Join us for an entertaining night with Eric and Ashia from Vagabond Opera! Vagabond Opera is a Bohemian Cabaret described by the Washington Post as “A band of ceaseless charisma, boundless energy, impeccable musicianship and more than a little touch of both naughty and exotic.”  Grab some friends and come enjoy this truly unique show!

South Waterfront Performing Arts Series: Eric Stern and Ashia Grzesik from Vagabond Opera

Wednesday, September 29, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
John Ross Plaza Studio
3626 SW Bond Ave., Portland, OR  Map It

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Posted below are a few photo stills from Wednesday’s shoot.

Come see our Graduate Students work!

Disjecta
Noon – 5 p.m. Friday – Sunday through May 31
8371 N Interstate Avenue.

Our first speaker will be presenting his work this week. Upcoming speakers are Jenene Nagy on May 12 and Mack McFarland on May 19.

Wednesday May 5/2010
6:30 pm
Cris Moss
Artist + Curator

Bio:
Cris Moss is a curator and multimedia artist based in Portland, Oregon
Noted for his ongoing series (9+) of itinerant donut shop shows. He is now Adjunct Professor of Design, Electronic Media, and Gallery Director at Linfield College . He is also part of the Red Shoe Delivery Service collective. Most recently Moss curated the Portland 2010 Biennial staged at various venues throughout Portland, Oregon during March-May 2010.

Moss’s work explores the various layers of identity as mediated through culture by employing narratives both scripted and non-scripted. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including The Melbourne International Arts Festival, Australia, Nottdance, UK, Display Gallery in Prague, Maccarone Inc. in NYC, Swiss Institute – Contemporary Art, NYC, Elizabeth Leach Gallery Portland, Oregon, Whatcom Art Museum, Bellingham, WA, and Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT.

During the month of May University of Oregon  BFA students will be using the studio to work on various projects for their thesis exhibition which takes place during the month of June at the White Box Gallery located at 24 NW First Avenue.

Matt Nixon is in the process of creating an installation using the studio windows – the piece will be visible by peering through holes or pockets in the windows which will be collaged with images from 1930s/& 40’s newspaper clippings

Chris Oshiro will be building a set in the space to document dog owners with their pets and will be using green screen to document works in progress for his BFA exhibition

Liz Bayan will be workshopping various installation configurations using multiple broadcast monitors in preparation for her BFA exhibition.

Art professor Kartz Ucci is taking up residence in Portland for the spring term . . . and so is her artwork. As part of the new Portland 2010 biennial, Ucci’s video installation at the Alpern Gallery in northwest Portland will be on view from April 2 to 24. A reception for the artist happens Friday, April 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. The gallery is located at 2552 N.W. Vaughn St. in Portland. Hours are Fridays, noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Across town, Ucci will serve as artist-in-residence at the John Ross Condominiums at South Waterfront throughout the spring term. She is also teaching two digital arts classes at the UO’s White Stag Block.

Portland 2010, a successor to the former Oregon Biennial, brings together 18 artists spread out among 6 different spaces between March and May. The event is organized by non-profit Disjecta and curated by Cris Moss, gallery director at Linfield College.

Ucci’s installation, “I Want to Be a Lighthouse Keeper,” is a close focused, high-resolution video recording of a 5 mm thick rod of blue neon that has been sped up to reveal the fluctuating luminosity of the neon gas. An amplified recording of the electrical hum of the neon transformer sweeps across the room from a 360 degree soundbar. Ucci describes the work as a distilled, constructed view of a horizon line, filled with potential yet empty. Its motion is that of particles of light and their magnetic oscillation at the frequency of the alternating electrical current, she said.

Originally conceived in 2008, she was unable to show the actual neon she’d had manufactured because a gallery’s space in Delaware was interrupted by columns. “Because I was unable to show the work as intended, I decided to shoot the neon as a video, and I liked how the camera was able to capture the fluctuations in light. It was a happy accident.”

Though some of the Portland 2010 exhibits are group shows, the curator selected an individual exhibition space for Ucci’s video and sound installation due to its minimal quality.

Ucci will also contribute to an event-capping group show of Portland 2010 artists at the UO’s White Box in the White Stag Building from April 6 to 17. Ucci said she plans to include a second piece that exploits the visual properties of custom neon. The White Box, 24 NW First Ave., is open Tuesdays to Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

I want to thank all who attended my presentation Wednesday evening. I had a great time and hope to see you in the future. My open studio hours are Thursdays from 4 to 6, but feel free to email me at chickman@uoregon.edu if that time doesn’t work for you.

Also, remember my print give away. I am putting three of my pictures in the windows of the AiR studio each week and the first three people who contact me, either by email or in person, can have a picture. You will need to come by the studio to see the pictures. That way you can identify which one you want. The first person gets their first choice, the second person their choice from the remaining two, etc. If you get one of the pictures, you will need to pick it up from me in person when the next set of pictures goes up the following week. Normally new pictures go up Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

Hummingbird from 12th floor of John Ross from Colin Ives on Vimeo.

Participatory Art Event
South Waterfront Artist in Residence, Colin Ives

December 1st, 2nd, 8th, 10th
7:30 PM at the John Ross Artist in Residence Studio
To reserve a spot email: ives@uoregon.edu

You are invited to an interactive event where you get to walk a virtual salmon along the banks of the Willamette River and amongst the buildings of the South Waterfront. See a video of a trial run.

Friday 12.04.09
6 to 8 PM at the John Ross Artist in Residence Studio

Show of the final work produced from the Machine in the Garden studio at the University of Oregon in Portland. During the Fall term and interdisciplinary group of student and faculty explored the many ways our culture is attempting to find a new balance in our relationship with nature. Portland’s South Waterfront has been the muse and base of activity for the studio, who are attempting to find their own place of understanding, engagement and intervention.

