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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 February 4, 2013
Project Background: Artist Nathan Sandberg has developed a fascination with the repetitive nature of modern life. This fascination began when he started thinking about ways to mark the time he spent performing life’s everyday rote mechanical tasks—putting on socks, brushing teeth, walking out the front door. To both curse and honor the extraordinary amount of […]
Posted January 8, 2013
Project Background: Bellingham artist Margot Myerscombines her drawings, prints and other media to create installations and works on paper. This month she will create a site-specific piece in the Portland Building Installation Space. Inspired by her study of turn-of-the-century scientific illustrations, she’s recently begun working with intricate stencils to describe complex biological forms of radiolaria—microscopic […]
Posted January 2, 2013
A new sculpture, Noble Architect, was dedicated on Friday December 14 at 3:30pm by the artists at NE Alberta Street at 18th. This artwork was selected by a local panel of artists and citizens, and will become part of the City of Portland’s Public Art Collection, administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Artists Ruth Frances Greenberg and David Laubenthal […]
Posted December 12, 2012
WHO: Noble Architect by artists Ruth Frances Greenberg and David Laubenthal WHAT: Sculpture Unveiling WHEN: Friday, December 14, 2012 at 3:30pm WHERE: Corner of NE Alberta Street at 18th NOTES: Artists Ruth Frances Greenberg and David Laubenthal conceived of the sculpture to “mirror the ebullient, raw and wonderful vigor of nature as well as our […]
Posted November 28, 2012
It is that time of year again; the annual City and County employee exhibition in the lobby of the Portland Building opens on Tuesday, December 4th and runs through the holiday season. This “salon style” exhibition, open to all current City or County employees, is a yearly favorite and is anxiously awaited by regular visitors […]
Posted October 4, 2012
Project Background: Using silverpoint to document gesture and movement, artist Linda Hutchins will bring a performance created specifically for the Installation Space to the Portland Building the week of October 22nd. Silverpoint is an old master drawing technique in which actual silver is drawn on a prepared surface much as we apply graphite to paper […]
Posted September 18, 2012
Project Background: Project Everyone is an ongoing video series with the lofty goal of interviewing every person on earth. Creators Stephen Kurowski & Marina Tait bring their open interview station to the Portland Building lobby where they will conduct ten minute interview sessions with volunteer participants. Each interviewee is prompted by the same set of […]
Posted September 6, 2012
Starting this week, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is presenting Selections of the Visual Chronicle of Portland at the Basil Hallward Gallery at Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside in Portland. This exhibition, featuring 25 works from the collection, has been curated by Marci Macfarlane. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, […]
Posted August 29, 2012
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 […]
Posted August 28, 2012
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 […]
Posted August 10, 2012
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 […]
Posted July 31, 2012
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, […]
Posted July 6, 2012
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 […]
Posted June 29, 2012
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 […]
Posted April 24, 2012
Project Description: Kendra Larson’s installation Aviary is designed to spark conversation about the ownership of nature. Drawing on her interest in literature of the woods, contemporary film noir, and research on natural phenomena Larson was inspired to combine her slightly spooky wall paintings—a mix of conifer trees, mountain vistas and clouds—with an aviary of bird […]
Posted March 22, 2012
Project Background: Artist Jodie Cavalier will bring her uncanny ability to translate the essence of an experience into evocative, minimalist sculptural form (picture a folded sheet of corrugated metal for a waterfall, a loosely tied sheet of rolled foam for a hug) to focus on the iconic postmodern architecture of the Portland Building itself. Love […]
Posted March 14, 2012
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has added 52 new works by 32 Oregon artists to its portable works collection. The collection of more than 1,000 pieces represents hundreds of Northwest artists, and these artworks are displayed on a rotating basis in publicly accessible buildings throughout the City of Portland and Multnomah County. RACC […]
Posted March 1, 2012
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) has announced a line-up of nine new installations by local artists scheduled to appear in the Portland Building over the next twelve months. For 18 years, RACC has managed the Installation Space in the Portland Building (located downtown at 1120 SW 5th Avenue) as a way to present […]
Posted February 2, 2012
Project Background: The Chinese laundry is an iconic thread of the early China-to-US immigration story. It was a business that required little start-up capital or spoken English and was viewed as an undesirable task that could be passed on to immigrants without controversy. Regardless of professions they may have attained before coming to the U.S., […]