicle to tell stories and as a means of creative self-expression. This could mean Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 in D-Minor, as well as Humble by Kendrick Lamar.  I approach the definition of “culture” in the same broad way. Culture articulates a set of values and behaviors that evokes a sense of belonging for a community or subsection of a community. This is where I see art intersect with culture in a very powerful way. I can still remember when I saw the first painting of an Asian depicted in a modern everyday setting, instead of what’s typically displayed in museums. It made me weepy and emotional to see it. Seeing my story represented in a piece of modern art gave me a sense of place, safety and belonging.

That said, as the City Arts Manager, it’s not for me to define what arts and culture is to Portland. It’s my job to help facilitate the conversation and ensure that everyone is at the table to have that discussion.

Is there anything particular that you’re looking forward to doing in Portland?

I am really excited to see some public art. It’s silly, but I have a goal of seeing every piece in the City’s vast art collection!

What can you tell us about the city’s priorities for arts and culture in the next 6-12 months, and how you’ll be spending your first year.

My first year will be focused on developing relationships and understanding the priorities of the arts community and the metro region. I am not going assume strategies that have worked in Seattle, will work in Portland. There will be a period of outreach and getting to know this City’s vibrant arts culture and deepening my understanding of RACC’s vision and strategy.

I take my role as a steward of public dollars very seriously. I want to ensure that the residents of Portland are getting value from their investment and I want to figure out new ways that we can articulate how the City and RACC are supporting a more vibrant, innovative and inclusive arts and culture scene that accessible to all ages.

And of course, making progress on any outstanding audit items is a huge priority.

Many folks in the local arts community are eager to meet you. Where can they find you, how can they get ahold of you?

I am very eager to meet with the local arts community! Now that I’ve settled in, I am really looking forward to immersing myself in this special community and really understanding the opportunities that are out there. The best way to reach me is at giyen.kim@portlandoregon.gov. Let’s meet for coffee or a walk around your neighborhood.

 

Thank you, Giyen!

Munta Mpwo paints new mural at Open Signal

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The artwork is the sixth to be commissioned as part of the “Fresh Paint” temporary murals program, in partnership with the Regional Arts & Culture Council

 

Portland, Ore. — A new mural is going up on the exterior wall of Open Signal: Portland Community Media Center on NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard at Graham Street in Portland. Titled bboys make some noise, artist Munta Eric Mbungu Mpwo’s mural will remain on display through April 2020.

Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mpwo is now based in Portland. He cites comic books, breakdancing and hip hop as their sources of inspiration.

“I’m a breakdancer and have been doing it for about 20 years,” Mpwo says. “I have connected with many different cultures and backgrounds through dance. To help motivate the next generation, I would like to dedicate [this mural] to all dancers to show what the power of dance can bring to the soul.”

This is the sixth temporary mural created in the last two and a half years as part of the Fresh Paint program, a partnership between Open Signal and the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). The goal of the program is to provide emerging artists of color the opportunity to paint a mural in a high-traffic setting for the first time, helping artists learn new ways of creating art in public spaces, and to build their portfolio.

For a time-lapse video with the painting of the previous Fresh Paint mural—Let’s Talk by artists Maria Rodriguez, Bizar Gomez and Anke Gladnick—please visit https://youtu.be/Zfkv0hizF90. The next artist to be featured in this program will be Limei Lai in April 2020.

 

Artist Munta Mpwo started painting Open Signal’s new mural facing NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. on October 2, 2019. Painting is scheduled to resume on Saturday, October 5.

 

Michihiro Kosuge’s installation Contemplative Place has been relocated to Leach Botanical Garden; public dedication event planned for September 6

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2019

Portland, Ore – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), Leach Botanical Garden and Portland’s Russo Lee Gallery are pleased to announce a dedication event for Northwest sculptor Michihiro Kosuge’s Contemplative Place installation at Leach Botanical Garden. The dedication, which will be held in the Upper Garden at Leach on Friday, September 6 at 10:30 a.m., offers a unique opportunity to meet the artist and experience the scale and setting of the this newly relocated basalt stone installation in a lush forest setting.

 

About Contemplative Place: In 1996 artist Michihiro Kosuge designed and installed a striking set of carved and shaped stones in the northwest corner of East Portland’s Ed Benedict Park. The installation was designed to provide a place where park visitors could sit and quietly contemplate the relationship between the massive basalt blocks and the points of the compass marked by the tallest stones. The landscaped park setting around the stones worked in concert with the artist’s thoughtful layout to foster a sense of quietude and spirituality. The installation was also meant to provide a spot for the 911 call operators—who worked next door in Portland’s Emergency Communications Center—to decompress whenever needed. Changes in traffic volume along Powell Boulevard, and the subsequent placement of a skateboard park directly adjacent to Contemplative Place, led to conditions that worked directly against Kosuge’s intent.

 

The major renovation of Leach Botanical Garden which is now underway presented a remarkable opportunity to relocate this important work of public art to a spot where it can once again serve its original purpose. The wooded grove Contemplative Place now inhabits allows the installation to once again work in concert with its setting and provides for the addition of a significant work of public art to this marvelously evolving garden. Those who attend the dedication will also have a chance to learn more about the renovation of the Upper Garden at Leach.

About the Artist: Known for his sculpture and stone installations throughout the NW and beyond, Michihiro Kosuge was born in Tokyo and studied sculpture at Tokyo Sumida Technical School of Architecture. After coming to the United States in 1967, he continued to focus on sculpture and received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1970. After moving to Portland in 1978 Kosuge began teaching at Portland State University. He remained at PSU until he retired from teaching in 2003 as Chair of the Department. Always prolific, Kosuge’s studio practice remains active  as witnessed by his current exhibition at Russo Lee Gallery which runs through August 31.