An invitation from Paul Graham:
I’m Paul Graham.  I made it rich several years ago selling a company to Yahoo!  I now spend my days thinking about problems, and publishing solutions to those problems.  I have been on stage many times but I have never been portrayed by an actor on stage.  At first, I had reservations, but I was pleased to find that an attractive, strapping man has been cast for my role.  So come on November 11th to hear him, oh..ah me, give a lecture on constructive disagreement requiring the evacuation of the theatre and cake for all.

Stay for the Cake is an all-original work written, directed, designed and performed by The Montgomery Street Players, Portland Actors Conservatory’s new alumni performance group. Each of the three slices skewer the creative process with sardonic hilarity and cake for all! PAC will present one slice of the Cake at South Waterfront: “I Am Paul Graham.” We’ve heard it’s delicious!

Portland Actors Conservatory has been providing quality stage productions to the greater Portland community for 24 years. The Conservatory gives student actors the opportunity to put acting theory into practice in weekly performance labs, public showcases and the Conservatory Season of Plays.

Shows run Friday through Sunday October 30 through November 15. Click here for tickets.

Portland Actors Conservatory
Wednesday, November 11, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The Ardea Side Car
SW Corner of SW Gaines St. & SW River Pkwy.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
RSVP appreciated, but not required.
To RSVP, please email: communityrelations@southwaterfront.com or call 503-972-3289

An invitation from Paul Graham:
I’m Paul Graham.  I made it rich several years ago selling a company to Yahoo!  I now spend my days thinking about problems, and publishing solutions to those problems.  I have been on stage many times but I have never been portrayed by an actor on stage.  At first, I had reservations, but I was pleased to find that an attractive, strapping man has been cast for my role.  So come on November 11th to hear him, oh..ah me, give a lecture on constructive disagreement requiring the evacuation of the theatre and cake for all.

Stay for the Cake is an all-original work written, directed, designed and performed by The Montgomery Street Players, Portland Actors Conservatory’s new alumni performance group. Each of the three slices skewer the creative process with sardonic hilarity and cake for all! PAC will present one slice of the Cake at South Waterfront: “I Am Paul Graham.” We’ve heard it’s delicious!

Portland Actors Conservatory has been providing quality stage productions to the greater Portland community for 24 years. The Conservatory gives student actors the opportunity to put acting theory into practice in weekly performance labs, public showcases and the Conservatory Season of Plays.

Shows run Friday through Sunday October 30 through November 15. Click here for tickets.

Portland Actors Conservatory
Wednesday, November 11, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
The Ardea Side Car
SW Corner of SW Gaines St. & SW River Pkwy.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
RSVP appreciated, but not required.
To RSVP, please email: communityrelations@southwaterfront.com or call 503-972-3289

For the lecture Ornamental Plant Breeding for the 21st Century, Gessert will discuss past and current uses of biotechnology to create new kinds of ornamental plants. Oregon is playing an important role in these efforts because of the red iris project, initiated by Cooleys Irises in Silverton. Engineered ornamentals such as the red iris raise many questions, but he will focus on just one: what aesthetic criteria or assumptions are shaping the new plants? Answers to this question suggest that the time is long overdue for ornamental plant breeding to beconsidered an art.

Here is a link to more information: poster

Also please feel welcome to drop in and talk to some of the students in our Machine in the Garden class who are coming down to my artist in residence studio here in the John Ross every friday afternoon.

cheers,

Colin

For more info see poster link.

cheers, colin

E V E N T:
Artist in Residence Kick-Off Event

Tuesday October 6,  6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Location:  Artist in Residence Studio [3623 SW River Parkway]
MAP IT.

Come meet YOUR Artist in Residence for the Fall, Colin Ives, Professor of  Digital Arts at the University of Oregon.  Colin’s residency in South Waterfront will be particularly relevant to  nature lovers;  his work blends art with ecology and activism.

During his residency Colin hopes to track urban wildlife sightings and stories that have taken place in South Waterfront.  Bring your animal stories to the  kick-off event, we’ll record them and see where they take us……

RSVP is appreciated, but feel free to stop by
RSVP to communityrelations@southwaterfront.com

All AiR Events are Free and Open to the Public

This Friday my Machine in the Garden class were given a great tour of the SWF by Nicole Peterson. She spoke from the stand point of the ecological design that went into the planning process and from the prospective of a resident of SWF who cares deeply about the issues. It was a perfect introduction for students who will be using swf as a muse and an off campus site this term.

Here in the South Waterfront we will acknowledge the anniversary at Monday’s 20/20 Art Culture and Science meeting, where we celebrate SWF’s culture the first Monday of every month. We are featuring passionate and talented metal sculptor Mike Suri.
Monday, October 5
6:30 – 8 PM on the corner of SW Gaines and River Parkway

As an epi-center of emerging culture, I encourage SWF residents to learn more about the Oregon Cultural Trust and the opportunity to personally simulate Oregon’s investment in Culture, Humanities and Heritage…. We’re talking libraries, historic preservation, theatre, vibrant mainstreets, OPB, cultural centers, native Oregonian tribal culture, gardens, dance, operas, museums and more… Culture, not just for culture’s sake, but because it creates vibrant communities by strengthening the economy, improving education, and bettering our quality of life.

Ways to participate in The Oregon Day of Culture :

1. Attend the 20/20 ACS event or another dedicated event : Go to www.oregondayofculture.org hundreds of public and private events, statewide.

2. Plan an activity yourself that celebrates culture and brings awareness to the Oregon Cultural Trust as a vehicle for ‘voting’ for culture, humanities and heritage by giving Oregonians who donate a tax CREDIT.

