12 minute read
NEWS NOTEWORTHY
PARTNERSHIPS, PROGRAMS, AND COMMUNITY
The first six months of 2022 ended on an incredibly high note as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Mexican Modernism from the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection closed with record levels of attendance. More than 300,000 visitors experienced this popular exhibition and its related programming that included live mural painting by local artists, a dual-language family guide, and a number of talks and discussions. The community’s enthusiasm for this important work was joyous. Continuing through November, Perspectives is a powerful exhibition honoring the work of six BIPOC artists who photographed the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The exhibition opening was also a public Miller Family Free Day and coincided with the Portland Parks Foundation’s Paseo festival celebrating Portland’s diverse community of artists and community organizations. Portlanders were encouraged to walk the closed-off streets together, enjoy music and food, and learn from one another. A panel discussion with the artists and Don’t Shoot PDX founder Teressa Raiford on opening day drew visitors to hear about the artists’ work and process. Writer Christopher Gonzalez said in an Oregon ArtsWatch article, “Perspectives feels as unique as the lives it is mourning. The large prints along the walls aren’t framed, and they feel like windows into a city-wide grief space. Through these soundless windows, pain and indignation beam in from the past like light falling on the floorboards of memory. It makes a place in my chest warm.” Summer also saw the return of camps, and summer education partnerships at the Museum and PAM CUT. With vibrant new window coverings signaling a new day and a new brand for PAM CUT (formerly the Northwest Film Center), PAM CUT // Center for an Untold Tomorrow welcomed kids back downtown for summer camps after COVID put them on pause for the past two years. New this year were fashion filmmaking and a podcasting camp. Plus, adults had a DJ camp under the instruction of the one and only DJ Ambush from Museum partner The Numberz FM. Students of all ages and backgrounds had transformative Museum visits through a number of new and long-standing partnership programs, including: Portland Public Schools Summer Arts Academy, offering select PPS students the opportunity to engage in Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Theatre, and Technical Theatre with additional minor classes; Portland State University’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Program; and World Oregon’s Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program. More recent “pandemic partners” like Centro Cultural de Washington County and Wishram and Lyle school districts in rural Washington were able to finally visit the Museum after
previously experiencing the Museum only through remote programs such as the Miller Family Foundation art kits. Whenever possible, we connect students with artists and with art-making: The MEPI students met with Perspectives photographer Joseph Blake and came away inspired to develop communitydriven art exhibitions in their home countries. Centro Cultural students met IDEAL PDX artist Jessica Lagunas, learned about the process of creating the Frida and Diego Are Here mural, and were delighted to make collages full of Fridas and axolotls. For the latest updates, follow our social media channels and subscribe to our email newsletter at portlandartmuseum.org.
SWIMMING HOME:
Tlingit objects returned to Alaska tribe
Visitors to the museum this fall may notice a longstanding object missing from the Native American permanent collections galleries often referred to as the “killer whale hat.” More accurately described as the Keet S’áaxw in the Tlingit language, this hat and eight more objects were returned to their original purpose as cultural and ceremonial objects by the Naanya.aayí clan, based in Wrangell, Alaska. In May, the museum hosted representatives from the clan, as well as other Tlingit community members, local Native leaders, and representatives from the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Tribes of Alaska, to complete the repatriation of these nine items claimed in 2002. Stories and songs were shared and gratitude expressed both by staff and guests at a private event to commemorate the longoverdue occasion.
Soon afterward, these objects—missed for many decades by their community of origin—were packed and returned to Alaska where they were danced by members of the clan at the event known as Celebration, in Juneau. This gathering brings together Native Alaskans from all over the state every two years. Keet S’áaxw is a sacred object and an object of cultural patrimony owned communally by the Naanya.aayí clan. Crest hats, such as this one, have ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural importance that is central to the Tlingit clan structure. The hat and other returned objects are necessary for the renewal and continued practice of Tlingit religious ceremonies, rituals, and traditions of their clans and clan leaders.
So while we will miss seeing this object in our galleries, it is now back home where it can continue to be beloved and danced by new generations.
THEY COME FROM FIRE GLASS FORGED LOCALLY
Jeffrey Gibson’s site-specific installation They Come From Fire (see pages 6–7) features 12 custom kilnformed glass panels made by glass fabricators at Portland’s Bullseye Studio. The glass used in these monumental panels is made by Bullseye Glass, a manufacturer of glass for artists all over the world. We asked them to talk about their process and what makes this project special.
What is kilnformed glass?
The terms kilnformed glass and fused glass can be used interchangeably. Kilnforming is the process of shaping different forms of tested, compatible kiln-glass (glasses of different colors that can be reliably and permanently fused together) into monolithic objects by placing them in a kiln where heat, gravity, temperature, and time transform the material into permanent, solid, monolithic objects. The experience of kilnformed art is interactive with the available light sources as well as one’s proximity and state of motion in relationship to the artwork. Kilnformed glass allows artists to introduce relief, texture, depth, varying degrees of color saturation, glass bending, and permanence into their work. Precision combined with the great number of handmade moments throughout this practice demonstrates the idiosyncrasies of the artist’s vision, and also the idiosyncrasies of the process and the fabricators’ own hands.
You work with artists to achieve their vision. What was it like working with Gibson on this project?
Jeffrey Gibson has been a great partner. He very readily grasped what the glass could do and was able to combine this understanding with what he wanted the artwork to achieve. He had a clear vision and was able to provide us with artwork clear in its intent.
What joys and challenges did you discover during this project?
From the perspective of the fabrication team, the work itself was gratifying to make and to be around. It was also nice to be involved in a topical project—a project with impact and historical significance. There is so much color in this work, so much visual richness every day, and so much transition between the cold work and after it was fired—it was a moving experience every time we opened the kiln.