Dedication Time and Place: Join the artist, staff from Leach Botanical Garden, RACC, and the Russo Lee Gallery for the dedication of Contemplative Place in its new location at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, September 6.  Leach Botanical Garden is located at 6704 SE 122nd Avenue in Portland. The event will be held in the Upper Garden. Due to construction, parking is limited to the Creekside Parking lot with the dedication site accessed vis the Manor House entrance.

For more information about the event and the art, contact Keith Lachowicz klachowicz@racc.org. For information about parking visit the Leach Botanical Garden website or contact Jo Shintani, jshintani@leachgarden.org. You can find out more about the renovation of the Leach Upper Garden here.

Michihiro Kosuge’s Contemplative Place installed in its new location at Leach Botanical Garden

 

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The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) provides grants for artists, nonprofit organizations and schools in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; raises money and awareness for the arts; convenes forums, networking events and other community gatherings; provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists; and oversees a program to integrate arts and culture into the standard curriculum in public schools through The Right Brain Initiative. RACC values a diversity of artistic and cultural experiences and is working to build a community in which everyone can participate in culture, creativity and the arts. For more information visit racc.org.

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Hawthorne, Director of Community Engagement, jhawthorne@racc.org, 503.823.5258.

Fresh Paint with Anke Gladnick

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In a city known for murals, how do you get your foot (or art) through a door when you’re an emerging artist of color? Fresh Paint, a partnership between RACC’s Public Art Murals program and Open Signal, offers that door to have artist work in the public realm.

In this 2019 cycle of Fresh Paint, a selection of new emerging artists have the opportunity to paint a temporary mural on the exterior of the Open Signal building facing the highly-visible Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Each mural is up for a period of months until it is painted over in preparation for the next mural. But what’s unique about this program is that it doesn’t just provide a wall for a mural – the program offers resources to emerging artists that would not typically have access to, which then gives them space to explore working in the public sector and incorporating new approaches and skills in their artistic practice and experience.

As part of the artist team (which also includes Maria Rodriguez and Victor Gomez aka Bizar Gomez) that currently have their mural on Open Signal, Anke Gladnick is an illustrator who grew up in California and somehow found their way to Portland, Oregon. Through a mix of collaged analog and digital elements, Anke’s work is both visually and conceptually layered with a focus on the surreal and is inspired by dreams, nostalgia, and a sense of poignancy.

The artists’ mural is currently on display through September 30, 2019. We caught up with Anke after the completion of the mural to talk about the work and experience with Fresh Paint:

Tell us about the collaborative mural you created for this program. Can you walk us through your process of conceptualizing a mural and bringing it to life?
Since the three of us mostly have experience as editorial illustrators, we approached it as such when started conceptualizing it. We initially knew we wanted the image to communicate the idea of POC coming together in solidarity with each other. After a bit of brainstorming we eventually decided on what was the most important action in fostering empathy with those who have similar and yet different struggles; talking to each other.

The actual image came together pretty quickly once we knew what to illustrate. We divided up the image into three parts that would play up to each of our illustration “specialty”: Victor and I designed the figures while Maria designed the more conceptual, graphic elements that would tie everything together. After that, all that was left was the painting, and while our image was pretty much set at this point, we now had to deal with the logistics of actually creating a mural.

What was it like to paint your first mural on the Open Signal building?
It was such a positive experience! My absolute favorite part was seeing others engaging with the mural as we were in the process of creating it; people coming up to us to ask questions and leaving with words of encouragement and appreciation, seeing people stop and take pictures of the mural from the other side of the street, people driving by and yelling “great work!”… Art tends to be such a solitary pursuit that it’s refreshing to be creating in a public space and getting immediate feedback from others.

“Daybreak” -Personal Illustration

Since your Fresh Paint mural, what have you been up to? What are some lessons you’ve learned along the way since your first mural?
I think one of the biggest takeaways was learning how to manage such a big project and breaking it down step by step all the while persevering throughout the painting process. We all knew that painting a mural takes time since we had helped other people on their murals, but I don’t think we fully anticipated just how time-heavy and physically demanding painting a mural can be. If we were to do another mural, remembering all that would do wonders for our morale. We were so dejected after day one at how little we seemingly got done, but I think in retrospect we got a lot more done than we think. Art is a marathon, not a race!

As an emerging muralist, what thoughts or words do you want to offer emerging muralists/artists?
Your first mural is going to take much, much longer than you think! When we started the mural we thought we’d be finished in 2 days with the three of us working. After day two, we had just finished sketching it out and painted the wall blocking in maybe 3/4ths of it. Also, painting while standing on an A-frame is not so bad. Just hook one arm around the frame for safety.

What are you up to now? Where can we find you and your work?
Right now I’ve been currently working on a mix of editorial and comic projects, one of the biggest ones being Postcript , an upcoming comics anthology with a bunch of extremely talented comic artists who attend or recently graduated from PNCA and is the final book in the Unversed series of anthologies. The Kickstarter starts May 17th and you can find more info about Postscript and the other Unversed books at unversedcomics.com. You can always view my work online at my website or at most social media websites at “ankegladnick” (one of the perks of having an unusual name). Twitter/instagram/tumblr: @ankegladnick

 

Fresh Paint is a professional development program, now in its second year, that provides emerging artists of color the opportunity to paint a mural in a high-traffic setting for the first time. The goal is for each artist to learn new ways of creating art in a public space, as well as to build their portfolio. To learn more about the program, contact Salvador Mayoral IV (RACC)