3. Go to www.culturaltrust.org to learn more & donate. (There is no other integrated cultural funding mechanism that brings together the arts, historic preservation and heritage and the humanities).

4. Get an cultural trust license plate : http://www.culturaltrust.org/donate/license_plate.php

The Oregon Cultural Trust awarded $1.45 Million in fiscal year 2010. Fueled by Oregonians who ‘voted with their dollar’ by contributing to the OCT and receiving a tax CREDIT, the funds are leveraged by recipients to produce some incredible results.

I hope to see you all at the Meeting Monday!!!

*Heidi
(Comments welcome)

Join The Ardea tonight for wine, hors d’oeuvres and conversation, before heading off on the streetcar to view downtown and Pearl District galleries. The Ardea is beginning a series of First Thursday events, unfolding throughout the rest of the year that will include wine tastings, exhibitions, speakers, and gallery guides.

While touring downtown galleries stop by the Pacific Northwest College of Art’s new Hybrid Gallery, a roving project space for multi-media and contemporary animated arts, located at the corner of 12th and Washington in the West End.  The Hybrid Gallery will have complimentary drinks, eats and live music.

Location: The Ardea (3720 SW Bond Ave) | 5pm | Open to the Public

Portland RiverFest returns to South Waterfront this year on Saturday, August 22. This free, family-friendly festival celebrates life on the river with live music, food and drink, attractions and fun activities. Last year’s RiverFest was a huge success, and this year is shaping up to be even better. Festivities take place throughout the day beginning at 11 a.m. on the expansive South Waterfront greenway. Mayor Sam Adams and other city officials will be present to kick off the celebration. Look for a complete schedule of events coming soon. Festival highlights include:

*   PDX Jazz at RiverFest Mary Kadderly, Darrell Grant & On TheTerritory, Stephanie Schneiderman, and Tom Grant with Shelly Rudolph
*   Food & drink vendors
*   Open marketplace with over 50 booths, including Handmade NW
*   River education center
*   PURE river blessing ceremony
*   Urban Willamette photo essay
*   Art exhibition by Portland sculptor Mike Suri presented by Heidi McBride Gallery.
*   Columbia River InterTribal Fish Commission lodges
*   Kid Fun Zone
*   Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde big canoes & drummers
*   Dog activities, including games & prizes

Join your fellow river lovers in restoring, appreciating, and recreating on the Willamette. The festival at South Waterfront is part of a four-day celebration along the Willamette that runs from Thursday, August 20 through Sunday, August 23. Other RiverFest events include the Freshwater Trust Portland Triathlon, bridge tours, Portland Spirit/KINK Cruise, kayak tours, walking tours, SOLV riverbank cleanups, Portland Audubon events, and more. For a complete four-day schedule of RiverFest activities, visit www.portlandriverfest.org.

Saturday, August 22, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

.

…….my itinerary is not in stone yet but I will travel to Brussels for a solo exhibition which opens May 28th.  I will be building a large styrofoam robot on site, and as usual, about half of the entire exhibition will be site specific.  There are several pieces being fabricated and its always a challenge to work in such a way overseas.  I work closely with this particular gallery, Think.21, who understands me and my work intimately enough to negotiate complex production methods – even when I am not there.  I develop drawings and plans, research production methods, and then they source the best fabricator.  “The guy doesn’t even make his own work?” true, in some cases, I seek a level of high production so technically specific it only makes sense to use professional technical crafts people.  I am sure we can find plenty of masters throughout history whom have had their work constructed by teams of assistants, but it does sound odd to some who still only understand art making as a craft exercise.  I am a maker and always will be, but in my practice I continue to believe I can and should use every media, method and technical advantage I can access.

The SWF show is coming right along, and I even have a title.  FLOTSAM.  The random floating debris encountered in the open ocean is referred to as flotsam, not to be confused with jetsom  which is the jettisoned articles a vessel will throw over board prior to running a ground or capsizing.  I imagine our visual culture to be a sea.  A sea filled with Flotsam so thick and dangerous that navigating through it is treacherous.  Imagine the things we see are bumped into, sometimes even attaching themseleves to us, clinging to our consciousness.  The work in this show is synthesized visual flotsam.

All South Waterfront residents are welcome for wine, conversation, the sharing of recent artful experiences and, of course, poetry and insights by writer Don Dagg.

6:30 – 8 pm
Atwater Amenities room
Heidi@heidimcbridegallery.com for more information

file:///Users/Home/Documents/SWF%20Blog/dondaggpoem_SWF-ACS.pdf

Join Artist in Residence Michael Salter and his students completing their BFA degree in Digital Arts from the University of Oregon Art Department as they present brief descriptions of their research. Considered to be the generators of our future visual culture, these artists and designers will present their motivations, insights and year-long BFA project thesis. Pizza, pop and junk food will be served.

Featured students on Thursday, April 30:
Zach Rose
Andrew Parnell
Daniel Strong
Mac Schubert
Dustin Dybevik
Peter Baston
Travis Bachmeier

UO/SWF Artist in Residence Student Presentations
Thursday, April 30, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
AND
Thursday, May 28, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
John Ross Plaza Studio
3623 SW River Pkwy., Portland, OR  97239 map it

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
RSVP appreciated, but feel free to stop by
RSVP: communityrelations@southwaterfront.com or 503.222.778

Come to the South Waterfront tonight for 2 big art events.  The first at 5 PM is the unveiling of a rendition of the sculpture that will grace the greenway one the project is completed.  For more information, Click Here.

Then, after the sculpture viewing on the Greenway head over to the John Ross Plaza Studio for the Launch Event of the new Artist in Residence Program.

