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MONTHLY EMAIL NEWSLETTER FROM THE REGIONAL ARTS & CULTURE COUNCIL FOR THE PORTLAND OREGON METROPOLITAN REGION |
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September 2005
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 The Creative Community Tree, presented at the MetLife Forum "Portland's Future: Fueled by Creativity" on July 28. Designed by Philip Iosca of Wieden+Kennedy 12. To download the full graphic go to www.racc.org/creativecommunitytree. |
What makes Portland stimulating, dynamic, culturally vibrant and innovative? What makes our region an experience rather than just a transaction? Why has Portland become one of the top places for the in-migration of creative, educated 25 to 35 year olds?
On July 28, 65 leaders from local arts organizations, creative businesses, and large corporations came together to better define the role that the arts and creative sector play in our region's development and how arts and business can work together to create a more prosperous Portland. The forum, entitled Portland's Future: Fueled by Creativity, was presented by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) and Northwest Business for Culture and the Arts (NW/BCA) as part of a national Arts Forum Series coordinated by Americans for the Arts and sponsored by the MetLife Foundation. A follow-up forum will take place in October.
The two-hour forum discussion began with four speakers whose personal experiences lent context to the topic. Bart Eberwein, Vice President of Hoffman Construction, spoke about the persistent gap between nonprofit arts organizations and businesses, and the need for new and innovative partnerships. Don Rood, a graphic designer with the Felt Hat, discussed how the arts and creative industries represent an evolving new reality and an opportunity to raise the stakes for how we think about policy issues and the future of Portland's economy. Chris Coleman, Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage, expressed an interest in helping policy makers transition the brand for Portland from the natural resources economy of the past to the creative economy of the future. Joe Cortright, a leading local economist, gave an overarching view of trends now occurring within the US and the region, including the end of the current labor glut and movement toward a labor shortage that will shift business and industry to develop their operations where human resource talent exists. That talent is migrating to regions they find stimulating, dynamic, culturally vibrant and driven by innovation.
Forum moderator Thom Walters of the Corragio Group pointed out that Portland has gained an international reputation as a hot bed for innovation around design and creativity. While this reputation is a little known fact among many Portland area residents, it's a key reason for Portland's continuing population growth. Despite the fact that the creative sector continues to grow rapidly, there is currently nothing to influence its evolution into a more aligned industry or aid its integration into Portland's traditional business community. The intersection of art, creative industry, and business does happen, but how and when it does is rarely communicated. Most companies continue to operate in industry silos, doing business in parallel lines, due to the perception that traditional business, the creative sector and the arts have nothing in common.
RACC and NW/BCA are working with a variety of other entities including Design Exchange, the Creative Caucus, the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Development Commission to take these concepts and ideas and to use them to help provide a strong vision for Portland's future, with creative and innovative solutions to some of the community's most pressing problems. Through forums like these, RACC is working to ensure that the region's artists, nonprofit arts organizations and creative industries are acknowledged as essential contributors to a viable future, and drivers for economic prosperity. Specifically, there is a new Regional Business Plan being developed to help ensure that local companies benefit from civic conditions that will help them thrive, including educated people, good infrastructure, and appealing quality of life. Clearly, arts and culture should be part of the plan.
However, to be effective participants in the Regional Business Planning process, the arts and culture community and the creative industries sector must work with corporate leadership to help us all recognize that we are allies who share a set of common goals, including a desire to make our community more vibrant and prosperous. The positive energy and innovative thinking that went on at the Forum clearly demonstrated that with continued collaboration, we can achieve great things for Portland's future.
You can read more about what is being discussed — and participate in the conversation yourself — at Portland's Arts Forum blog: www.artsforum.motointeractive.com.
In addition to Portland, forums discussing the intersection between arts and business are taking place in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, St. Louis, Saint Paul, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Summaries from each participating city will be posted on the Americans for the Arts website, www.AmericansForTheArts.org.
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We have some bad/good news from the public art world at RACC. With the downturn in our regional economy over the past couple of years, we have had fewer public capital construction projects than usual generating percent for art dollars. However I am happy to report on some recent new installations.
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Please visit and enjoy your public art!
Eloise can be reached at edamrosch@racc.org.
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RACC has received funding confirmations from each of our five government partners. The City of Portland has allocated $2,116,294 of general fund support for arts and culture this year -- an increase of 8% over last year. Multnomah County is providing a 4% increase with $137,050, but we have been notified that funding from this county will be extremely difficult to secure next year. Washington County's $50,000, Clackamas County's $50,000, and Metro's $25,000 are all the same amounts as last year. These investments are used by RACC to provide cash grants for artists and arts organizations in the region; to support arts education activities; and to provide information resources for the local arts and culture community. We thank all of our government partners throughout the region for their continued support of arts and culture! RACC's total operating budget for FY05-06 is $3,601,592, with additional revenues from other public and private sources supporting our public art program, the workplace giving program, and a variety of forums, workshop and professional development activities.
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On Sept 7 Friends of the Performing Arts Center will honor three Oregonians who have championed the Arts and Urban Living: Michael Allen Harrison, Vera Katz and Michael Powell. Their names will be set into the sidewalk on SW Main Street next to the PCPA, joining other illustrious Oregon arts patrons such as James DePreist, William Jamison and Selina Roberts Ottum, late director of the Metropolitan Arts Commission (now RACC). Emcee will be Jonathan Nicholas of The Oregonian. Luncheon at Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 11:30am-1:30pm. To reserve tickets call 503.274.6556.
