RACC Blog

Lineup announced for May 17 Battle of the Bands

Written by

PORTLAND, ORE — On May 17 at the Crystal Ballroom, bankers, architects, lumberjacks and surgeons will represent their companies and compete for prizes at Battle of the Bands, a benefit for Work for Art. Tickets are $12, on sale now at the Crystal Ballroom box office at workforart.org/bob. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $100 each, including reserved seating, and hosted food and beverages.

Six bands, made up of employees who play music on the side, will compete in front of family, friends, coworkers and a panel of celebrity judges. Several prizes will be awarded including the title of Best Company Band. Audiences will select an “Audience Favorite” as determined by the band that receives the most in cash donations the night of the event.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Food and beverages are available for purchase. As a warm-up act, Brothers Jam will perform until 6:30 p.m., featuring BodyVox artistic director Jamey Hampton.

The main event begins at 6:30 p.m., emceed by Sarah G of WE 96.3 FM. The six competing bands are:

  • Hampton Lumber, Petty Crimes
  • Kaiser Permanente, Members Only
  • KeyBank, Hair Nation
  • Portland City Hall, Copper Goddess
  • Stoel Rives, The Bears
  • ZGF Architects, Pencil Skirt Paula and The Straight Edge Rulers 

Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and ZGF Architects principal Sharron van der Meulen are co-chairing this year’s event, and the competing bands are being mentored by Portland jazz musician Christopher Brown. The judging panel includes three local music industry celebrities:

  • Valerie Day has been a vocalist and percussionist for many years beginning with the Grammy nominated group Nu Shooz in the 1980’s. She has toured extensively in the United States, Canada and Europe, appeared on national and international TV programs, sold over a million records worldwide, has sung with orchestras and performed at numerous music festivals. In addition to her life as a performer, Valerie had a private vocal studio for over 20 years.
  • Rindy Ross is the lead singer, saxophonist, and co-founder of Quarterflash and The Trail Band, both bands she formed with her husband, Marv. Their platinum debut Quarterflash album produced the hit single, Harden My Heart, and they traveled extensively including tours with Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, Sammy Hagar and others. Since the Eighties they have released six Quarterflash and thirteen Trail Band albums and have been inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
  • Edna Vazquez is a Latin American artist based in the Northwest who performs original music that pays homage to her many influences from across the Americas. Edna has traveled far and wide with her band of all-star musicians to share their message of light, love and cultural healing.

There will also be a special performance by Rock N Roll Camp for Girls’ Strawberry Jam, with band members ranging in age from 15 to 17 years. This opportunity is made possible by a sponsorship from The Standard.

At approximately 8:30 p.m., while the judges deliberate and the cash is counted, the Portland Timbers Army band Greenhorn will perform. Timber Joey will be on hand to help announce the winners at the end of the evening.

All proceeds from Battle of the Bands benefit Work for Art, an annual campaign to raise money and awareness for local arts and culture organizations.

“As the top Work for Art campaign for six years in a row, it’s clear our employees are big believers in the power of art and its undeniable impact on our community,” said Kregg Arntson, director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Portland General Electric, and chair of this year’s Work for Art campaign. “Battle of the Bands is the perfect venue to celebrate the arts and creative expression, while cheering on our favorite local company bands.”

Battle of the Bands is sponsored by headliners Hampton Lumber, KeyBank, KINK 101.9 FM and The Standard. Additional sponsorship support is provided by Kaiser Permanente, Stoel Rives and ZGF Architects.

Work for Art is a program of the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), which distributes a full 100% of all Work for Art donations, including Battle of the Bands proceeds, to arts organizations in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties. For more information visit workforart.org.

###

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 through Work for Art; 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.

 

“Visual Chronicle of Portland” exhibition opens at the Portland Building, March 28 – April 21

Written by

PORTLAND, ORE – A special exhibition focusing on new acquisitions to the Visual Chronicle of Portland collection opens at the Portland Building on March 28th. The Visual Chronicle of Portland, a collection of original works-on-paper that portray artists’ perceptions of what makes Portland unique, has been steadily growing since its inception in 1985 and now boasts 356 works by over 200 different artists. RACC normally rotates sets of work from this well regarded city-owned collection throughout public spaces in City of Portland and Multnomah County facilities, but this special exhibition offers the public a unique chance to see these recent acquisitions from the 2016/17 purchase in one place.