Our Artist in Residence is Michael Salter – world renown for his Styrobots.  His program begins at 6 PM – with a brief artists lecture at 6:30 PM. For more information, please Click Here. If you come to this event – please bring at least 1 piece of styrofoam to contribute to Michael’s sculpture.

Last week I took a few photos under the overpass.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:

The Artist in Residence Program is a partnership  between the University of Oregon and South Waterfront Community Relations in cooperation with the resident headed South Waterfront 20/20 Art, Culture & Science Committee.  Each term a new artist will live and create in the SWF neighborhood while teaching at the UO Design School in the White Stag Building. South Waterfront will host four different artists through 2009 – 2010.

MESSAGE FROM THE ARTIST:

“I wish to greet, thank and simply say how excited I am to be in the neighborhood as the new Artist in Residence for South Waterfront. By way of a collaboration between South Waterfront Community Relations, the University of Oregon, and myself, I will be occupying studio space and conducting my practice right here in the neighborhood. As an artist and associate professor of digital art I usually call the UO Eugene campus home, but as a portion of our art program now resides in the old White Stag building by the Burnside Bridge I get to spend the spring term in your fair city. As is my habit, when I am not teaching, I will be in the studio. Let me extend a generous and open invitation to any and all who can stop by during my open studio hours, or attend any of the events scheduled with me.

*My first request may sound odd, but your help is needed.

I have been making sculpture out of styrofoam for years. The kind of styrofoam you find when you unpack a computer or TV, appliances and sometimes furniture. Usually they are odd shapes or forms, they are white, and I love them.

*If anyone and everyone who reads this can drop off any pieces of styrofoam they have to either the John Ross concierge or the  John Ross Plaza Studio, I’d be enormously appreciative. I can’t use foam peanuts, bubble wrap or other packing stuff, just those typical styrofoam pieces. My intention is to build a site specific installation in the John Ross Plaza Studio, opening sometime in June.”

So keep checking this space to find out more about the Artist in Residence program and stay tuned for the upcoming events.  For more info, please click here.

Following a program cycle curated and produced by South Waterfront Artist in Residence Linda K. Johnson, the program featured daily, weekly and major scale projects by Johnson, as well as by 13 guest artists. Johnson maintained a Storefront Studio on the ground floor of the John Ross Tower that was the hub of activity.

To review the work that was produced by Linda K. Johnson and her fellow guest artists please read through the blog posts below.

The SWF 20/20 Arts, Culture, and Science Committee will be hosting singing sensation Valerie Day on Monday April 6 during their normal monthly committee meeting.  This event is open to South Waterfront residents only – for more information, please click here.  Also – if you are interested in watching a video of the Brain Chemistry for Lovers performance, then join the ACS Committee on Sunday April 5 for a viewing prior to Valerie’s visit. For information about the Sunday night viewing, please click here.

Learning, Arts and the Brain: The Latest Findings
A panel of neuroscience and art experts will discuss the latest findings moderated by John Frohnmayer, past chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
A special “creativity” reception will follow the lecture with major Portland and Oregon Arts groups. 

The tickets are $20.00 each, the lecture begins at 7 pm,

February 2, 2009 at the

Newmark Theatre,1111 SW Broadway

Tickets can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com, or the Newmark Theatre box office.  More information of the entire OHSU Brain Awareness Series is at www.oregonbrains.org.

For those wishing to go by streetcar, a group will be meeting at the OHSU CHH Plaza to catch the streetcar at 6:00 pm the night of the event.  Hope you can join us!

- Event Chair, Karen Reuther

The third interview is with Heidi McBride, an art consultant and owner of Heidi McBride Gallery who lives in Meriwether West.

(Zara Logue) Tell us about your background – where you grew up, where you‘ve lived…

(Heidi McBride) I‘m a Portland native. I went to high school here, then moved to San Francisco for college, taught for a year in Japan and traveled around Asia and wound up back in Portland. I lived in New Jersey briefly. I’ve been to Europe several times, Thailand, South Korea, Guam, China, Amsterdam. My college degree is in communications and business but I‘ve always been interested in art, design, and fashion. My parents are art hobbyists, my dad‘s an oil painter.

(ZL) How would you describe what it is you do for a living?

(HM) It‘s a blend of a traditional gallery and design consultancy. I look at the art-buying process as fluid and personal. I escort people on a path to buy art that moves them. I believe that owning original artwork and having it around you can shape the way you live – either in business or in a personal setting. I’m an art match-maker. I believe in presenting a unique and wide perspective but my number one priority is to help people discover what they‘re really connecting with. Sometimes that‘s a finished piece of art and sometimes they envision something and we end up commissioning a site-specific piece.

(ZL) Going back to what you just said about having artwork around you and how it affects you – you literally live among the pieces you represent – they‘re all over your home and in all of your rooms. How does the artwork affect you?

(HM) I‘m sensitive to energy. Being around the work is like being among stories. These are all original, authentic stories being told by each artist. I get to have experiences with each piece of art because I‘m constantly moving things around. I develop relationships with each of them over time. And I enjoy creating different moods in different rooms – a peaceful environment in the bedroom, more dynamic in the living spaces. For people new to my practice, it‘s a really rich environment. It takes them a moment to orient themselves when they come over. And I should say that it‘s a private gallery and the visitations are by appointment, it‘s not a public showroom.

(ZL) It seems like a really brave venture to go out on your own and create a practice that is meaningful to you without any existing business model. How did you get the guts/inspiration to do it?

