The Public Art Network of the Americans for the Arts (AFTA) has named a local project, “Dekumstruction,” to its 2012 Year in Review, which highlights the 50 most outstanding public art projects in the United States last year.

The PAN Year in Review is the only national program recognizing projects of excellence in public art. From over 350 applications, three national public art professionals selected 50 outstanding projects that were completed in 2012. The panelists were Justine Topfer, curator, Out of the Box Projects, San Francisco, CA; Norie Sato, artist, Seattle, WA; and John Carson, artist and head of the School of Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.

Dekumstruction is a sculptural artwork integrated with a custom bike rack designed by the artists Buster Simpson and Peg Butler located at the intersection of NE Dekum & Durham, adjacent to the Breakside Brewery. Twenty halved oil barrel planters stenciled with the names of depleted oil fields and painted with an iridescent sheen allude to the culture of big oil. The planters are planted with native species and receive water run-off from the adjacent private property. All of the water then flows through a downspout onto an upended oil barrel that quite literally “beats” the drum on rainy days. The installation celebrates the displacement (deconstruction) of two former car parking spaces with a multifunctional sculpture that accommodates ten bicycles while conveying shifting attitudes about consumption, energy, and stormwater management.

This collaboration was initiated by the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services as a part of their Sustainable Stormwater “green street” program to address stormwater management issues in Portland. They in turn brought in the Transportation Options folks from the Bureau of Transportation to help with bike parking to give the project an aesthetic and augmented conceptual twist, and then turned to the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which hired artists Buster Simpson and Peg Butler. Simpson and Butler helped choose the site, worked the adjacent building owner and the stormwater engineers, designed the prototype for the bike rack and then artwork and its relationship to the adjacent building, and oversaw the fabrication and installation of the above ground work. The overall project budget was nearly $60,000. Funding came from a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency with additional funds from all of the other partners.
 
 

Two large scale mural projects are 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:

North Tabor Neighborhood, Penumbra Kelly Building
StarCraft: Mission to Arts, artists
4747 East Burnside; RACC Funding: $8,925; 10’H x 133’L

Photo: Courtesy of SpaceCraft: Mission to Art

Fresh off of completing a large scale mural for the Albina Maintenance Yard wall on N. Mississippi, three artists from SpaceCraft: Mission to Arts – Jakub Jerzy Kucharczyk, Matthew Allen Wooldridge, Maxwell Humphres – have begun another mural with community participation for the south and west facing walls of the Penumbra Kelly parking structure. The building houses the Portland Police Bureau’s Property Crimes Task Force, and personnel from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement Crime Prevention & Graffiti Abatement Programs and Water Bureau Rangers. The mural wraps around onto the west wall and extends to the end of the city’s property along that wall.

The artists worked extensively with the North Tabor neighborhood and the Police Bureau to identify highlights from the neighborhood’s past, present and possible future. You’ll find residents of various cultures socializing, walking dogs, and enjoying the annual soapbox-derby down Mt. Tabor. Old and new modes of transportation – including jet-pack powered pets merge into landscape scenes and images of firefighters, police, transit drivers and postal workers. Through these scenes flows a ribbon of fabric coming from women sewing in the historic Shogren House. Over the next few weekends, the artists welcome neighbors from the North Tabor neighborhood to assist with painting. For more information, go to www.northtabor.org/mural. A celebration will be scheduled for some time in September.

Vespa Portland Mural
Larry Kangas, artist
2318 NW Vaughn; RACC Funding: $7300; 14’H x 65’L

Photo: Richard Roderick

 
The 12’ x 65’ mural on the east wall of Vespa Portland will feature, at first glance, a vibrant street scene in an Italian village that includes a produce stand, bakery shop, coffee shop, and sidewalk cafe. Upon closer inspection, you’ll find well-known landmarks from this Northwest Portland neighborhood. Kangas designed the mural in collaboration with Paul and Maggy Henry, owners of Vespa Portland, with the purpose of creating a neighborhood mural that is colorful and fun and whose details can be discovered over time.

Kangas writes “The project is seeking donations or sponsors to cover costs. Larger sponsors will be recognized in some way on the wall.”

Kangas has completed numerous public and private commissions in the Northwest. His 200-ft.long mural for Parkrose High School in Northeast Portland, features the history of the horse in different cultures and was completed in 2007 with the assistance of students from Parkrose.

Mural Restoration Project

In addition to these new murals being added to the city’s landscape, for nearly a year the Beaumont Wilshire Neighborhood Association has been working on gathering the resources and person-power to restore a 2008 mural by

 located in the Wilshire Park Pavilion (NE 33rd Avenue and Skidmore Street). After numerous tagging and graffiti incidents and removals, the mural was in much need of a facelift. This past Sunday and Monday, a crew consisting of the artist and her sister, neighbors and Portland Parks and Recreation staff spent hours applying a fresh coat of paint. Subsequently, Graffiti Removal Services applied an anti-graffiti coating to protect the mural for years to come. This successful project was made possible through the diligence and commitment of a group of neighbors and city employees committed to making this a successful collaborative project. 

