RACC Blog

RACC announces its 2014 fellows in performing arts: Linda Austin and Anita Menon

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PORTLAND, ORE. – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has selected two performing artists to receive this year’s fellowship awards: Linda Austin and Anita Menon. RACC’s fellowship program is designed to help local artists of high merit sustain or enhance their creative process, and each fellowship includes a cash award of $20,000.

Linda Austin, co-founder & director of Performance Works Northwest in Portland, has been making dance and performance since 1983, often with a strong visual element and a commitment to commissioning original music. Her working process exploits and explores the body’s powers and limits, bringing each performer’s vulnerabilities and strengths, accidental awkwardness and elegance, into a web of relationships—intimate, playful, confrontational—with other bodies, objects, environment, sound and media. The resultant improvisational and/or highly choreographed works are non-linear, poetic, often laced with humor, deploying movement that often disrupts what is generally considered “dancerly.”

Linda plans to use the RACC fellowship to take the time to revisit a past work, Three Trick Pony, as well as embark on the creation of a new piece, (Un)Made.

Anita Menon founded the Anjali School of Dance in 1996 to impart the ancient art form of Bharatanatyam to students in the Portland area. She has adapted the art form for the next generation of dancers through her innovation and experimentation with contemporary choreographic works including dances on Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Pegasus and the Wizard of Oz. Anita has choreographed dances using western classical music (such as Beethoven’s 5th symphony) as well as dances blending Bharatanatyam and yoga. In addition, Anita teaches “Story N Motion”—a program that combines the use of Bharatanatyam movements to convey stories, myths and legends from around the world. Anita is the founder of Mai3m, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Indian dance, music and culture in a contemporary context through original choreographies, performances and educational outreach. She is also an active volunteer board member of the Cultural Coalition of Washington County and the Hillsboro Arts & Culture Council.

With the fellowship, Anita will set aside time for study, further experimentation, research and reflection that will affect both aspects of her choreography, traditional and exploratory. New choreography for her young female dance students and collaborations with other dance forms are intended outcomes.

“We are thrilled to be able to award $20,000 fellowships this year to two very talented and diverse movement artists,” said Eloise Damrosch, RACC’s executive director. “The selection panel reached enthusiastic consensus around Linda and Anita within a crowded and highly competitive performing arts field. These two artists certainly deserve these coveted honors, and I congratulate them both.”

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—and strong support from donors made it possible to award two fellowships in 2014. (Only one fellowship per year was awarded for eight of the last nine years, and no fellowship was awarded in 2009).

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 Jim McGinn, Kenji Bunch, Maisie Speer, Kimberly Howard, Walter Jaffe, Joaquin Lopez and Kevin Jones.

Austin and Menon 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 and Sallie Tisdale. All RACC fellows are listed at http://www.racc.org/grants/individual-artist-fellowships.

RACC seeks applications for new public art murals

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PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council is now accepting applications for mural funding through its Public Art Murals Program. Applications are due the first Wednesday of every month through June 2015.

There are two routes to creating a community mural in Portland:

(1)The Public Art Murals Program is funded by the City of Portland and administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). This program provides up to $15,000 in matching funds for murals that are diverse in style and media. Students enrolled in an art program at a degree granting institution are eligible for up to $2,500 in matching funds. Artists, curators, neighborhood associations, citizen-based groups, and private developers are all eligible to apply. RACC especially encourages proposals from under-represented communities in order to ensure that the diversity of our region is reflected in our programs. There is no application fee. 

For a project to qualify for RACC approval, property owners are required to provide a signed/notarized Art Easement that is recorded with Multnomah County. Murals approved through this program become part of the City’s public art collection for as long as the Art Easement remains in effect. 

Application forms and guidelines are available at racc.org/public-art/mural-program. Proposals must be submitted by 5:00PM on the first Wednesday of every month. RACC’s review and approval process takes 4-6 weeks, and all proposals are reviewed by the Public Art Murals Program Committee, whose members include artists, arts advocates and other creative professionals. For more information, contact Peggy Kendellen, public art manager, at 503.823.4196 or pkendellen@racc.org.

On Saturday, November 8 from 10:00 am to noon, RACC will offer a free workshop to help artists understand the mural application process at the Rosewood Initiative, 16126 SE Stark St. For more information and to RSVP, contact Peggy Kendellen, public art manager, at 503.823.4196 or kendellen@racc.org.   

Since its inception in 2005, RACC’s mural program has provided funding for over 50 murals. All of them can be viewed on RACC’s website.