(HM) Over the course of my lifetime, I‘ve developed a sense of where art, authenticity, and life connect. I was looking for a place where those values and my skills could come together and didn‘t see anything. I literally started having dreams about this thing that would connect my interests and passions. Then I started asking for it and things just starting coming. Even though it didn‘t seem like the right time. Financially, I wasn‘t in a place to start a business but my job was laying people off so I took the opportunity. I‘ve always been someone to follow my gut and I just went for it. It wasn‘t strategic, I wasn‘t saying to myself, “oh I want to start a business – what should it be?” it was more intuitive.

(ZL) How did you end up in the South Waterfront?

(HM) I had an idea of the layout of the space I wanted. I wanted something where I could have a holistic experience, both for myself and clients. The culinary arts where a part of that – I wanted to be able to host people for gatherings around food and art. I also wanted the business aspect to be integrated with my life, not a museum. I saw the listing for a place at the Meriwether and really just came down to see it so I could check it off my list. I didn‘t know a whole lot about the area. But when I saw the space the first time my heart started beating and I knew it was right. And everything going on the area was just right, things were emerging.

(ZL) Are most of the artists you represent local? How do you find each other?

(HM) I have art and artists from around the world but there‘s so much talent here that doesn‘t get enough attention. I‘m beginning to focus on Pacific Northwest artists, though. Lots of artists are doing well in other markets and don‘t have representation here in Portland. In terms of how I find artists, the talent seems to find me. I‘ve always attracted talented people to me, somehow. My role as a curator means selecting the strongest pieces of work and artistic voices to make as options for my clients.

(ZL) How do you keep up with what‘s going on in contemporary art and design?

(HM) I‘m lucky to have an amazing network of friends and colleagues that help keep me informed. I do my part, reading the paper and the magazines, visiting museums and other galleries and reading blogs. Although I have to admit, there is so much happening in the arts around the world, that it is nearly impossible to keep on top of it all.

(ZL) How can people get in touch with you to learn more?

(HM) I‘d encourage people to visit my website, http://heidimcbridegallery.com or send me an email at heidi@heidimcbridegallery.com.

I work with anyone with an interest in owning original artwork, from seasoned collectors to people just getting started. And the range of work that I have reflects that. I also do a lot of work for people in their homes and businesses. And site-specific installations and custom pieces as well. You can see an example of a site-specific glass piece at the South Waterfront location of Le Hana. My goal is to make outstanding & meaningful original art available to anyone who is interested in owning it.

Essentially an art-focused garage sale and swap, the event is a way for new, tenured and future residents of the South Waterfront to find new homes for pieces of artwork that no longer have meaning or don’t fit the aestetik of their condo. We originally designed the event because we realized many of us were downsizing and redecorating and that a lot of perfectly nice artwork was being displaced in the process. We thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if others from our neighborhood or from outside the community could adopt those pieces?

Re-use | Recycle… right?

Last year, each selling participant got a plot of land to turn into their own little showcase space. Some people had a few pieces to display, which they set on blankets on the ground, while others had many works to sell and used the cyclone fence along Pennayor as a gallery wall. Prices were all over the map and the ‘vendors’ each handled their own exchanges.

This year, we will offer a similar scenario. Those selling can set up their niche in the best way to suite their collection. They will staff their area and will find it fun to haggle and tell the stories behind their artwork to potential buyers (man, did we hear some stories last year). In addition to earning a bit of extra cash, those representing their own art will find it to be quite the social scene. (In other words, bring your yard chair, a cold beverage and make yourself at home.. it’s going to be a lot of fun!)

If you cant afford to spend your day talking oils and prints, we are setting up an art pool that enables the seller to include their pieces in the group section. Participating pool sellers will each take a shift during the 11-5pm open hours or helping break down the event.

This is also a charitable event (sort of).
Any unsold art that is not collected from the pool will be donated to a local non profit. Net profits raised from the fee of admission will be applied towards future Art, Culture and Science activities.

Those choosing to participate as sellers will get more information closer to the Saturday, 6 September Exchange date. (You must register to become a seller by 31 July. artculturescience@gmail.com for rsvps)

I look forward to tales from last year’s participants, questions or comments in response to this posting!

I hope you will want to be involved in the exchange.. by the way, even if you don’t have art to sell, we would love your help and/or support.. please spread the word to others in the community and invite your friends and colleagues from outside the waterfront to the sale!

-HM

• Saturday, July 19th
• South Waterfront Neighborhood Park, SW Moody@ Curry
• gathering begins an hour before sunset
• Free; picnics and all ages welcome
• Go green with the tram, streetcar, bicycle or a carpool
• Safe, secure and free bicycle parking available at SW Moody and Curry

One-of-a-kind and unrepeatable, Promenade is an episodic dance, sound and light performance event that involves more than 30 performers, bicycles and a rising moon. Coinciding with Bill Will’s July guest artist residency as part of the AiR Program, Promenade will emerge from Will’s installation - 20 x 20, on Saturday evening, July 19th. Almost two city blocks in scale, 20 x 20 is a site-specific installation using simple materials that calls attention to the land, its simple proportions and subtle topography, as well as emphasizes the movement of the sun and wind throughout the day and the changes evoked by the natural phenomena of sunset, dusk, and moonrise. Promenade invites the viewer to traverse the installation at one’s leisure – sitting, resting and engaging as desired. One night only, Promenade references the rural, the urban, the past and the future of this area of the city.

