Artists have begun creating three new large-scale public artworks in Portland, funded through the 2% for art ordinance as part of the Eastside Portland Streetcar expansion. Artist Jorge Pardo is creating a sculptural shelter at Broadway and Weidler, and Lead Pencil Studiois creating a pair of sculptures on Grand Avenue near the on-ramps for the Hawthorne and Morrison Bridges.
An eccentrically-shaped art shelter (at right), created by Jorge Pardo, will feature a “rain on the outside, sunshine on the inside” experience for waiting streetcar passengers. Fabricated of steel, wood and fiberglass, the new shelter measures 35’ long by 18’ wide by 16’ tall. The multi-faceted structure will include over 300 individual panels in shades of gray on the exterior, with warm hues of orange and red on the inside. Ultimately, it will shelter passengers north of the Rose Quarter in a highly visible and fantastically colorful way. Los Angeles based Pardo was the recipient of a 2010 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship; this is his first municipal project in the United States.
Inversion: Plus Minus (below) is a set of towering site-specific sculptures created by artists/architects Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio. Using weathered steel angle iron, the artists are presenting “ghosts” of former buildings at two similar sites along SE Grand Avenue. One site, at Hawthorne Boulevard, will feature a matrix of metal that almost appears as a solid building. The second, at Belmont Street, will render an enclosure around the perimeter of a “building,” emphasizing the negative space of the subject. In the artists’ words, “The sculptures reference the outer shells of ordinary industrial buildings found in the Central Eastside Industrial Area like those that once existed on the project sites.”
Construction on Inversion Plus Minus continues as weather permits, and the sculptures are scheduled to be completed by summer.
Lead Pencil Studio, based in Seattle, has strong Oregon connections. The artists have taken up local residence and rented a fabrication shop for the duration of this project. Han is a graduate of David Douglas High School, and both Han and Mihalyo are alumni of the University of Oregon School of Architecture & Allied Arts. The artists received the 2007-08 Rome Prize for Architecture from the American Academy in Rome.
These public artworks, managed by RACC and selected by a panel of local artists and community members, will be completed by the end of the calendar year. To arrange a site visit and/or interview with the artists, contact Kristin Calhoun at 503-823-5401 or kcalhoun@racc.org.
Funding from the Oregon Cultural Trust will help RACC restore three significant sculptures in Portland’s public art collection
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has received a $5,000 Cultural Development Grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust to support general restoration of three key historic monuments in the City of Portland’s public art collection: George Washington (located at NE Sandy & Alameda), Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste (Washington Park) and Portlandia (Portland Building).
The grant will help underwrite primary conservation treatments for George Washington and Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste, including:
removal of built-up oxidation on their bronze surfaces;
hot-wax treatment to control future oxidation;
cleaning of monuments bases and pedestals.
Portlandia—the second largest hammered copper sculpture in the U.S. behind only the Statue of Liberty—will receive a complete condition assessment along with an inspection of its internal steel frame and mounts to assess the accumulation of guano and other grime due to bird infestation.
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust: Oregonians sustaining, developing and participating in our arts, heritage and humanities. Keith Lachowicz, RACC’s public art collections manager, thanked the Trust for their support. “Caring for these large scale works requires a significant investment each year, and maintenance funds were never set aside for older monuments that were grandfathered into the collection,” he said. “This year’s conservation grant from the Trust will help ensure that more expensive treatments are not required in the future.”
RACC will work with Robert Krueger, Object Conservator & Proprietor of Cascadia Art Conservation Center, to perform the restorations. The total cost of the maintenance work is expected to be $12,337, and the restorations will be completed by April of 2013.
The George Washington Monument in NE Portland. A grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust will help RACC restore areas where the elements worn away the statue’s protective wax coating.
Oxidation of Sacajawea’s bronze surface is beginning to take hold on the hand and face.
The last large scale cleaning of Portlandia was completed in 2006
Six large scale mural projects are recently completed or underway in Portland this summer – all recipients of grant funding from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. RACC’s public art mural program, financed by the City of Portland, provides funding for community murals that reflect diversity in style and media and encourages artists from diverse backgrounds and range of experience to apply. Murals approved through this program become part of the City’s public art collection. The new murals include:
Rosewood Initiative – Antwoine Thomas, Artist
16150 SE Stark St (south wall of Union 76 Gas Station); RACC Funding: $3,000; 14’H x 46’L
Photo: Courtesy of RACC
In developing this fantastical design for a mural in the Rosewood Neighborhood, Antwoine Thomas, with the assistance and support of Addie Boswell, began collaborating months ago with local residents through The Rosewood Initiative community meetings and activities like Youth Night to create a design that represents the positive change occurring in the neighborhood. Throughout the energetic mural one can identify recognizable elements from Rosewood including roses, community gardens, diversity, and local businesses. There are also elements that link the neighborhood to the greater Portland metro area, honoring some of the neighborhoods from which many residents have relocated. While the mural contains these true elements, the design is also highly detailed and fantastical, meant to entice the senses and invite the eye to linger and keep discovering.
