RACC and artist Jorge Pardo have begun installing a new Streetcar Art Shelter at NE Broadway and Weidler. This eccentrically shaped sculpture will provide a shelter with “rainy on the outside, sunny on the inside” experience for waiting streetcar passengers. Fabricated of steel, wood and fiberglass, the new shelter measures 35’ long by 18’ wide […]

Project Background: “Is Bigfoot real? I hope so, but I’m pessimistic.” This quote from Jacob Sorenson might serve as a tagline for his installation which opens April 29th at the Portland Building Installation Space. Sorenson, known for his elaborately designed and elegantly constructed kinetic sculptures, will present a nature-circus landscape in the space that embodies […]

The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is pleased to announce a line-up of nine new installations by local artists at the Portland Building Installation Space. Over the next twelve months artists representing a wide range of approaches to art making will be featured in 4 week installments. Since 1994 RACC has managed the Installation […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]