In July, the South Waterfront Artist in Residence Program (AiR) is excited to welcome Bill Will, a Portland-based visual artist and educator who is well-known for his public work, satirical sense of humor and installations that are often politically charged in nature. Beginning July 1, the artist will be on-site to create 20 x 20, a site-specific installation of simple materials in the 200 x 400 lawn that is the future home of the South Waterfront Neighborhood Park. With the installation, the arrangement of repeated elements will call attention to the site, its simple proportions and subtle topography. Will intends to emphasize the movement of the sun and wind throughout the day, and the changes that occur amidst the natural phenomena of sunset, dusk, and moon rise. The process of constructing the installation will entail ongoing experimentation as the piece grows and changes weekly in preparation for its formal opening as the set for PROMENADE, a large-scale public performance that the artist has been developing in ongoing collaboration with dance artist Linda K. Johnson since September 2007.

The completed installation will be on view July 19-29, 2008 at SW Moody & Curry.

Opening Event: Saturday, July 19
PROMENADE: Gathering begins an hour before sunset and ends at moon rise. A free public performance featuring the work of Bill Will, Linda K. Johnson, Bill Boese + Seth Nehil.

Closing Event: Tuesday, July 29
Collaboration in Context: Contemporary Art’s Potential in Creating Community

A Curious Conversation amongst Randy Gragg, Bill Will and Linda K. Johnson
7 – 8:30pm at the AiR Studio (3623 SW River Parkway)

The second interview is with Billie Buford, a painter who lives in The John Ross.

(Zara Logue) Give me a brief history of your background – where you were born, where you’ve lived, and how you ended up in the South Waterfront.

(Billie Buford) My husband and I were both born in the South but because of his job we‘ve lived all over the country. We lived in Singapore for three years before retiring in Portland seven years ago. We moved here to be closer to family. We had a house in the southwest hills before deciding to downsize. We also wanted to be a part of a more urban setting and be near public transportation.

(ZL) Can you describe your work? Are you a painter? A printmaker?

(BB) I do both. I make monotypes but I also mount prints on a painting surface and combine the two.

(ZL) Your work has a lot to do with color. All painters do, I suppose, but you seem to have a sensitivity for it-you‘re a colorist.

(BB) Yes, color is important but it is often intuitive. I‘ve been asked to do commissions with specific colors and I‘ve never accepted because it doesn‘t feel like something you can force. I‘ve also been told I‘m a designer. I do think I have a strong sense of composition, although I usually start out with a mess and keep honing it down to a more refined thing. I’ve always felt like a frustrated architect. I guess there are two ways you can work: make a mess and organize it or start out with a plan and mess it up!

(ZL) Your paintings definitely have a graphic quality. Do you feel there is a relationship between art and design?

(BB) Maybe people like me would have been good designers, graphic designers. Mainly, I‘m interested in simplicity. I‘ve simplified my life, my surroundings, and my work has simplified as well. I love abstract art. I once had someone at a show tell me, “I think your work is very cerebral.” I think art can be cerebral or emotional-I‘m definitely on the cerebral side.

(ZL) What or who are some of your influences? Are you influenced by living in the South Waterfront?

(BB) I‘m a bit of a clean slate when it comes to art because I don‘t have a background or degree in art or art history. My degree was actually in business administration. I‘ve always been attracted to minimalism and abstract art even before I knew much about it. Two of my favorite artists are Robert Rauschenberg and Richard Diebenkorn. One of my favorite quotes is from the artist Louise Bourgeois. She once said, “I don’t feel I have to explain or defend my art to anyone.” I think that‘s true, you have to do what comes out of you.

I‘m not necessarily influenced by living in the South Waterfront because my studio is elsewhere but you can‘t help picking things up from your surroundings.

(ZL) Where do you make your artwork? Would you be interested in artist studios here in the South Waterfront?

(BB) I have a studio over at ActivSpace (between the Pearl District and Nob Hill). I take the streetcar there, usually three times a week. I used to have a studio attached to the house before we lived here but I like having a separate space to work in. I go into another zone when I‘m working. I wouldn‘t mind having some workshops here in the neighborhood, though.

(ZL) What do you like most/least about living in the South Waterfront?

(BB) I really enjoy the people here and meeting new people. There’s a great sense of community because everyone is new to the neighborhood- it‘s very different than moving into an established neighborhood of homes. You do have a little less privacy than in a home (motioning toward the wall of windows in the living room) but it’s a trade-off for the views.

(ZL) How can people find out more about your work?

(BB) I‘m represented by Caplan Art Designs. It‘s an art consultancy run by Amy Caplan. I‘ll have a show at the Daily Café in the Pearl in December but until then people can see some of my work on her website http://www.caplanartdesigns.com/CAD_files/Buford.htm.

For those of you who didn’t make it down to Adam Kuby’s end-of-month exhibit in March, he has posted the fruits of his residency at his website.  You can click here to see them. The points and the issues they address were informed largely by the input of many, many participants over the month.  Thank you to those of you who participated. The project will continue to evolve, so please let Adam know of other places and other issues you think could be included.  Adam can be contacted at: adam@adamkuby.com.

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The first interview is with Jerry Inscoe, an artist, designer and competitive cyclist who lives in The John Ross.

(Zara Logue) Give me a brief history of your background – birthplace, upbringing, when you started making work, what you do for a living.

(Jerry Inscoe) I was born in Washington DC where I was raised till I was in my early twenties. As a kid I lived with my Mom and my Auntiemame (Grandmother) on Wisconsin Ave just across the street from the National Cathedral. My Auntiemame (named so because she was kind of eclectic like the character Roslyn Russell played in the movie Auntiemame) was very much into art and the social lifestyle of a city woman. She collected modern art and modern furniture and encouraged me to be artistic at a young age. Honestly, I don’t even recall having that many toys to play with as much as I did have colored pencils and sketchbooks. So I always drew as a kid to pass time. As time moved on my Mother and I moved around a lot, always in the DC / Virginia area but I always ended up in a different school district. Making new friends became a bit of a chore so as usual I kept my nose in my sketchbooks. Those early years were spent drawing Ace Frehley and Gene Simmons as much as possible. When Battlestar Galactica aired everything switched over to drawing vipers and cylons. And it went on like that for years. Just drawing what I saw.