(2) Another route for painting a mural in the City of Portland is through the city’s Original Art Mural Permit,which has different requirements and a fee of $50. Funding is not available through the City’s permitting process. Visit portlandoregon.gov/bds/50737  for more information.

Arts education linked to student achievement in the Portland area

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A new report ties The Right Brain Initiative to an increase in student test scores

Portland, Ore – There is a meaningful and quantifiable link between integrated arts education and student learning, according to a report released today by The Right Brain Initiative in advance of National Arts in Education Week next week (September 14-20).

Initial data from national arts research firm WolfBrown found that as schools work with The Right Brain Initiative:

  • Students’ reading and math scores increase at least 2.5 times more than the average annual rate of increase.
  • Students attending the most engaged Right Brain schools scored over 6 points higher in reading and nearly 9 points higher in math than they did before they began working with the Initiative.
  • This growth is even greater for English Language Learners. Students’ scores increased 10 times more after schools partnered with Right Brain, with scores continuing to rise as schools engaged more deeply with the Initiative.

RBI_Student Test Scores graph

The Right Brain Initiative is an arts integration program of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. It connects teachers and teaching artists who work together to design integrated arts experiences in K-8 classrooms. With a strong commitment to professional development, Right Brain helps teachers learn to weave the arts throughout their daily teaching practice, and helps schools develop a culture of creativity and innovation.

“We’ve always known anecdotally that integrating music with math, and photography with reading, for example, helps students gain a deeper understanding of both subjects,” said Marna Stalcup, who was hired in 2007 to establish The Right Brain Initiative. “Now, we are so proud to have this data to indicate the value of our brand of arts integration.”

This research was designed and interpreted by WolfBrown with support from the Portland State University Center for Student Success. Said Dennie Palmer Wolf of WolfBrown: “This preliminary data requires further research, but it draws our attention to the fact that it is high quality arts integration that makes a difference. The Right Brain Initiative is mapping out what this quality requires: sustained arts integration with rising levels of challenge, providing teachers with new strategies to integrate the arts into the classroom, and carefully designed programming that models differentiated and culturally competent teaching.”

Right Brain will bring arts learning to over 20,000 students in the 2014-15 school year, at 59 K-8 schools in seven districts. Estacada is the newest school district partner this school year, joining Corbett, Gresham-Barlow, Hillsboro, North Clackamas, Oregon Trail and Portland Public Schools.

WolfBrown has also led extensive qualitative research that demonstrates Right Brain’s effect on teachers and schools, as well as students. This data shows the gains made by Right Brain’s emphasis on professional development for teachers, classroom experiences designed to increase students’ sense of agency, and rising levels of whole-school investment in the arts. Read more about this work in The Right Brain Initiative 2014 Progress Report at http://bit.ly/RightBrain_ProgressReport2014.

The Right Brain Initiative is a sustainable partnership of public schools, local government, foundations, businesses and the cultural community, which launched its programming in Portland area classrooms in January 2009, and now serves nearly 20,000 students in 59 schools. The program’s vision is to transform learning for all children through the arts, creativity, innovation and whole-brain thinking. The Right Brain Initiative is a project of the Regional Arts & Culture Council, with Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington serving as Implementation Partner. Read more online at TheRightBrainInitiative.org.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council 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. Online at racc.org. 

Call to artists: RACC to purchase new artwork for its Portable Works Collection

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PORTLAND, ORE – The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is seeking artwork — paintings, prints, drawings, photographs or three-dimensional wall pieces — to purchase for the Portable Works Collection.  Professional artists from Oregon and Washington are invited to apply, and the focus of this purchase will be to add work by artists are not currently represented, or are under-represented, in the collection.

Multnomah County and the City of Portland have built a collection of two and three-dimensional artworks that are administered and managed by RACC. More than 1,000 artworks, representing hundreds of Northwest artists, are regularly rotated throughout publicly accessible spaces in County and City buildings. The collection strives to reflect a diversity of populations, artistic disciplines and points of view. Images from the collection can be searched online.

One location that will be of particular focus for this purchase will be the Multnomah County Southeast Health Center, which was recently renovated. Some of the purchased works will be placed in the waiting area and the hallways leading to exam rooms.

Artists who are interested in learning more can attend a free information session on Thursday, September 25th from 4:00-6:00PM at RACC (411 NW Park Avenue, Suite 101).  Contact Ahmed Yusuf at info@racc.org to reserve a spot. 
 