Project Background: Despite her notoriety and our love for her, Portlandia is irrefutably rooted in European sculptural tradition. The 35 foot high hammered copper statue that graces the façade of the Portland Building depicts the image of a classical female figure with European features. In that sense she represents only a portion our city’s diverse population. Artist and performer Anthony Hudson, who identifies as a “queer Portlander, a native Oregonian, and a Grand Ronde Indian,” will offer up a series of alternate Portlandias that embody the diversity that exists in Portland today. “Queering is essentially to make something queer, different, to make it anti-oppressive; queering here is to make Portlandia accessible again, giving an underprivileged audience a chance to recreatePortlandia in their own image.”

During set hours each week (noon to 2 pm Monday – Thursday, or by appointment via ahudson@pnca.edu), Hudson will transform the Installation Space into a photo booth/performance set complete with a selection of costumes and props. The project is open to anyone who wishes to take part, participants are invited to pose or perform on camera to create their own version of Portlandia. In the artist’s words “Queering Portlandia will allow for a multitude of new Portlandias: Portlandia as a person of color, Portlandia as queer, Portlandia as a person with disabilities, Portlandia as a true, living Portlander. Queering Portlandia will demonstrate our community’s commitment to providing visibility, safety and opportunity to all its citizens.”

About the Artist: Anthony Hudson is an Oregon native and received his BFA in Intermedia from Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2013. His work draws on mythology, theatre, popular culture, and critical theory; he has been featured in Hand2Mouth Theatre’s Risk/Reward Festival, Conduit Dance’s Dance+ Festival, and Performance Works NW’s Richard Foreman Mini-Festivals. Hudson is perhaps best known as Portland’s drag clown Carla Rossi, “an immortal trickster whose attempts at hegemonic realness almost always result in fantastic failure and revelations of her own mutability and vulnerability.”

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 the 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. Anthony Hudson is the 3rd student artist to present work this season.

Viewing Hours & Location: 8 am to 5 pm, Monday – Friday. The Portland Building is located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland. Admission is always free. Queering Portlandia runs through August 2nd.

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.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is seeking works on paper—prints, drawings, paintings on paper and photographs—to purchase for the Visual Chronicle of Portland collection. The budget for the purchase and framing of artwork is $10,000. The deadline for submissions is Monday, July 15, 2013. 

Background: The Visual Chronicle of Portland is a collection of original works on paper that portray artists’ perceptions of what makes the City of Portland unique. TheChronicle is owned by the City, and exists as a subset of its Public Art Collection. Since its beginning in 1985, theChronicle has grown to 303 works by 179 different artists and has established itself as an important archive of daily life in Portland, Oregon. RACC oversees the day-to-day management of the Visual Chronicle for the City and insures that the collection remains available to the public by rotating works throughout public spaces in City of Portland and Multnomah County buildings. The collection strives to reflect a diversity of populations, artistic disciplines and points of view.

Until I served on the Visual Chronicle Selection Panel I had no idea what a diverse and talented group of artists was at work in Portland. This collection is a testament to the fact that there is not just one Portland, but many—and that we need the artists’ perspectives to get a glimpse of those aspects of the city.
               – Former Visual Chronicle Selection panel member Judith Barrington 

Images and details of the entire collection can be seen by going to www.racc.org/visualchronicle 

Theme for 2013: As in the past, purchase selections will be made based on how well the work matches the purpose and spirit of the Visual Chronicle—conveying perceptions of what makes Portland unique. This year however, the selection panel would like to encourage work that documents, describes, or evokes areas, communities and issues that are under-represented in the Chronicle. The bridges, the Rose Parade, Washington Park and other Portland icons, are all well cataloged, but the collection has fewer works that represent people and places that exist beyond downtown and outside of the mainstream. While no absolute boundaries or subjects are mandated or excluded, the panel hopes to add range to the Chronicle and better represent vital neighborhoods, communities and artists that contribute to a fully textured view of Portland.

Selection and Purchase Process: Additions to the Chronicle are supported each year by a fund of $10,000 which covers the purchase of new artwork and archival matting and framing. The Chronicle is restricted to works on paper no larger than 24” x 30”; this keeps the cost of individual pieces modest and allows the selection panel to purchase multiple works.

The selection panel is composed of an independent group of artists and curators. This year’s panel includes Yoonhee Choi, artist and teacher; Gabe Flores, artist, curator; Roll Hardy, artist; Grant Hottle, artist, teacher; Blake Shell, artist, curator. The selection process will take place in two parts—an initial review of digital images followed by a final review of actual artwork.

Submission Details: Works on paper—prints, drawings, paintings on paper and photographs—from professional artists familiar with Portland are eligible. For more information and to download guidelines in English or Spanish, visit the RACC website at www.racc.org (direct link: http://www.racc.org/public-art/racc-opportunity-2013-call-visual-chronicle-portland), or contact program manager Keith Lachowicz at klachowicz@racc.org or 503-823-5404.