A celebration is scheduled for Saturday, August 11th, 1:00-4:00PM.
Photo: Courtesy of RACC
Keller Auditorium – Una Kim and Students from Portland State University 222 SW Clay; RACC Funding: $3200; 18’H x 108’L
Over the last few weeks, Korean-American artist, Una Kim, has been feverishly working on a mural on the east wall of the Keller Auditorium with the assistance of students from Portland State University who enrolled in a class to specifically work on this project. The mural is located on the bottom half of the east facing wall of the Keller Auditorium along SW 2nd Street between SW Clay and SW Columbia. The design is influenced and inspired by such works as Degas’ ballerinas, Mary Cassatt’s At the Opera, and Dufy’s The Yellow Violin. Also included are a modern dancer, two musicians in an orchestra, and a jazz musician along with an acrobat to represent the large scope of the theater.
According to Kim, the mural serves three main goals: (1) as a Korean-American female artist, she wishes to be a role model to all students including those with different backgrounds; (2) the mural is a teaching tool on the creative process of designing and painting murals in the public sector while collaborating with other artists in the public sector; (3) providing a gift to the public. In Kim’s words, “It is clear to me that murals can inspire and uplift.”
A celebration is scheduled for Friday, August 17th, 6:00 – 8:00 PM (on SW 2nd)
Photo: Courtesy of SpaceCraft Mission to the Arts
Albina Maintenance Yard Building – Spacecraft Mission to the Arts 3150 N. Mississippi Ave.; RACC Funding: $10,000; 14’H x 177’L
Over the last several months, a mural has begun to take shape along the west side of the City’s Albina Yard Maintenance Building. Throughout the design development, community engagement has been the driving force—the Boise Neighborhood Association, community members, and the maintenance workers have all contributed their voices as to how they want themselves and their neighborhood depicted. More than a way to deter graffiti, it is a powerful, collaborative, self-reflective vision of the neighborhood created by those who live in it. The mural embraces a theme of “perpetual collaboration” through time. Community practices and industries that affected the local Portland-Albina neighborhood can be found among the local mountains, bridges, gardens, parks, icons of communities, and city workers behind the scenes that keep the city functioning. Included are symbols of the neighborhoods’ transitions of communities from the Native American, Volga German, Finn, Chinese, and African American communities. You can follow the project on https://www.facebook.com/spacecraft.missiontoarts.
Photo: Courtesy of RACC
The People’s History of Hawthorne – Artist, Chris Haberman Fraternal Order of Eagles, SE 50th & Hawthorne; RACC Funding $2,400; 10’H x 150’L
Work continues on this ambitious mural that extends along the north and west walls of the building that serves as the Portland headquarters for the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The mural’s theme, “The History of Hawthorne” – or the “people’s history” — celebrates this SE neighborhood, located between an extinct volcano (Mt. Tabor) and the 100 year old Hawthorne Bridge, both components of his design. Scattered throughout the mural are notable historical figures (such as Dr. Hawthorne), the asylum, pioneers, the street car line and the always changing figures that have been part of Hawthorne for 100 years. It is Haberman’s first mural grant and he is “very proud to have such a piece of art in public view and to have so much support for my crazy looking art in the city.” A celebration was held on July 1st. The west wall will be completed late summer/early fall.
Photo: Courtesy of artist (proposed mural)
Alberta Street Crossing – Loey Hargrove, Artist 4824 and 4905 NE 42nd Avenue; RACC Funding: $3,000; 11’H x 77’W and 13’H x 50’W
Finishing touches are underway on a pair of twin murals at NE 42nd & Alberta. Members of 42MSC began working on the project at the Alberta Court Crossing — one on the north-facing wall of the Morel Ink Building and another on the south-facing wall of Doggy Business. The murals aspire to invoke community through a “Tree of Life’ theme symbolizing process, change, the continuity and connectivity of life. Words submitted by members of the surrounding neighborhoods are being added to the mural and are intended to reinforce the symbiotic relationship between the commercial district and area residents.
Photo: Courtesy of artist (proposed mural)
Lutz Building – Mike Lawrence, Artist 4625-4639 SE Woodstock Blvd; RACC Funding: $6,000; 15’H x 60’L
This proposed mural is situated centrally in the Woodstock Neighborhood and is highly visible from the street. The mural aims to highlight the best of the neighborhood and instill a sense of community pride. Local artist Mike Lawrence designed a mural for the building’s west wall that celebrates commerce, education and the outdoors. The Lutz tavern wall that will host the mural is divided into three sections, as is the mural. A strong central figure grounds each section. Each figure is adorned with symbols of Greek Gods that represent the theme of each section. The project is still fundraising and hopes to begin the project next Spring.
