RACC Blog

Willamette Week awards Skidmore Prize to Right Brain staffer

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PORTLAND, ORE —The Right Brain Initiative’s Outreach Specialist Rebecca Burrell has received a Skidmore Prize, an award delivered annually by the Willamette Week to four outstanding non-profit leaders under the age of 36. This award is presented in conjunction with Willamette Week’s Give!Guide, a year-end fundraising campaign for Portland area organizations, which launched today and runs through December 31.

Burrell was hired in 2009 to build The Right Brain Initiative’s first strategic communications and community engagement programming. Since that time, Burrell has played an integral role in helping the program grow from serving 23 schools in 2009-10 to serving 63 schools in 2015-16, and securing Right Brain’s position as one of the most visible and respected arts education programs in the nation.

“Rebecca is passionate, creative, strategic, collaborative and tireless,” said Marna Stalcup, Director of Arts Education at RACC. “Most rewarding is her ability to galvanize the community, turning what could be passive supporters in to passionate activists working on our behalf.”

Since 2009, Burrell has allied Right Brain with the STEAM Caucus of the US House of Representatives, causing Right Brain to be cited repeatedly as a key example of STEAM education in the United States. She has led over 500 volunteers to deliver more than 10,000 hours toward advocacy projects for the Initiative. In 2014, she drove the effort to release ground-breaking data about Right Brain’s impact on student test scores, which garnered attention by Americans for the Arts, The Huffington Post, Oregon Public Broadcasting and the Portland Monthly.

In addition to her work with Right Brain, Burrell is currently chair of the Emerging Leader Council at Americans for the Arts. She is a co-founder of the Portland Emerging Arts Leaders, and a Portland Metro Leadership Council member of The Oregon Community Foundation.

The Right Brain Initiative plans to raise $20,000 through the Give!Guide by December 31, 2015. Donate to Right Brain and 142 other local non-profits at giveguide.org.

For more information about Right Brain’s integrated arts programming in Portland area K-8 schools, visit theRightBrainInitiative.org.

Restored “Talos No. 2” sculpture returns to the Transit Mall

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MEDIA ALERT AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

WHO: RACC

WHAT: James Lee Hansen’s public art sculpture, Talos No. 2, is being reinstalled

WHEN: Friday, October 30, 2015. Public art staff will be on site until 12:15pm.

WHERE: SW 6th Avenue at Stark Street in downtown Portland

Talos No. 2, a sculpture by artist James Lee Hansen that was violently knocked down by a vandal in July, is returning today to its pedestal at the corner of SW 6th & Stark.

Talos No. 2 has been absent from its pedestal since July 8.

Talos No. 2 has been absent from its pedestal since July 8.

Working with art local conservator Robert Krueger and expert welders from Art & Design Works, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) coordinated a complete repair of the seven foot tall bronze that has overlooked the Transit Mall since 1977. The three month restoration process began with the precise physical reconnection of the five pieces the 400 pound sculpture broke into when it hit the sidewalk. Once positioned, the adjacent edges were ground to expose clean metal, welded, and then delicately “chased” to create a joint surface with texture indistinguishable from adjacent areas. The repaired areas were then treated chemically to match the overall bronze patina.

The City of Portland’s Fine Arts Insurance policy paid for a portion of the repair, and several donors have made small gifts to help cover the $2,500 deductible. Additional donations can be made at www.racc.org/donate. For more information contact Public Art Collections Manager Keith Lachowicz at 503-823-5404 orklachowicz@racc.org or visit http://racc.org/public-art/search.

2nd annual “Día de los Muertos” installation at the Portland Building, October 28th – November 4

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PORTLAND, ORE – The Regional Arts & Culture Council is pleased to present the 2nd annual Día de los Muertos installation at the Portland Building beginning October 28th and running through November 4th. This year the display has been organized by muralist Rodolfo Serna. Known for his large collaborative mural projects, Serna is working with young artists from the Boys & Girls Club to create large scale images on the walls while members of Portland’s Mexica Tiahui Aztec Dance Group set up traditionalofrendas (altar) in the center of the exhibition space adjacent to the Portland Building lobby. The Día de los Muertos holiday is focused on commemorating ancestors, family, and friends that have died, and serves to remind us the natural part death plays in the cycle of life. The holiday originated in Mexico, but has expanded over time and is now celebrated throughout the U.S. and beyond.

“This installation is a tradition we bring from across the border that has been part of the indigenous cultures there for thousands of years…we see this as a day and night of reconnecting with our ancestors, the Mexica people; every year we set up an alter in a community space where we can all gather and celebrate.”

– Rodolfo Serna

 

About the Artists:  Rodolfo Serna is a muralist who works in the tradition of his ancestors, he sees the arts as a way of bringing balance and confidence to people’s lives. Serna has created over 30 youth-collaborative murals in greater Portland, joining forces with numerous service organizations, educational institutions, and local businesses in the process. For the last 10 years Serna has worked extensively with at-risk and homeless youth communities in Portland. Mexica Tiahui is a traditional Aztec dance circle established over 10 years ago in Oregon with the mission of continuing the traditions, ceremonies, and culture related to Mexican indigenous roots. The organization carries its educational commitment to communities in the Northwest with the goal of lifting consciousness by focusing on the importance of retaining cultural heritage.