Information Session: To assist artists with the submission process and to provide additional
in-depth background on the Visual Chronicle collection RACC staff will hold an information session on Tuesday, June 25th from 5:30pm – 6:30pm at RACC offices, 411 NW Park Avenue, Suite 101.  Email Keith Lachowicz atklachowicz@racc.org to reserve a spot. RACC staff is also available to speak off-site to groups of artists who would like to learn more about this purchase opportunity.

Submission Deadline: The deadline for all submissions is Monday, July 15, 2013 at 5pm.

For more information contact project staff:
Keith Lachowicz
klachowicz@racc.org
503-823-5865

Interpretation services available, 503-823-5071
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On Monday, June 10th at 7:00PM, BCCTV will host a free screening of short works created by individuals who have experienced homelessness. The films were made at a RACC-sponsored, artist led production lab at Bud Clark Commons (BCC, at NW Irving & Broadway in Old Town/Chinatown) and will be screened at Hollywood Theatre (4122 NE Sandy Blvd.) Admission is free.

“BCCTV on the Big Screen” will showcase a culmination of a year’s worth of works ranging from personal documentary to live action horror, from comedic sketches to fictional dramas as well as a variety of animated shorts. Videos were conceived and produced by David Boston, Sumaiyya Evans, Eugene Olson, John Pinney, Russell Waggener. The project was organized and lead by local artists, designers, and filmmakers, Carl Diehl, Ariana Jacob, Joan Lundell, Mack McFarland and Jeffrey Richardson who will also screen a selection of their works at the event.

In a series of workshops and weekly meetings over the last twelve months, a community of video makers was formed at the Commons, calling themselves BCCTV. Free weekly classes and workshops were offered to anyone who had experienced homelessness, focusing on how to make, edit and share videos. Participants explored their own interests in video with the support and expertise of the artist team as well as visiting artists from the community. They learned improvisation, animation techniques, visual storytelling, sound design and editing which in turn made them eager to delve further into longer-term, more personal projects, all of which will be seen at this screening event.

About Bud Clark Commons
Bud Clark Commons is an innovative partnership between the Portland Housing Bureau, Home Forward, Transition Projects Inc, and Multnomah County, that is owned and managed by Home Forward. The building was designed by Holst Architecture and opened in June 2011. The Commons brings together services and providers in one location, providing vital resources, shelter, and housing placement services to people experiencing homelessness in Portland.

Before the award-winning building was even constructed, the two primary programs that provide services in the building – Transition Projects Inc. (TPI) and Home Forward – were interested in having artists work in the facility and engage the clients and residents in creative, experiential and participatory ways. In early 2012, the BCCTV artist team was selected through an open call to artists living in Multnomah County. Partially funded by a portion of the City of Portland Percent for Art set aside from the construction of the building, the project is part of RACC’s intersections program, established in 2000, which encourages artists in all disciplines to explore new working methods and to develop socially engaging, interactive art experiences in community settings.

For interviews, contact BCCTV at thebcctv@gmail.com.
 
 

Project Background: Artists Patricia Vazquez Gomez and Betty Marin will present their social practice based Welcomeinstallation in the lobby of the Portland Building June 3 – 28. The project was conceived when the artists began to contemplate the connection between the building that institutionally represents the City of Portland and the lives and experiences of some of the city’s newest residents. Grounded in this artist team’s work with Latin American immigrant communities, and in their own cultural roots, the project directly explores the ways in which Spanish speaking immigrants feel both welcome and not welcome here in Portland. The installation consists of projected images of new Portland residents interviewed by the artists presented against a “wallpaper” backdrop crafted from the text of those conversations. As a parting symbol of civic exchange, a small artesanal souvenir—a set of open hands crafted from tin that multiple cultures recognize as a symbol of hospitality—will be offered to visitors to take away.

“Our hope for this project is to initiate a reflection on the way Portland is already a welcoming city and the ways it still needs to grow as an inclusive place.”

As general understanding of the social practice genre develops and expands MFA programs like the one at Portland State University, that Vazquez Gomez and Marin are enrolled in, are on the forefront of defining where this form of art practice is headed. RACC is pleased to include Welcome as part of its ongoing initiative to provide exhibition opportunities for advanced students in fine art, this is the second of three student produced installations scheduled for the Portland Building this year. The format and presentation requirements for student installations are identical to those for established professional artists, the separate eligibility category was created to help introduce emerging talents to the world of public art.

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.

On Friday June 14th, 5-6pm: Meet the artists who created Welcome at the Portland Building Installation Space. Social Practice artists Patricia Vazquez Gomez and Betty Marin will hold an artist Q & A session to discuss their Welcome installation in the lobby of the Portland Building. Welcome was created to inform and expand the connection between the building that represents the City of Portland and the experiences of some of the city’s newer residents. Grounded in this artist team’s social-practice work in the immigrant community, and in their own cultural roots, the project explores the ways in which Spanish speaking immigrants feel both welcome and not welcome here in Portland. The Q & A will take place at the Portland Building, located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland.