Community Updates

Reflections, Lessons, and Projections

Art Spark attendees stand on the grass facing the stage, listening to a speaker

by Jeff Hawthorne Interim Executive Director June is coming to an end, and so too is RACC’s 2017-2018 fiscal year. Now is a good moment, before a new fiscal year begins on July 1, to […]

Why Can’t I Just Exist: Code-Switching in the Art World

by Humberto Marquez Mendez Code-Switching, the practice of alternating between different languages, ways of speaking, conduct, and presentation of self, is often the reality for people of color and other marginalized groups. From a young […]

Fresh Paint with Molly Mendoza

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 […]

Fresh Paint with Alex Chiu

Alex Chiu's mural featuring 6 frames of his daughter jumping up and down a bed

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 […]

“Not About Us Without Us”

RACC’s new Art & Power conversation series kicks off with discussion of Cultural Appropriation in the Arts by Humberto Marquez Mendez   “What is the historical and cultural framework which informs your art practice?” This […]

Now’s the time

ELOISE BLOG: The time has come for me to bid goodbye to my wonderful RACC family and close an exciting 30 year chapter here. It has been quite a journey from our early days in […]

This Time in Portland

ELOISE BLOG: A week ago it seemed completely appropriate for me to write a sincere last Arts Notes post prior to my June 30th retirement. The idea was to talk about all the wonderful experiences […]

State of the Arts

I spoke with a colleague the other day who works at the National Endowment for the Arts where people are soldiering on every day not knowing whether or not they have a future there. I […]