Community Updates

November 2018 Night Lights: Windows 11

Image of a person projected onto RACC's office building. Their hands are stretched upwards and clasped. while their face looks downward. They're wearing black framed glasses, a black, white, and grey sweater, and grey pants.

Night Lights, RACC’s outdoor public art event series continues with local artists Roesing Ape and Beth Whelan. Following a successful kickoff to the series with Laura Median’s Flying in October, the next Night Lights event will take place on November 1st at 6PM. Titled Windows 11, Ape and Whelan’s work involves a minimalist dance piece inside an architectural projection of […]

Portland State of the Arts: 2018

As Portland continues to change, we asked artists, arts administrators, and creatives to share their thoughts on the “state of the arts” here in the city to illuminate the ways arts and culture intersect with our lives as Portlanders and get a glimpse of the cultural landscape through their eyes. Their words serve as a […]

Notes on Surviving in Portland

by Paul Susi I am a Portland native, the son of immigrants and a person of color. I am the Co-Chair of the Multnomah County Cultural Coalition; I am the Artistic and Executive Director of Portland Actors Ensemble / Shakespeare in the Parks; I am a Conversation Project Facilitator for Oregon Humanities; I serve as […]

Portland’s Creative Culture Depends on its Artists Thriving

by Roshani Thakore As a student in a Master’s of Fine Arts Program focused on art in the public spheres, the accessibility to the various arts communities within Portland has been extremely welcoming and exciting since I landed here a year ago after 18 years in New York City. The most invigorating, inspiring, and complex […]

Portland Falls Short When Investing in Artists of Color

by Celeste Noche Almost five years ago, I moved to Portland because it was renown for its creative community (and it’s cute af, but that’s neither here nor there). I wanted to brave a career in photography, and after years of failing to connect with other artists in San Francisco, I thought Portland would be […]

Fluid State(s)

by Roya Amirsoleymani To be asked to address the “state of the arts” in Portland is a welcome invitation, and at the same time an arguably flawed frame of reference and impossible task. No single individual can be in comprehensive or equal relationship to the breadth of formal and informal organizations, institutions, cultures, and communities […]

New Faces at RACC

Fall is a time of transition, and while for some it signals a movement into winter dormancy, for us at the Regional Arts & Culture Council, this transition signals a time of cultivation and growth. In the past few months, we welcomed a crew of new faces to RACC, and already they are making connections, creating […]

Essex Park Gets New ‘Mindfulness’ Mural

Volulnteers painting the walls of the Essex Park public restroom

If you’re around the Foster Powell Neighborhood in Portland, you may have caught a new mural going up at Essex Park on SE 76th and Center St. during the weekend of September 22 and 23. Artist team Rather Severe (Travis Czekalski and Jon Stommel) is heading the mural painting, with design and painting help provided […]