About the Artists: The Visual Chronicle strives to reflect a diversity of populations, artistic disciplines, and points of view; it represents a living archive that seeks to honestly document life in our city through the eyes of the artists who live here. RACC is committed to engaging and expanding the communities of artists and the range of artistic and cultural expression that it represents. The artists represented in this recent purchase include:

Holly Andres Kristin Kohl
Bobby Abrahamson Eva Lake
Heather Lee Birdsong Christopher Mooney
Alison Foshee Steven Slappe
Joseph Glode Mami Takahashi
Bryan David Griffith

To browse the collection on line visit the RACC website: Public Art Search

Viewing Hours & Location: The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. This exhibition of new acquisitions from the Visual Chronicle of Portland opens Tuesday, March 28th and runs through Friday, April 21st. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

#SAVE THE NEA!

Written by

My post today will not be breaking news to followers of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, but grassroots advocacy is essential over the next few months. While Oregon is lucky to have an arts supportive – even passionate – Congressional delegation, we all must make our voices heard that the President’s budget proposal is unacceptable.  And also please thank our Representatives and Senators for past support. Their offices need to be flooded!

FROM AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS WEBSITE:

The White House has released its proposed budget to Congress, officially recommending full termination of funding of both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for FY2018. This is the first American President in history to propose zeroing out all funding for the nation’s federal cultural agencies.

Eliminating the NEA would be a devastating blow to the arts in America. For more than 50 years, the NEA has expanded access to the arts for all Americans, awarding grants in every Congressional district throughout all 50 states and U.S. Territories as well as placing arts therapists in 12 military hospitals to help returning soldiers heal from traumatic brain injuries. The NEA is also an economic powerhouse, generating more than $600 million annually in additional matching funds and helping to shape a $730 billion arts and culture industry that represents 4.2% of the nation’s GDP and supports 4.8 million jobs.

The federal appropriations process does not end here. We now begin a concerted grassroots effort to convince Congress to #SaveTheNEA. Here are the actions you can take right now:

  1. The most important thing you can do is to take two minutes to send a customizable message to your elected representatives in Congress and urge them to oppose any attempt to eliminate or cut funding to the NEA.
  2. Post on Facebook and Twitter to help rally national support to save the NEA. There is strength in numbers and your social media friends can help.
  3. Contribute to the Arts Action Fund to help ensure we have the resources to maintain our grassroots arts network.

PLEASE HELP! The road forward will be filled with horse-trading. Republican led Congresses have saved both agencies from extinction before. We cannot let this slip through.

Thank you for joining us.

What’s Up Next?

Written by

ELOISE BLOG:

Thirty years ago this June I moved to Portland. A week later I interviewed for a job managing the Percent for Art Program for the Oregon Convention Center. I started the next day. It was an amazing opportunity to jump right into the midst of a pivotal design and construction project, to work with a broad range of city leaders, architects, artists, the construction team, and to take a crash course in Portland’s arts community. Some of those extraordinary people remain close friends and colleagues to this day. And little did I know that this was the beginning of a dream career helping to frame, nurture and grow public art in Portland and then add to that responsibility to strengthen the broader arts and culture communities.

Looking back I am so proud of what the mighty RACC staff and board have been able to accomplish together with artists, arts leaders, elected officials, volunteers, business people, educators, donors, the creative industries and voters. 62% said YES to the Arts Tax! All Portland elementary students now have art and music every week and arts organizations receive increased general operating support. Thanks also to the Arts Tax and Multnomah County we have created and launched Arts Equity Grants to support previously underserved populations, brought new organizations into General Operating Support membership, and will soon pilot capacity building opportunities for culturally specific organizations.

The Right Brain Initiative is rapidly growing across the region preparing our youth for productive, creative futures. Public Art continues to thrive especially as our city and counties grow and build—artfully. Work for Art raises more money each year to support arts organizations, while events like Juice and the Battle of the Bands bring arts and business ever closer in creative collaborations and greater contributions.

The years have brought challenges to be sure, but our remarkably resilient arts community has pulled through by helping each other through the worst of it and holding on to that determined spirit. Now more than ever we need to tap into our inclusive values, our beliefs that everyone is welcome here, and do all we can to ensure that arts and culture opportunities are available and accessible to every person here. RACC is committed to this and I know that going forward our resolve will only grow as we learn how best to make equity and inclusion the foundation of all that we do.

What’s next for me? I have no grand plan except that I know I will spend as much of the coming summer as I can outside enjoying this beautiful place, my friends and family. I have a piano I want to befriend, a body and mind that would love to learn yoga, a husband who like me is a travel junkie, and a stunningly sweet 10 month old granddaughter two hours away who doesn’t know it yet, but surely needs a grandmother to dote on her. I also have no intention of disappearing from the arts community I truly love—period.