Marna Stalcup named Director of Arts Education

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PORTLAND, ORE — The Regional Arts & Culture Council has promoted Marna Stalcup to Director of Arts Education, a new position that is funded in part by the City of Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund. For the last seven years, Marna has served as the program manager for The Right Brain Initiative, RACC’s public-private partnership for arts education.

Under Stalcup’s leadership, The Right Brain Initiative has grown from an idea to a nationally recognized model for helping K-8 classroom teachers integrate the arts throughout their daily teaching practice, developing a culture of creativity and innovation in our public schools. Today, Right Brain serves 59 schools in seven districts throughout Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties.

The Director of Arts Education position includes new responsibilities as set forth in the Arts Education and Access Income Tax (the “arts tax”) city code, chapter 5.73.090, which requires RACC to:

  • Ensure that highly qualified persons will coordinate and work with the school districts in the provision of high quality arts and/or music education;
  • Provide quality oversight to the programs of the school districts;
  • Coordinate between school districts and arts organizations to ensure high quality arts education for Portland students;
  • Limit these arts education oversight and coordination costs to a maximum of 3 percent of net revenues from the tax.

Stalcup will also continue to oversee The Right Brain Initiative, with support from a new Program Manager. That position is now open; visit http://bit.ly/rbimanager for more information, including a job description.

Stalcup has more than 35 years of experience in arts education. Prior to launching The Right Brain Initiative, she was the managing director of Caldera, a local non-profit arts organization that supports Portland and Central Oregon students with year-round services in their schools. She has also served as the events manager and performing arts magnet program coordinator at Jefferson High School in Portland, and as a founding faculty member of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, a grade 6-12 public school where the arts connect with academic subjects in an interdisciplinary setting.

Next week, September 7-13, is National Arts in Education Week. On September 9 RACC will deliver new research findings that demonstrate a meaningful and quantifiable link between The Right Brain Initiative and student learning. For more information visit racc.org.

“STRATAscape,” an installation by Yoonhee Choi, opens at the Portland Building September 15th

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PORTLAND, ORE — While researching the history of art installations at the Portland Building (the program dates back to 1994 and has presented over 130 exhibitions in the gallery space adjacent to the building lobby) artist Yoonhee Choi was intrigued by the fact that the walls of the gallery are covered with hundreds of layers of paint. Choi began to wonder what these layers might look like if displayed in cross-section. As her idea developed, she considered how she might mine the archeological stratigraphy in a manner that would get visitors thinking, in profound terms, about all those past art installations:

“When I heard there were hundreds layers of paint under the surface of the wall, a wonderful, evocative sectional image of those paints instantly came across my mind reminding me of archeological stratigraphy. I was excited by the idea of selectively revealing this history and of using the concealed strata of paint to inspire the creation of a new topographical landscape within the space that explores the condensed scale and time of human interventions: 20 years of history within millimeters of wall surface.”

Choi will mark her own installation by applying a fresh top-coat of gray paint before cutting into the walls to reveal the history concealed within the strata. By systematically excavating (with utility knives and carving tools) and formally presenting the “unearthed” layers in a museum case, and on a specially built display wall, she’ll create a wordless homage to all the artists before her who have labored earnestly at the site in the name of art.

About the Artist:  A resident of Portland, Oregon, Yoonhee Choi studied at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts after receiving a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Engineering in City Planning from Hong-Ik University in Seoul, Korea. Her projects, which range from small collages to room-sized installations, express multiple scales of spatial experience as they explore the potential of the unexpected materials she uses.

Viewing Hours & Location: The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in down-town Portland and is open 8 am to 5 pm, Monday – Friday. The exhibition will open September 15 and run through October 10.

A Conversation with the Artist: Friday, September 19th from 4pm – 5pm; Yoonhee Choi will be on-site at the Portland Building to discuss STRATAscape.

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.
 
 

Abigail McNamara’s “Ritual, 660’” installation opens at the Portland Building August 11th

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PORTLAND, ORE – Ritual 660’, a deftly crafted installation by artist Abigail McNamara, engages the observer’s aesthetic senses while it asks us to contemplate a largely unconsidered aspect of our workday world. McNamara’s installation, which opens August 11th at the Portland Building, employs a floor to ceiling wall of string—each strand coated with beeswax and pigment—to elegantly graph the pedestrian traffic at one of the city’s busiest downtown building complexes.

“The patterns of the working world are carefully constructed. We follow the familiar pathways of prescribed norms—nine to five, Monday through Friday, one hour for lunch. The masses move together along this framework. I am examining this strict human-made structure to reveal the organic forms which underlie it.”