NEW CURATOR
The Portland Art Museum is pleased to welcome Helen Swift as our Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art. Swift’s 12-month position started in June 2022. She is working with Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., The Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Curator of Asian Art, on a variety of duties related to Japanese art. This position is funded by the Japan Foundation to explore and illuminate the outstanding collection of Japanese art in the Museum’s Asian Art collection.
Swift has a BA in the History of Art from Queens’ College, University of Cambridge, and an MA in the History of East Asian Art from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the History of Japanese Art from Harvard University. “With curatorial experience at institutions like the Royal Academy in London and the Harvard Art Museums, Helen brings a dual interest in deeply researched and widely accessible exhibitions and programs to Portland,” said Dr. Kenmotsu. “In her curatorial projects, she has worked on topics ranging from Edoperiod Japanese painting to contemporary printmaking. The Portland community will have many opportunities to learn from the scholarly and public-facing projects she will undertake at the Museum.”
One of the Museum’s most prized collections will especially benefit from Swift’s work. “Over the next year, I’ll be focusing on cataloguing the Museum’s Japanese print collection,” she says. “So far, it’s been a great way to get to know the wonderful array of traditional and modern prints at PAM.” Much of this collection was donated by Mary Andrews Ladd in 1932 and later by Gordon Gilkey, who was curator of prints and drawings at the Portland Art Museum from 1978 to 2000. Gilkey donated more than 10,000 prints and drawings from his personal collection to the Museum; his donations form the backbone of the Museum’s graphic arts holdings and enhance particular strengths in 20th-century Japanese prints. This fall, Swift is curating a show called Human | Nature: 150 Years of Japanese Landscape Prints, which explores Japan’s journey with and through nature during the 19th century and into the modern age. Read more on page 8. The Museum is deeply grateful to the Japan Foundation for supporting the Assistant Curator position through its Museum Infrastructure Grant.
PORTLAND BOOK FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2022
Literary Arts’ annual Portland Book Festival, presented by Bank of America, returns to the Portland Art Museum and the South Park Blocks on the first Saturday in November. Over 100 authors and thousands of attendees will gather for this one-day intergenerational celebration of books and storytelling. In addition to author discussions, the festival offers story times for kids, a young-adult stage, an extensive book fair, live music, and food trucks. Pop-up readings will take place throughout the day in the Museum galleries, highlighting the intersections of literary and visual arts.
Passes are $15 in advance and $25 day of event; youth attend free. Featured authors include Margo Jefferson, Fonda Lee, Colin Meloy, Tom Perrotta, George Saunders, Jess Walter, Renée Watson, and many more. New for 2022 are a book fair preview on Friday, November 4, and the PBF Cover to Cover program offering a week of events throughout Portland leading into the festival day. Learn more and purchase tickets at literary-arts.org/pbf.
PORTLAND FINE PRINT FAIR
JANUARY 27–29, 2023
Opening Night Preview tickets coming soon at portlandartmuseum.org/printfair FREE ADMISSION to Print Fair
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2023, 10 A.M. – 6 P.M. SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2023, 11 A.M. – 5 P.M.
The Portland Fine Print Fair returns as an in-person event in January 2023! After pivoting to an online format due to the global pandemic, we are delighted to welcome our community back to the historic Fields Ballroom for a lively gathering of carefully selected print dealers and publishers. You are invited to browse thousands of original prints, learn from the friendly dealers and curators, and purchase your next treasure. Sixteen exhibitors will display original woodcuts, engravings, etchings, lithographs, and screenprints dating from the 14th century to the present day from Europe, the Americas, and Japan. Excellent work can be found in all price ranges, or just come to look and learn, take a curator-led tour, and enjoy the variety of graphic arts on display. Admission is free on Saturday and Sunday, January 28–29. Join us for the Opening Night Preview on Friday, January 27, from 6 to 9 p.m., for the opportunity to view the fair before it opens to the public. The Preview is a benefit for the Print Department of the Portland Art Museum. Tickets can be purchased online at portlandartmuseum.org/printfair.
BROKEN WINDOW LEADS TO BEAUTIFUL ART AT RENTAL SALES GALLERY
BY MARK TINDLE, RENTAL SALES GALLERY MANAGER
Earlier this year, a window at the Rental Sales Gallery (RSG) was broken in an act of vandalism. Determined to create something positive from this, we decided that the board covering the damage should be a blank canvas for a beautiful work of art.
The result was Vesica Pisces Portal, painted by local artist and muralist Joseph The Human, one of our newest Member Artists. His striking landscapes and urban scenes are already a popular part of our inventory, drawing much praise and attention from our clientele. You can find examples of Joseph’s work at the RSG and his murals all across Portland.
From the moment that the mural was completed, it became a source of joy to those who saw it. Painted freehand with spray paint, this striking work creates a rich sense of stepping through a portal into a new world. A truly moving thought for entering a gallery space filled with stunning regional art. And it ensures that the work lives up to its name! We’re also delighted to say that one of the Gallery’s clients has just purchased the mural. On a visit here, they were so moved by the piece itself and the story of creating beauty in response to vandalism, that they made an offer for it which Joseph was delighted to accept. The Gallery’s portion of the commission will be dedicated to the Museum’s Curatorial team, to support their continuing program of work focused on showcasing the numerous diverse voices in our local art scenes. RSG is proudly part of this mission. Rental Sales Gallery is part of Portland Art Museum, showcasing over 200 regional artists. All of the works are available for rental or purchase. Contact the Gallery at rentalsales@ pam.org for more information.