Thank you to everyone for these wonderful years – to the incredible RACC staff past and present, our amazing Board leadership, and everyone I have had the great fortune to know and work with over 30 years. I am so lucky to have you as colleagues, collaborators, conspirators, and, most of all, friends.

Company bands invited to Battle on May 17

Written by

PORTLAND, ORE  – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is now accepting registrations for its second annual Battle of the Bands competition slated for Wednesday, May 17, 2017 at the Crystal Ballroom. Eight employee bands, sponsored by their companies, will perform in front of friends, family, co-workers and a panel of celebrity judges as they vie for the title of Best Company Band and other prizes. The event will raise more than $80,000 for RACC’s annual Work for Art campaign.

The debut of Battle of the Bands last year was an unqualified success, attracting seven employee bands, 400 music fans and $70,000 for the cause. Top honors went to Pencil Skirt Paula and The Straight Edge Rulers from ZGF Architects (Best Company Band); Members Only from Kaiser Permanente (Best Showmanship); and Smoke Before Fire from The Standard (Audience Favorite).

While those companies prepare to defend their titles in 2017, five spots remain for the 2017 Battle. Among the rules:

  • In order to perform, companies pay a sponsorship fee of $5,000 or more; sponsorships also include complimentary tickets and other benefits.
  • Spots are offered on a first-come basis. All bands must register by Monday, April 3, 2017.
  • Each band can have between 3-15 members.
  • Bands must be made up mostly of employees working for the sponsoring company; only one musician in each band may be exempted from this requirement.
  • Each band will have 10 minutes to perform, and all genres of music are welcome.

New this year, RACC is providing additional opportunities for local business participation through a lip sync video competition. For more information and application materials, visit http://workforart.org/bob/ or contact Alison Bailey at 503-823-5424.

Work for Art, now in its 11th year, is an annual campaign to raise money and awareness for local arts and culture organizations, primarily through workplace giving and other partnerships with local businesses. The 2017 campaign is led by Kregg Arntson, executive director of the PGE Foundation and director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Portland General Electric. More than 70 companies will participate in this year’s Work for Art campaign, and all proceeds from Work for Art and Battle of the Bands will be granted to approximately 100 nonprofit arts and culture organizations in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties.

Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly and ZGF Principal Sharron van der Meulen are co-chairing the 2017 Battle. Tickets are on sale now for $12 each at The Crystal Ballroom box office, 1332 West Burnside Street in Portland; by phone at 1-855-CAS-TIXX; or online at https://tinyurl.com/jy6pjyg. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for $100 each, including complimentary food and beverage plus reserved seating.

###

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) was established in 1995 and is funded by public and private partners to serve artists, arts organizations, schools and residents throughout Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. RACC provides grants for artists, nonprofit organizations and schools; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; raises money and awareness for the arts through workplace giving and other programs; convenes forums, networking events and other community gatherings; provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists; and integrates the arts into K-8 curriculum through The Right Brain Initiative. Online at www.racc.org.

Kalimah Abioto, Artist-in-Residence with Open Signal and RACC, to debut film on First Thursday

Written by

PORTLAND, ORE – Open Signal and the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) have partnered to support an artist-in-residence, Kalimah Abioto. The residency is part of Night Lights, a monthly digital media event in which artists project their work onto the north exterior wall of RACC’s downtown offices on First Thursdays. Abioto will produce a new work for the next edition of Night Lights on Thursday, March 2.

A graduate of the film program at Hollins College, Abioto’s work includes experimentally edited short documentaries and narrative films, with a focus on the Portland and Memphis African-American communities.

Through Night Lights, Abioto was granted a stipend of $5,000 from RACC and use of Open Signal media equipment, facilities and training. In November, she used these resources to travel to Mali, West Africa, where she collected video footage in Dogon Country, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Since returning to Portland, Abioto has collaborated with local dancers, musicians, filmmakers and prop-makers to create her Night Lights film entitled Sight. The film tells the story of three young girls with the ability to travel to different dimensions, who help an adult woman to rediscover her own power.

“It’s a film about spirituality—going inside to retrieve your gifts and share them with the world,” Abioto said. “Embracing your shadow, in a way.”