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This Fall the art and travel communities of Portland have banded together to promote one of the most dynamic cultural seasons in the City's history:
Tell your family and friends to COME TO PORTLAND THIS FALL! See www.travelportland.com for more details on Portland Art Focus.
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 Watercolor by Henk Pander |
9/8-10/27 An exhibition of artworks by four Portland artists -- Jason Greene, Mary Josephson, Cynthia Lahti, Henk Pander -- inspired by and created while spending the past year as artists-in-residence with Portland Fire & Rescue as part of the RACC's intersections, a public art residency program administered through its public art program. 9/29 Artists Reception, 5:30pm; 10/13 Gallery Talk, 6pm. IFCC, 5340 N. Interstate Ave. For more information call 503.823.4196.
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On Thursday, September 22, h elp RACC and others celebrate the completed restoration of Portland's oldest civic artwork. Join local celebrities (political and otherwise) and ghosts from the past (Henry Failing, C.E.S. Wood, Abigail Scott Duniway and John Reed) in this community celebration that will feature local musical talent. In memory of the 117-year-old dream of brewmeister Henry Weinhard to have beer flowing from the fountain at the original dedication in 1888, beer will be on tap next to the Skidmore Fountain. 3pm, SW First & Ankeny. The event is sponsored by the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission.
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Call for Artists for on the streets Roster. RACC invites artists living in Oregon to submit images of existing three-dimensional sculptures appropriate for an outdoor setting. Selected works will be part of the on the streets roster from which qualifying neighborhoods will select a sculpture to grace one of their streets for two years. For more information visit www.racc.org or contact Peggy Kendellen, Public Art Manager, at pkendellen@racc.org. Deadline: 9/12/05.
Public Art Mural Program. Guidelines and applications for creating murals in the City of Portland are now available at www.racc.org/murals. Deadlines: Third Tuesday of every month.
Public Art for St. Johns. A call to artists and artist teams from the West Coast (WA, OR, CA, ID, MT and British Columbia) to submit qualifications for a public art project in the St. Johns community of North Portland. We are looking for an artist(s) who can add to the experience and vitality of the community through their own artistic expression. The budget for the public art is $100,000. For more information visit www.racc.org or contact Kristin Calhoun, Public Art Manager, kcalhoun@racc.org, or 503.823.5401. Deadline: 9/23/05.
The Oregon Zoo invites artists living in Oregon and Washington to submit slides and qualifications for two Percent for Art projects in conjunction with the construction of the Cascade Canyon Trail in the Great Northwest Exhibit. The projects are (1) a request for nine graphic illustrations; and (2) an artwork or series of works for a 27-foot long fence. RACC is contracted with the Oregon Zoo to manage the selection process. For more information visit www.racc.org or contact Peggy Kendellen, Public Art Manager, at pkendellen@racc.org. Deadline: 9/26/05.
Professional Development Grants (Cycle 2) assist artists or arts administrators with opportunities that specifically improve their business management development skills and/or brings the artist or the arts organization to another level artistically. Applications available at www.racc.org. Deadline: 10/10/05, 5pm.
RACC Arts Education Fast Track Grants assist public and private schools in the tri-county region with bringing high quality professional artists and arts organizations into the classroom. Funds for Clackamas County have been awarded for the 2005-06 school year. Applications for Multnomah and Washington County schools available at www.racc.org. Deadline: 11/1/05.
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 Color Wave (detail) by Diane Jacobs, from the exhibition Cross Hairs |
Rathbun's installation is a set of three interrelated structures: a "wave floor," a suspended 20-foot-long boat, and ceiling-high matrix of 2,800 linear feet of two-by-twos that the artist hand-cut and split from logs over two and one half months. Cross Hairs (pictured) presents as its subject the many words in the language that describe hair - words that are often negative - unruly, kinky, oily, dull, and wispy. It also features words that name hairstyles: mullet, mohawk and momoware, cornrows and peyos, bob and flattop.
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 STREB will perform Wild Blue Yonder, TBA's Opening Night 9/8, 8pm, Free at Pioneer Courthouse Square (Photo: Scott Suchman) |
For the third year, TBA brings together a remarkable group of artists from around the world for ten days of extraordinary activity. Contemporary masters and significant emerging artists re-frame a complicated time and allow us to imagine new possibilities. Daytime workshops, mid-day lectures, evening performances, roaming outdoor and late-night happenings bring together Festival artists and audiences around the clock.
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Each September, Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon, under the artistic direction of Keith Scales, presents the finest professional performers and designers in ancient Greek dramas, performed at the outdoor amphitheatre at Reed College and also at Lincoln Concert Hall. This year they present, Alcestis, the story of Admetus and his wife, Alcestis, (pictured) as they confront the wishes of the Greek god, Apollo.
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 Choreographer and Dancer, Minh Tran (Photo: Dan Bronson) |
Catch Minh Tran & Company in Concert before the Company heads out for national touring. The program features new work by Tran in collaboration with Persian music composer Dariush Dolat-shahi, filmmaker Chel White and visual designer Christine Bourdette.
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 Photo: Rich Iwasaki |
Portland Taiko's fall concert features the full company of performers, their largest drums, and the thrill of whirling movement, pounding rhythm and exhilarating music. Includes African drum master Obo Addy and his thrilling ensemble, Okropong, in the world premier of Obo's new composition for taiko and African drums!
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 Regional Arts & Culture Council 108 NW 9th Avenue, Suite 300 | Portland, OR 97209 Phone - 503.823.5111 | Fax - 503.823.5432 www.racc.org Through vision, leadership and service the Regional Arts & Culture Council works to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of community life. |