Each string in Ritual, 660’ represents a single minute of a day at the Portland Building. From 7:00 am to 6:00 pm on June 29, 2014, McNamara observed all of the comings and goings through the building’s entrance. To give form to her findings, she devised the floor to ceiling string-graph and waxed the individual strands to indicate the size of the flow both in and out of the doors. Those entering were indicated above a knot in the string, thoseexiting were indicated below the knot; colored form was placed within the strings to expose the shape of the daily migration.

McNamara sees her installation as a way to comment on the organic patterns and forms that can be derived from our daily lives:

“Activity ebbs and flows within the established workday. Bodies move in swarms or in solitude along currents. The shapes of these movements oppose the rigid structure of the work week. Paths build upon one another as each person moves in, out, and through the building. Individuals gradually flow from here to there and the populace of the building swells and shrinks like changing tides.”

About the Artist:  A native of Missoula, Montana, Abigail McNamara received her B.A. in Studio Art from Lewis & Clark College in 2012. She has exhibited her work nationwide and recently received a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission to support the execution of her upcoming installation at Duplex Collective in Portland.  In 2013, she was selected as an artist-in-residence by Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts as well as Grin City Collective. She currently works and lives in Portland.  For additional information and images of her work visit: abigailmcnamara.com

Viewing Hours & Location: The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in down-town Portland and is open 8 am to 5 pm, Monday – Friday.

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.

Work for Art celebrates 2013-14 campaign results

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Work for Art raised $776,007 in its eighth annual campaign according to honorary chair Jeff Harvey, president and CEO of Burgerville. A total of 1,965 donors participated in the 2013-14 campaign, helping Work for Art surpass last year’s total by 2%. Harvey announced the results on Wednesday evening at a special reception at Portland Center Stage with 140 arts and business leaders in attendance.

“The money raised through Work for Art over the past 12 months will directly contribute to the quality, richness and fulfillment in our daily lives,” Harvey said. “More and more we measure our impact as companies and individuals in these broader terms. Work for Art and the RACC are important partners in this work, and we are grateful to everyone who supported the arts through this year’s campaign.”

The majority of Work for Art revenues (53%) come from workplace giving campaigns, including employee donations and corporate matching gifts. Portland General Electric raised the most money for the third year in a row, up 3% over last year for a total of $85,794; President and CEO Jim Piro accepted an award on the company’s behalf. For the fifth year in a row, Burgerville won an award for the highest employee participation, accepted by chief cultural officer Jack Graves.

Cambia Health Solutions received special recognition as the Best New Company, including a $50,000 contribution from the Regence Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation; Regence’s market president Angela Dowling accepted Cambia’s award. Portland Opera was acknowledged as the RACC-funded organization that raised the most money for the Work for Art Community Fund and the Arts Education Fund. A full 100% of the proceeds to these two funds are passed on to arts organizations in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties through RACC’s existing competitive grant programs.

All of the top 15 campaigns were recognized on Wednesday evening. They include:

  1. Portland General Electric
  2. The Standard
  3. Cambia Health Solutions
  4. NW Natural
  5. Burgerville
  6. OHSU
  7. State of Oregon employees
  8. ZGF Architects
  9. KeyBank
  10. City of Portland employees
  11. Stoel Rives
  12. Multnomah County employees
  13. Metro employees
  14. Umpqua Bank
  15. Portland Timbers

Carole Morse, former president of the PGE Foundation, received special recognition (and a standing ovation) for role as a leading champion of Work for Art over the last eight years. Since 2006, Work for Art has raised a total of $5.4 million for the local arts community.

Although Work for Art is primarily a workplace giving program, anyone can participate by making a donation online at workforart.org. Donors who pledge $60 or more receive an Arts Card, which provides a full year of two-for-one tickets at hundreds of local arts events. All donations up to $5,000 are matched dollar-for-dollar by a matching challenge fund that last year included contributions from The City of Portland, Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties, The Regence Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, the Portland Timbers, and KeyBank. 

Participants are already gearing up for another big campaign in 2014-15, with a goal of raising $790,000 by June 30, 2015. Mike Golub, president of business operations for the Portland Timbers, will serve as Honorary Chair, with David Lofland, market president for KeyBank Oregon & Southwest Washington serving as Co-Chair. Company leaders who would like to conduct an employee giving campaign for the arts, or help contribute to the campaign in other ways, are invited to contact Kathryn Jackson, Work for Art Manager at 503-823-5424 or kjackson@racc.org.