Through her residency, Abioto had access to Open Signal’s equipment and production studios, which she used to create one of the dimensions in Sight. Dancers Uriah Boyd, Akela Jaffi and Mia O’Connor staged a dance alongside the three young leads in Open Signal’s Cyclorama green screen studio, to music written and performed by Abioto’s sister, Amenta Abioto.

“The green screen studio is phenomenal,” Abioto said. “So is having the office space to meet with the team and the talent, as well as access to the equipment—it’s like having a support team.”

Abioto will debut her film at Night Lights on Thursday, March 2, starting at dusk, at the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s north exterior wall, 411 NW Park Avenue in Portland.

Abioto will also share her work in progress during Open Signal’s first Open House on Saturday, February 25 from 4-8 p.m. at 2766 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. in Portland.

On Wednesday, March 22, she will deliver an artist talk in conjunction with her collaborators at Open Signal at 7:00 p.m., screening her film again, discussing her filmmaking process and taking questions from the audience about its inspiration and production.

###

About Night Lights
Night Lights is a monthly public art event that promotes digital media, urban intervention, and technological innovation. On the First Thursdays of October through April, select artists are able to showcase their work on the north wall of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Night Lights is a collaboration between Open Signal and RACC.

About Open Signal
Open Signal is a media arts center making media production possible for anyone and everyone in Portland, Oregon. Launched in 2017, the center builds upon the 35-year legacy of Portland Community Media to create a resource totally unique in the Pacific Northwest. Open Signal offers media workshops, an equipment library, artist residencies and programs five cable channels with locally produced content. Open Signal delivers media programming with a commitment to creativity, technology and social change. Learn more at opensignalpdx.org.

About RACC
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) was established in 1995 and is funded by public and private partners to serve artists, arts organizations, schools and residents throughout Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties. RACC provides grants for artists, nonprofit organizations and schools; manages an internationally acclaimed public art program; raises money and awareness for the arts through workplace giving and other programs; convenes forums, networking events and other community gatherings; provides workshops and other forms of technical assistance for artists; and integrates the arts into K-8 curriculum through The Right Brain Initiative. Online at racc.org.

NEA and NEH Letters to the President

Written by

ELOISE BLOG: As we know there has been considerable angst and very little reliable information circulating regarding the President’s position on arts and humanities.

As a first step in advocating for these vital organizations Americans for the Arts (AFTA), the national organization focused on arts advocacy, research, and support to the field, has shared a recent letter to the President from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen Tom Udall (D-NM) in support of continued funding to the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The twenty-two other Senators that signed include our own Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and two GOP members, Senators Capito (R-WV) and Collins (R-ME).

There will be many opportunities going forward for advocacy, but I wanted you to see this letter and encourage the signers to press on.

Read the letter here.

Stephanie Simek presents “Table of Elements (and Minerals)” at the Portland Building, February 21 – March 17

Written by

PORTLAND, ORE – Drawing on her previous work exploring materials with unusual and interesting physical properties, Stephanie Simek will install her deftly crafted, hand-built “table of holograms” in the Portland Building Installation Space beginning February 21st.

Simek’s project, titled Table of Elements (and Minerals), was designed with the architecture of the Installation Space in mind. Her installation not only serves as a way to engage visitors with a set of optical illusions (illusions that depend on the clever use of optical principles rather than complicated electronics) but it also functions as a conceptual container or vitrine for the artist’s personal table of elements—silicon, quartz, calcite, iron, copper, and bismuth. “It’s a table within a table, a reliquary for various elemental materials with remarkable inherent potential.” Simek says, “Each possesses unusual magnetic, electrical, or optical capabilities, and all have the ability to do work, such as carrying a signal or storing information.”

These familiar, but perhaps under-recognized, minerals have been used by the artist in her past installations to great effect. Those projects include the design and construction of a room-sized crystal radio, an invisibility cloak, a levitating sculpture, and an 8 byte data storage device.

About the Artist: Portland artist Stephanie Simek produces a wide array of work in multiple mediums. She received her BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and has shown and performed her work in the Pacific Northwest, New York, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Simek has received two Oregon Arts Commission Career Development Awards and was awarded a Regional Arts & Culture Council Project Grant in 2014. Her work will be included in a two-person show at Oregon State University in 2018.

Viewing Hours & Location: The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland and is open 8 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday. Table of Elements (and Minerals) opens Tuesday, February 21 and runs through Friday, March 17.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) manages the 13’ x 8’ installation space in the lobby of the Portland Building and presents installation based art there year round. For more information, including images, proposals, and statements for projects dating back to 1994, go to www.racc.org/installationspace.

###

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 through Work for Art; 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.