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 – Friday. The Día de los Muertos installation runs from October 28th through November 4th.

For more information on the Portland Building Installation Space, including images, proposals, and statements for all projects dating back to 1994, go to www.racc.org/installationspace.

Media Alert: Portlandia’s 30th Birthday Celebration on October 8

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MEDIA ALERT AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

WHO: RACC, the City of Portland

WHAT: Portlandia’s 30th Birthday

WHEN: Thursday, October 8, 2015 from 12:00pm-1:30pm. Remarks and singing at 12:30pm.

WHERE: The Standard Insurance Plaza, across from the Portland Building on SW 5th between SW Madison and Main

NOTES: Portlandia, the sculptural icon at the Portland Building, is turning 30 years old and the public is invited to attend a free party in celebration of this milestone. Designed and fabricated by Raymond Kaskey, the statue is made of hammered copper sheeting around a steel armature.

Arts Commissioner Nick Fish will act as emcee and former mayor Bud Clark and current mayor Charlie Hales will be on hand to help celebrate. Rose High Bear from Wisdom of the Elders will provide a Native blessing, and Storm Large will sing “Happy Birthday” to the copper goddess accompanied by the fourth and fifth grade school choir from Chapman Elementary School. Other festivities include games, photo opportunities and music from 1985. Refreshments will be served.

Portlandia turns 30 on October 8; community celebration scheduled

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PORTLAND, ORE — The public is invited to attend a free party in celebration of Portlandia’s 30th birthday onThursday, October 8th from noon-1:30pm at The Standard Insurance Plaza across from the Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Avenue.

Portlandia, designed and constructed by Raymond Kaskey, is made of hammered copper sheeting about the thickness of a dime formed around a steel armature. She took three years to complete and is one-third the size of the Statue of Liberty, the only larger statue of this kind in the nation. The sculpture was funded through the city’s percent-for-art requirement related to the construction of The Portland Building. The building’s architect, Michael Graves, had suggested a statue of Lady Commerce (from Portland’s City Seal) as part of his design for the building; Kaskey won the $198,000 commission and named the sculpture “Portlandia.”  

Upon her completion in 1985, Portlandia was shipped across the country by rail, from Maryland to Oregon, in eight pieces. After being reassembled in a local shipyard, she rode by river barge and truck to her final destination, welcomed by 10,000 Portland residents along the riverbank, streets, and bridges. 

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, Arts Commissioner Nick Fish, and former mayor Bud Clark will be on hand to help RACC celebrate. Rose High Bear from Wisdom of the Elders will provide a Native blessing, and Storm Large will sing “Happy Birthday” to the copper goddess with students from Chapman Elementary School. Other festivities include games, photo opportunities and ‘80s music. Refreshments will be served. 

“Thirty years ago, Mayor Bud Clark paddled down the Willamette to welcome Portlandia to the City of Roses,” said Commissioner Nick Fish. “I’m proud to join Bud, the great Storm Large, my Council colleagues, the Regional Arts & Culture Council family, and the community to wish our copper goddess happy birthday.”

Portlandia’s 30th birthday party is presented by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which maintains the city’s public art collection, and is sponsored in part by The Standard and Cupcake Jones.

RACC accepting applications for “Art of Leadership,” a professional development program, through October 26

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Portland, Ore. – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is now accepting applications for Art of Leadership, a training program that prepares business professionals to serve on the boards of arts and culture organizations. The Art of Leadership was first established by Business for Culture & the Arts in 2003, and was transferred to RACC in 2015.

Led by internationally acclaimed arts consultant George Thorn, the Art of Leadership series includes six half-day workshop sessions featuring expert speakers, interactive sessions with arts and business leaders and topical information about the challenges facing arts organizations of all sizes. The program also provides opportunities for internships to observe an arts board in session, and a “speed dating” event to meet with organizations that are seeking new board members.

Over the past 12 years, more than 450 people have graduated from the program. Recent graduates serve on the boards of Young Audiences of Oregon & Southwest Washington, Post5 Theatre, Independent Publishing Resource Center and Blue Sky Gallery. Art of Leadership graduates have chaired the boards of Literary Arts, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Write Around Portland, Portland Youth Philharmonic and others.

Tuition is $800 per person, with a $100 discount for companies that participate in Work for Art, RACC’s workplace giving program. A limited number of partial scholarships are also available. The application deadline is October 26 and up to 40 participants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. The series begins on November 18th and continues through April. For a complete schedule and curriculum guide, and to register online, visit www.racc.org/artofleadership. 

Deanna Pindell’s “Apothecary for the Anthropocene” at the Portland Building Installation Space

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PORTLAND, ORE – The Anthropocene: a term increasingly used to describe a new epoch in which human activity exerts significant influence on global environmental conditions.

