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What’s up with the ARTS? |
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by Melissa Chavez Portland’s home to The Decemberists, The Shins, Pink Martini, The Dandy Warhols, Stephen Malkmus, Gus Van Sant, and the inspiration to Beverly Cleary, Chuck Palahniuk, and many others. We’re also home to the Time-based Art, MusicfestNW, Stumptown Comics, Bridgetown Comedy, Oregon Manifest, and Wordstock festivals. Despite the talent of musicians, poets, writers, and artists of all types, funding for the arts has been negligible. Currently in the region, arts organizations average just 2 percent of their budget through public funding, compared with 5 percent nationwide. A recent rash of area gallery closing — notably Quality Pictures and the Mark Woolley Gallery – emphasize that the current system of arts funding needs revision. Though individual vendors and artisan crafters at the weekly Portland Saturday (and Sunday) Market, Alberta’s Last Thursday, Pearl District’s First Thursday, and neighborhood street fairs are becoming more popular, their ability to reach a large audience is decidedly more limited.
Recently, organizations and venues have been doing more outreach for funding and attempting to target larger audiences. Building community In April, more than 300 people attended a Town Hall for the Arts. Mayor Sam Adams announced the creation of the Creative Advocacy Network (CAN), an organization whose purpose is to promote the arts in the tri-county region and solicit arts funding. The organization members’ goal is to raise between $15 million and $20 million for a dedicated regional annual fund to promote the arts. This may be done entirely through fundraising, but will likely include a ballot initiative or bond measure. In a time when arts programs in local schools are being slashed, galleries across the city are closing, people are cutting back on their purchases, and the unemployment rate is topping 11 percent, raising money for the arts is a tall order. CAN’s creation signals a drive on behalf of the Portland metro area to finally be on par with other cities this size in supporting creative arts. Despite these discrepancies, there is a strong arts presence in Portland. In a recent community poll — http://bit.ly/90ZKr — released by CAN, voters showed continuing support for the arts: More than two-thirds of those polled believe that arts are a necessity, not a luxury; and 74 percent believe that dedicated arts funding is necessary, up 4 percent from 2008. Seventy percent of respondents are willing to pay $1 more per month toward a dedicated funding mechanism — and 58 percent are willing to pay $3 more per month. This is a good sign, if the figures actually represent the greater population. The poll asked only 400 voters within the tri-county area. Over the next few months, Mayor Adams, Multnomah County Commissioner Ted Wheeler, and Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette will help determine the best use of funds, and how they will be allocated. Where local art is heading In June, 12 Social Practice and Master’s of Fine Arts students from PSU displayed their final projects in North Portland’s Disjecta space at 8371 N. Interstate. Their works ranged from paintings with so much detail they looked like photographs, to a series of eclectic Pepsi sculptures. A book entitled “Dave’s Killer Bread,” was showcased. The creator, Dave Dahl, designed and edited the book specifically for nationwide correctional facilities. A mixed media piece displayed found objects with a scaled-down map to their locations that people could walk on. A collaborative effort produced a home-brewed beer complete with labels, coasters, and mugs. Another student constructed a padded and hanging “blurred concentration” chamber that played with the notions of public versus private spaces. A peddler of back scratchers in SE Portland evoked the makings of a Back Scratcher Museum: a growing collection of back scratchers, real and imagined, as they may have existed throughout history. The scope and variety of these creative projects are just a microcosm of the talents that exist in the area. These pieces of work dared people to think beyond what might traditionally be expected, delving into sustainability:, the environmental and social implications of the pieces. A few days later, Zak Smith, an artist educated at all the right schools — including attended Cooper Union and receiving an MFA from Yale University — displayed his latest work at Disjecta. Best known for his portraits of female subjects — with an emphasis on eroticism and a relatively eccentric portrayal of the more mundane aspects of his subjects’ daily lives — Smith has also become known for his work in the pornography industry. Though he’s won critical acclaim for his page-by-page illustrations for Gravity’s Rainbow, Smith chooses to provoke through his work, exposing raw emotions and vulnerability. These diverse exhibitions target different audiences. But because they appeal to a wide cross-section of art lovers, it was possible and even fortunate that they were showcased in the same space. Smaller galleries are reaching out to more of the community and broadening their offerings to embrace a more diverse clientele. Disjecta is known as a more modern gallery that tends to feature more interactive pieces, a far cry from the Pearl District’s often stuffy displays of traditional paintings and sculpture. This venue and other creative spaces — including Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, 100th Monkey Studio, Miracle Theatre, Curious Comedy, the Artistery, and the IPRC — are incubators for change. These artistic spaces may be the last best places to discover how we can become reconnected with the arts. With outreach efforts and funding drives in full effect, it’s the community that next needs to step up. Go there. Get inspired. Donate a few dollars. Then ask your work company, your friends, your family, and colleagues to donate to support the arts. Organizations like CAN have encouraged the formation of a core group of volunteers and concerned citizens dedicated to inspiring more tangible and enthusiastic support for art and artists in Portland. It is these cutting-edge artists and writers who inspire us to create bridges to a more progressive future. Melissa Chavez is editor of The Portland Alliance.
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