For more information and a copy of the mural program guidelines, visit www.racc.org/public-art.
Project Background: The Material Rescue League is setting up shop in the Portland Building. Created by artist Leslie Vigeant in 2010, the Material Rescue League (MRL) is an ongoing and evolving homage to humble materials. MRL installations also offer a critique on the marketing practices the mainstream retail industry employs. The degree to which we, as consumers, can be influenced by chic packaging and alluring presentation becomes crystal clear the moment we realize that Vigeant’s objects, elegantly displayed in futuristic boutique fashion, are actually post-consumer items that have been reworked and re-packaged—old floor tiles, lead tire weights, and discarded bits of wire never looked so good. In many ways, the installations are an anthropological display of cultural debris. Vigeant’s focus is a hybrid of scientific study, fine art, and dumpster diving and the work deftly calls into question the hierarchies we place on materials, and objects. This focus, combined with the attention to detail Vigeant brings to her MRL installations prompts a thoughtful examination of the challenges and rewards associated with the recovery and rehabilitation of discarded goods.
About the Artist: Leslie Vigeant lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She received her MFA in Applied Craft and Design from Oregon College of Art & Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art. Vigeant is also a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she received a BFA in 2-D Studies; she has shown her work on both coasts and recently completed a Recology Fellowship in San Francisco, California
Viewing Hours & Location: 7 am to 6 pm, Monday – Friday. The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland.
For more information on the Portland Building Installation Space series including images, proposals and statements for all the installations since 1994, go to www.racc.org/installationspace.
Nationally renowned filmmaker Todd Haynes is the subject of a one-of-a-kind portrait that posted today on eBay. This ten-day auction supports a good cause: Haynes donated the giclee print to benefit The Right Brain Initiative’s arts education programming in Portland, Oregon area schools. The print is signed by both Haynes and the portrait’s artist, Steve Cohn. Cohn is brother-in-law to Haynes, and works under the pseudonym Jasper Marks.
Cohn rendered the portrait in homage to Haynes’ remarkable body of work in filmmaking. Haynes, a Portland resident, is the creative mind behind Far from Heaven, a feature film starring Julianne Moore, for which he was nominated an Academy Award for original screenplay; and I’m Not There, a biopic about Bob Dylan. He is also the writer/director of Mildred Pierce, a 2011 HBO miniseries nominated for an unprecedented 21 Primetime Emmy awards.
The original oil painting of this portrait hangs in Portland City Hall, inducted in April 2011 by Mayor Sam Adams as a testament to the city’s dedication to supporting independent artists and cultural leaders. “This office is honored to display such a beautiful portrait of one of our most prolific artists,” said Adams at the hanging.
The Right Brain Initiative’s dedication to providing rich arts education to all K-8 students in Portland resonates with Haynes’ personal experience as a student. “Music, art was all part of basic curriculum that most of us grew up with in the public school system. It’s a really different story today,” he said. “I’m extremely honored to have played even the smallest part in supporting The Right Brain Initiative and its commitment to bringing art and the value of creative experience into the lives of so many young people.”
The auction closes at noon on Sunday, August 5. Portlanders can see the work in person during business hours at the Lara Sydney Framing Gallery, 1230 NW Hoyt Street (including the First Thursday art walk on the evening of August 2) through the end of the auction. www.larasydney.com
The giclee print is available in an eBay auction through Sunday, August 5.
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) board of directors has elected Lina Garcia Seabold as the Chair of the board for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, and Peg Malloy has been elected as Vice-Chair.
Lina Garcia Seabold is owner and partner of Seabold Construction Co., Inc.; Cornell Estates Living Center; Rosewood Park Retirement and Assisted Living Center; Rosewood Specialty Care; and Avamere at Bethany. She is also an active artist. Presently, Lina is the president of MANA de Portland. Past professional experience includes working on the Eastside and Westside Light Rail Projects with Tri-Met as well as serving a stint in the Governor’s Office under Governor Neil Goldschmidt creating and developing the Office of Minority, Women and Emerging Small Business.
Peg Malloy is the Executive Director and Founder of the Portland Housing Center, and she serves on the Operation Home Steering Committee and the National NeighborWorks Association.
Joining Seabold and Malloy as officers on the RACC Board are treasurer, Jennifer C. Cies, VP of Product Strategies at Umpqua Bank; and secretary, Alan Alexander III, owner of Dub Squad Music, BMI. Ex-Chair Carol R. Smith, Ed.D. will serve as Chair Emeritus.