I don’t think I really concentrated on making “work” till high school art classes. Most of what I did was modern or abstract…probably inspired by what I saw in my Auntimame’s house as a kid. In 1985 I started doing graffiti so I could have something to do since my Mom worked two jobs. With no parent at home during the night…I had full reign of the streets. In the early ’90s I moved to San Francisco and met up with some old school graffiti writers out there. A few of them were in to doing this really abstract and organic style of graffiti, and I found myself really attracted to the idea. I’ve been in that genre of the subculture ever since. In 2001 I had my first solo gallery show at The Compound which is located above Just Be Toys in Old Town Portland. I had made a few canvas pieces for group shows in previous years but I had never had to create a whole bunch of work for a solo show. The show was a huge success for me. I sold everything on the walls and was even commissioned by Mark Parker (of Nike) to create some artwork for his office. The success of that show led to many other shows and helped me realize just how lucky I really am as an artist.

I currently work full time for a major Northwest retailer as a Visual Merchandiser, which includes a lot more than just fussing with mannequins all day long. There’s not a whole lot of artistic ability needed to do my job but when I first started doing it sixteen years ago it was all different. The ‘display crew’ (as it was called back then) designed, built and installed all the window displays. Over time that creative outlet was taken away and now we’re basically a carbon copy of companies like Gap, Inc.

To compensate for the change I’ve tried to take up graphic design a little bit. I’ve learned that it’s a profession that isn’t as easy as it looks and totally takes a visually creative person of a different sort. I’m more of the kind of artist who is good at doing his own thing and not trying to think up something clever for someone else. I’m not sure what kind of artist that makes me. I’ve been lucky enough to do some stuff for companies like Burton, Nike and Nordstrom as well as a bunch of little things for friends and others. I enjoy working on the computer and teaching myself the programs but I don’t have the time to really buckle down and make a living from it.

(ZL) Do you consider yourself an artist or a designer? How do you connect to or deny those categories in your work? Do you think those kinds of categorizations even matter?

(JI) I would consider myself an artist before I would consider myself a designer. However, I draw a lot of inspiration from graphic design, web design, industrial design and architecture. I’ve found that I really connect with clean and simple images, very color-blocked images. There’s just something about design that I find very inspiring.

Categorizing art is a way for people who aren’t artists to put artists in their place. I think an artist is an artist, no matter what genre they fall in to. I’ve recently become really interested in typeface design…mostly cursive script. A new font called Burgues was just released and it’s amazingly beautiful. The time and energy that must have went into the design of that font has to be immense. I designed a font myself of just my regular handwriting and the work that went into it took a while…and it’s as simple as it gets. I can’t imagine doing something complicated.

(ZL) Graffiti seems to be where you got your start in terms of making your work public. Do you still consider yourself a graffiti writer? What role do you think graffiti plays in culture now that it’s been mainstreamed?

(JI) I still identify as a graffiti writer but I no longer partake in the actions that would label me as one. When you spend 22 years of your life connected to a subculture – even when you leave that subculture behind – you’re still going to be involved somehow. For me, it’s to be aware of my environment around me. The writing on the wall, the stencils and wheat pastes. And within the last ten years the mainstream has latched itself on to graffiti writing as a way to connect with folks. Even when an ad has a subtle hint of graffiti, it stands out to me. I haven’t yet decided if it’s a good thing or a bad thing for the subculture of street artists but I do know it’s opened doors for (graffiti) writers to become graphic designers and web designers. This has helped lead the way to amazing publications of books and magazines related to street art and of street art/graffiti. These books aren’t just images on a page bound together, the books themselves are pieces of art.

(ZL) How did you end up in the South Waterfront?

(JI) I’ve always lived in a city environment since I was a kid. I’ve learned to be very comfortable that way. My wife Rachel and I saved up to buy our first home by moving out the suburbs to save on rent. When we had enough for a down payment on a home we realized we couldn’t afford a modern home like we wanted or something close in to the downtown Portland area so we bought where we could. We got lucky and bought in an upcoming area and the value of our home rose over a five year period. When we saw what was happening in the South Waterfront we really liked the idea of a modern development that we could be a part of from the ground up. The more information we got on the buildings planned for the area the more we wanted to be a part of it. We looked into the Meriwether buildings but all in our price range were sold out. So we put our name in for any info on new buildings being developed. We got some mail about the John Ross building and the opening day sales and we were one of the first in line to buy. It’s great to see the area grow slowly and to be a part of that.

(ZL) What’s the best/worst thing about living here? Has the neighborhood influenced your work in any way?

(JI) For me the best thing about living here is its location. I feel like I live downtown without the hassles of living downtown – the traffic and the noise. I have easy access to most points in the city by hopping on the streetcar and if I feel like a jog on Council Crest I can take the tram uphill! There are some things that bother me but they’re mostly personal. There’s not much the community can do about them – the community has no control over the kinds of vehicles people drive or the laziness behind some folks’ recycling habits. I just hope that living in a green community will start to rub off on people and the efforts of a few will pay off.

I haven’t created any work since moving here but I have played around on the computer with design using elements from the neighborhood. Nothing I’ve saved or anything…just playing with the tools that come with the software.

(ZL) How can people find out more about your work? Are you represented by a gallery, have any upcoming shows, a website?

(JI) Currently I have no representation or website. About a year ago I decided to take a break from creating work due to a stagnant rut I was in. I hope to get back to creating pieces again soon as art is one of my biggest passions. I constantly doodle and sketch ideas so thankfully I have a stash of ideas tucked away so when it comes time to work…I’ll have a good head start.