This allegorical apothecary installation by artist Deanna Pindell presents a summons to reconsider our heretofore casual relationship with our mortal existence on the planet. Can the looming climate and environmental crisis we appear to be headed for be cured by self-reflection, personal responsibility, and widespread cultural change? To help explore where we stand as a species with the environment that sustains us, Pindell will present viewers with a set of riddles written on the walls of the Portland Building Installation Space. Clues for these riddles come in the form of over 100 mason jars mounted on shelves. Each jar contains a relic, or some form of physical artifact that references a single environmental choice our society has decided to make, consciously or unconsciously—a jar full of genetically modified corn seeds, a tiny bird skull, coupons from Walmart. The riddles and their enigmatic clues are crafted to provoke us into directly considering these decisions, and whether or not, taken together, they accumulate into environmental disaster.

  • Who was number 316? (clue – a jar that contains an ear tag for a “factory cow.”)
  • How to kill an albatross?  (a jar with spent shotgun cartridge wads consumed by sea birds.)
  • Several slender hopes for the future? (a jar containing organic heritage squash seeds.)

The project will include an intimate journal visitors can examine and add their own comments to while seated in a comfortable vintage chair. Attentive journal readers will also discover a set of answers to the riddles, short poetic essays, and technical information on the jar specimens.

About the Artist: Deanna Pindell practices permaculture with a plethora of critters and conifers in Port Hadlock, Washington. A graduate of the Interdisciplinary Art M.F.A. program at Goddard College, she is the veteran of numerous public art projects and exhibitions throughout the US. She currently teaches at Olympic College in Bremerton, and was the Environmental Artist-in-Residence at the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012.

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 – Friday.  Apothecary for the Anthropocene opens September 28th and runs through October 23rd, 2015.

For more information on the Portland Building Installation Space, including images, proposals, and statements for all projects dating back to 1994, go to www.racc.org/installationspace.

David Eckard and Ellen Lesperance receive RACC fellowship awards for excellence in visual arts

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PORTLAND, ORE — Two Portland-based visual artists have received RACC’s 2015 Fellowship Awards. In addition to being recognized for their artistic excellence and achievements in the visual arts, David Eckard and Ellen Lesperance will each receive a cash grant of $20,000.

David Eckard was selected for a RACC Fellowship on the strength of his personal studio work, public performances and his dedication to the arts community both at PNCA and in his activism on behalf of artists. Many of his elegantly and well-crafted sculptures are choreographed into his performances. His work is layered, complex, and simultaneously intriguing and accessible. He will use fellowship funds (and take a sabbatical from PNCA) to research, design and begin implementing plans for a “creative compound” on his property, which will be populated with exhibitions, screenings, conferences, neighborhood events, workshops, residencies and mentoring opportunities.

Ellen Lesperance creates art in various media but often employs the visual language of knitting, having once worked for Vogue Knitting as a pattern knitter. Her work is socially responsible and poignant yet inclusive – for example, she has created memorial paintings (“death shrouds”) for young women activists who have died while fighting for “causes greater than themselves.”  The RACC Fellowship will help Lesperance take a semester off from teaching to commit solely to a full-time studio practice. She will also attend two residency programs: the MacDowell Colony, and the American Academy in Rome’s Visiting Artist Program. She will also use some of the funds for materials for upcoming shows.  

“We congratulate David and Ellen on receiving these fellowship awards, which honor two of our community’s most extraordinary visual artists this year,” said Eloise Damrosch, RACC’s executive director.  “RACC is committed to supporting artists at every stage in their careers, and these fellowships are designed to help artists take major steps forward in their artistic development.”

Established in 1999, RACC’s Artists Fellowship Award remains one of the largest and most prestigious grants to individual artists in the Pacific Northwest, supporting exceptional artists who exemplify RACC’s mission of enriching the local community through arts and culture. RACC rotates the disciplines it honors each year—performing arts, visual arts, literature and media arts. 

To be eligible for consideration, professional artists must have worked in their field for 10 years and have lived in the Portland tri-county area for five years. Applications, which include three narrative questions, artist resumes, two letters of recommendation, and examples of the artist’s work, are reviewed through a panel process of community representatives from the discipline being honored. This year’s panelists included Yaelle Amir, Ben Buswell, Gabe Flores, Lisa Jarrett, Joanna Priestly, Blake Shell and Eric Stotik.

Eckard and Lesperance join a prestigious group of local artists who have been named RACC Fellows in the past, including Mary Oslund, Obo Addy, Christine Bourdette, Terry Toedtemeier, Jim Blashfield, Michele Glazer, Tomas Svoboda, Keith Scales, Judy Cooke, Michael Brophy, Chel White, Craig Lesley, Thara Memory, Henk Pander, Joanna Priestley, Kim Stafford, Robin Lane, Eric Stotik, Lawrence Johnson, Sallie Tisdale, Linda Austin and Anita Menon. All RACC fellows are listed at  www.racc.org/grants/individual-artist-fellowships.