In addition, three new members have been elected to the RACC board:
Nik Blosser is the co-founder and president of Celilo Group Media, a media company with the mission of expanding markets for sustainable products and services. For the past decade, Nik has been a recognized leader in the sustainable business sector in the Pacific Northwest, shaping both political and business perspectives around the economic opportunities of sustainable practices. As the Co-founder of the Oregon Business Association (OBA), he also serves as vice chair on OBA’s board. Nik received his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in aeronautical engineering and English from Stanford University.
Daryl Dixon is known for his expertise in workforce diversity, equity, and cultural inclusion throughout the tri-county area. Since 2010, he has served as Multnomah County’s Chief Diversity and Equity Officer, playing a key role in fostering an organizational culture of awareness, inclusion, respect and accountability. For more than 14 years, Daryl has developed and delivered diversity training programs and curriculums for a number of key stakeholders in the region. As owner of Diversity Resource Group, he has worked as a consultant for PGE, Clackamas County, Umpqua Bank, Clark County, Iberdrola Renewable Energy, NIKE, the City of Portland, and many others.
Joanna Priestley is an accomplished media artists and independent filmmaker, who has produced 24 award-winning films over the last two decades. As the Founder and Owner of Priestley Motion Pictures, Joanna was awarded with numerous national and international awards, including the National Educational Film Festival (First Prize), National Independent and Video Festival (Grand Prix), Canadian International Animation Festival (Special Merit Award), Athens Film and Video Festival (First Prize), and the Seoul International Animation Festival (First Prize). Joanna received RACC’s prestigious Fellowship Award in Media Arts in 2007.
Continuing RACC Board members for FY13 include: Jesse Beason, Verlea G. Briggs, Jessica Clark, Jay Clemens, Mike Golub, Stacey A. Graham, Kira Higgs, Phillip Hillaire, Eric R. Hormel, Jerry E. Hudson, Karen Karbo, Joe Krumm, Max M. Miller, Jr., Bonita Oswald, Brian Rice and Jan Robertson.
Gwyneth Gamble Booth and Tad Savinar have rotated off the RACC Board after serving six years each.
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) announced today that Boston based artist, Mikyoung Kim, has been selected to create public art for the Sellwood Bridge, slated to open in 2016. The art is funded through the city’s percent for art program and will be owned by the City and maintained by RACC.
Kim, an award-winning international landscape architect and artist has completed projects as diverse civic gardens and municipal playgrounds to large scale parks and institutional master plans and was selected by a panel of local artists, community representatives and project team members. Her concept, “Stratum Project,” is a “series of ecologically inspired geologic sculptural totems. Layers of various recycled and formed materials create a quilted surface that represents earth, water and sky as the gateway to the Sellwood Community”. The multi-part installation will line both sides of the block just east of the bridge, up to 6th and Tacoma.
Kim will talk about her past work and conceptual proposal for the Sellwood Bridge on Thursday, July 12th, 5:30-7:30 PM, at the Oaks Park Dance Pavilion. The event is free and open to the public.
Project Background: Christy Hawkins presents her ambitious quilting project Outdoors In at the Portland Building next week. Using a combination of organic cotton and “up-cycled” fabrics, Hawkins has created a full scale, three-dimensional campfire scene complete with scenic backdrops made entirely with quilted material. Her aim is to help counteract “nature deficit disorder” by inspiring visitors to leave their electronic devices at home and get out in the natural world. The sculptural elements in Outdoors Ininclude real tree stumps topped with pads quilted in tree-ring patterns and a handmade quilted tent situated next to a “soft and plushy” campfire of pillows. The sculptural elements of the installation will be surrounded by the artist’s two-dimensional quilted landscape backdrops.
About the Artist: Christy Hawkins attended Maryland Institute College of Art in the late 90s and is currently an Art Practices major at Portland State University. She began designing and sewing quilts for her children but loved the process so much that she turned it into a small quilt-making business. This life experience, combined with her love of the outdoors (she has solo-cycled across the U.S. and throughout Europe and has hiked the 230 mile John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada range), has shaped her artistic direction and led her to projects like Outdoors In.
About the Installation Space: Each year the Portland Building Installation Space series reserves several exhibition opportunities for advanced students in fine art. The format and presentation requirements for these student installations are identical to those for established professional artists, the Regional Arts & Culture Council created this separate eligibility category to help introduce emerging talents to the world of public art. Christy Hawkins is the third student artist to present work this season.
Viewing Hours & Location: 7 am to 6 pm, Monday – Friday. The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland. For more information on the Portland Building Installation Space series including images, proposals and statements for all the installations since 1994, go to www.racc.org/installationspace.
Rosewood Initiative – Antwoine Thomas, Artist 
