As part of our effort to support the arts & culture community impacted by COVID-19, please visit our Emergency Relief, Donate and Relief Resource Listings.
Inversion +/-, Lead Pencil Studio, 2012-2013
The region’s public art enlivens urban and rural landscapes and promotes dialogue among people of all ages and backgrounds. Through a variety of public-private partnerships, RACC helps acquire and maintain community-owned artworks in public places. A Public Art Advisory Committee oversees RACC’s public art program, which is among the oldest and most highly regarded public art programs in the country.
Posted March 19, 2021
Interpretation services available, email info@racc.org Servicio de interpretación disponible | Предоставляются услуги переводчика | Có dịch vụ thông dịch | 通訳サービスあり The Regional Arts & Culture Council seeks proposals for design, fabrication and installation of new artwork in Errol Heights Park. The budget for the commission comes from the City of Portland’s Percent for Art Program […]
Posted March 9, 2021
Article by Bruce Poinsette (update March 30, 2021) Images by Intisar Abioto For many, it might feel as if an eternity has passed since the announcement and installation of the In—Between project. RACC’s press release for the collaboration between Intisar Abioto and Hank Willis Thomas was published on Dec. 16, 2019. Since then, the COVID-19 […]
Posted March 3, 2021
This summer, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and with swift momentum behind the Black Lives Matter movement, many rallied together to protest racial injustice across the nation and here in our own city. Throughout the resistance in Portland, the recently completed Multnomah County Central Courthouse on Southwest First Avenue in downtown […]
Posted February 17, 2021
Mami Takahashi is an artist with SUPPORT BEAM, a new RACC grant program supporting artists’ long term creative practice and livelihood. These works are part of my “Seeing You/Seeing Me” project. “Seeing You/Seeing Me,” (previously titled “Hiding and Observing”) is an ongoing project in which I use mirrored domes to hide my body or face […]
Posted February 12, 2021
Interpretation services available, email info@racc.org Servicio de interpretación disponible | Предоставляются услуги переводчика | Có dịch vụ thông dịch | 通訳サービスあり Art Purchase Opportunity Artists from Oregon & Washington can add to the vitality of Portland’s Public Art Collection by submitting portable scale two dimensional works for purchase by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Types […]
Posted February 3, 2021
Artists awarded Support Beam commissions are giving us small windows into their work, processes, and personal stories. In their own voices, hear more from these inspiring artists. Support Beam funding from Multnomah County Percent For Art and PDXCARES. Follow along at #RACCSupportBeam on Instagram. Teressa White “I want Native people to feel stillness; a moment where they can connect with […]
Posted December 7, 2020
Interpretation services available, email info@racc.org Servicio de interpretación disponible | Предоставляются услуги переводчика | Có dịch vụ thông dịch | 通訳サービスあり 34 Black artists, Indigenous artists, and artists of color have had works selected for a new public art collection titled Capturing the Moment. This collection showcases work in a wide scope of medium, […]
Posted November 25, 2020
Patricia Vázquez is an artist with SUPPORT BEAM, a new RACC grant program supporting artists’ long term creative practice and livelihood. I have been drawing, painting and making prints for longer than I have done any other kind of artwork. I am a self taught visual artist. I have learned through taking classes here and […]
Posted November 10, 2020
We are excited to announce 17 additional artists selected to receive financial support through our Support Beam initiative. Support Beam is designed to support emerging artists’ long-term creative practice and livelihood during an unprecedented time. This new opportunity prioritizes Black artists, Indigenous artists, and artists of color to acknowledge the disproportionate historical and ongoing systemic […]
Posted October 19, 2020
Artist Limei Lai’s new mural, Together, enlivens the street scape at Open Signal located on NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Portland. This is the seventh mural to adorn Open Signal’s exterior as part of the Fresh Paint program. A partnership between Open Signal and RACC, Fresh Paint is a professional development program providing […]
Posted October 6, 2020
Interpretation services available, email info@racc.org Servicio de interpretación disponible | Предоставляются услуги переводчика | Có dịch vụ thông dịch | 通訳サービスあり Application window closed Monday, Oct. 26. Artists are essential. In times of crisis, artists express what they see and feel, helping us process what we are going through, activating, and uplifting the community. Capturing […]
Posted July 22, 2020
by Morgan Ritter, Support Beam Project Manager, Public Art Exhibitions & Collections Coordinator Support Beam intends to strengthen artists towards a long-term re-imagination and multi-pronged activation of their work, with no restrictions on media. Participating artists will contribute virtual work-in-progress share-outs which will be released on RACC’s web and social media platforms—follow along! At the […]
Posted June 19, 2020
The toppling of the statue of George Washington on June 18, 2020, is part of our critical national conversation about systemic racism and injustice. Portland is part of this conversation as people examine the point of view these statues represent and consider the impact on Black Portlanders. Last Wednesday, City Council adopted six core values […]
Posted May 4, 2020
In our continued response to individual artists and creative workers impacted by COVID-19, we have two new public art calls opportunities: a direct purchase of artwork for The Visual Chronicle of Portland and Support Beam, an initiative to commission emerging visual artists making work in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Eligible artists may apply to either or both opportunities. The Visual Chronicle […]
Posted March 5, 2020
Come visit your new art collection at the reconstructed Portland Building Public art installed in the Portland Building adds a glow to the newly renovated architectural icon. The building has always doubled as a venue to showcase public art and that role has grown with the reconstruction, which includes new pieces commissioned through the Regional […]
Posted January 6, 2020
The Regional Arts & Culture Council and the Port of Portland invite artists/teams living in the U.S. to submit qualifications for 2 permanent public art installations and artists/teams living in Oregon and Clark and Skamania Counties in Washington to submit qualifications for 1 permanent public art installation. The projects are part of the construction of a Consolidated Rental Car […]
Posted December 16, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 16, 2019 Portland, Ore – A new temporary public art project has been installed along the median strip on NE Holladay Street between the Oregon Convention Center and the new Hyatt Hotel and parking structure. As part of a new series called In—Between, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) invited Portland-based artist Intisar Abioto and Brooklyn-based artist Hank Willis Thomas to create […]
Posted November 1, 2019
by Taryn Sauer When we invest in the creativity of our youth, we open doors to fundamental facets of learning and self-discovery. This is exactly what Color Outside the Lines has been involved in for almost a decade: harnessing creative expression in foster children and opportunity youth* as a way of connecting with themselves and […]
Posted July 31, 2019
In a city known for murals, how do you get your foot (or art) through a door when you’re an emerging artist of color? Fresh Paint, a partnership between RACC’s Public Art Murals program and Open Signal, offers that door to have artist work in the public realm. In this 2019 cycle of Fresh Paint, a selection […]
Posted July 31, 2019
The Regional Arts and Culture Council, in partnership with Portland Parks & Recreation and Prosper Portland, have selected artist Molly Mendoza to create a mural in early 2020 on the exterior of a new bathroom facility in Lents Park. Molly has created a preliminary design of the mural (see image above) and is interested in […]