ART, CULTURE & SCIENCE
COMMITTEE

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Entry by Marla Doll, Umpqa Bank and committee member

It’s spring and summer, however, when the pedestrian-scale street really comes to life. During those months the sing-songy noises of bikers, runners and random passers-by, conversations between neighbors, dogs playing, the annual art exchange and the occasional live band playing below at Bella Espresso fills the air. The festive energy spills into my space through an open balcony door and I can imagine I’m in any city in the world.

Turning my attention to the view and the architecture, however, there is no question I am in a unique setting.

This spring we will all enjoy a newly remodeled Pennoyer Street and surrounding area, thanks to the green vision of developers Homer Williams, Gerding Edlen and Thomas Hacker Architects, Inc.

It’s been fascinating to see the landscaping take form between my building and the Atwater. Now that it’s all in place I wait, in eager anticipation, for the newly planted River Birch trees to show their leaves and the smaller plants to thrive and bloom over the next few months (if weather cooperates).

Interested in learning more, I contacted the exterior project architect with Thomas Hacker Architects, Inc. (www.thomashacker.com), Nick Hodges, for more insight into the creation and implementation of ‘my new front yard’…

The following interview (conducted by email) is an exchange between Nick and I.
Q. Landscape, both man-made and natural, is such a strong element in the newly forming South Waterfront area. What kind s of questions did you ask w hen defining how the design will integrate with the rest of the community?
A. Every side of the site for Atwater Place has conditions that make it unique. River Parkway and Gaines have a reasonably close relationship in that both are more traditional street sections with sidewalks, street trees, curbs and two-way traffic. With that in mind we worked to establish a traditional pedestrian oriented street edge for the building. Pennoyer and the waterfront edges have a completely different set of conditions. Pennoyer as a “green street” is a pretty incredible asset for the district and we worked very hard to orient the building in such a way as to enhance what that notion. By pulling the tower portion of Atwater Place to the south, we allowed the plaza to spill out and open up onto Pennoyer. The east side facing the river is a wonderful space that will only be improved upon once the park area gets developed. In the meantime we oriented a significant portion of native landscaping and bioswales that soften the edge of the building as it meets this future park.

Q. Is this a particularly difficult or elaborate design compared to your other projects. A. This is a relatively new project type for Thomas Hacker Architects and creating some fun and challenging design problems. Personally, I was most excited with understanding the scale of the buildings and how the exterior materials went together. In particular, the unitized curtain wall system provided by Benson Industries was probably the most exciting aspect of the project for me.

Q. What is your favorite element of this particular design? Least favorite? (either from a design or development perspective). A. I am sure in time there will be things I might have done differently.

Q. Is there anything interesting going on that we, as residents, can not see? Something behind the scenes or under the cement that would be of interest? A. As you know and most residents would know, all parking is located underground, including the plaza area along Pennoyer. All the landscaping of the plaza along Pennoyer is located above parking.

Q. How much on-going maintenance will occur in order to keep everything running smooth and green? A. This building is similar to the other buildings in South Waterfront. Upkeep is always important and ongoing.

Q. Are you happy with the final result? A. We are very happy with the results and hope the district feels the same way.
As always, your comments are welcome. -HM

I happen to be out of town at the moment, but a reporter at large (thanks Mike) described what he saw on his visit to the studio yesterday during the making of a traditional sand mandala. The artists were a group of seven monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery in India. (see photos)

He are his comments:

…the whole thing is pretty cool. They fill those hollow metal rods
with colored sand then run the other rod over the top, causing minute
volumes of sand to come out of the tip, painting as they go. You can
see the tupperware containers in the background, all full of
different colors of sand. Tonight (Tuesday) at 7 they finish it and clean it
up, passing out small bits of it to those in attendance. #

I find it very interesting and quite an honor that monks from India were inclined to visit our artist in residence studio to recreate a traditional meditation piece… and thought I would do a bit more research into just what it is they were doing. Here is what I found.

Mandalas
The Tibetan mandala is a tool for gaining wisdom and compassion and generally is depicted as a tightly balanced, geometric composition wherein deities reside. The principal deity is housed in the center. The mandala serves as a tool for guiding individuals along the path to enlightenment. Monks meditate upon the mandala, imagining it as a three-dimensional palace. The deities who reside in the palace embody philosophical views and serve as role models. The mandala’s purpose is to help transform ordinary minds into enlightened ones.

The Sand Mandala
Mandalas constructed from sand are unique to Tibetan Buddhism and are believed to effect purification and healing. Typically, a great teacher chooses the specific mandala to be created. Monks then begin construction of the sand mandala by consecrating the site with sacred chants and music. Next, they make a detailed drawing from memory. Over a number of days, they fill in the design with millions of grains of colored sand. At its completion, the mandala is consecrated. The monks then enact the impermanent nature of existence by sweeping up the colored grains and dispersing them in flowing water.

How Mandalas Heal
According to Buddhist scripture, sand mandalas transmit positive energies to the environment and to the people who view them. While constructing a mandala, Buddhist monks chant and meditate to invoke the divine energies of the deities residing within the mandala. The monks then ask for the deities’ healing blessings. A mandala’s healing power extends to the whole world even before it is swept up and dispersed into flowing water—a further expression of sharing the mandala’s blessings with all.

That’s all for now folks. As always.. comments welcome.
HM

• Music created and played by: Kate O’Brien-Clarke, Corrina Repp and Joe Haege; Lighting by Bill Boese

• Saturday, Dec. 22nd 4p; one performance only
• South Waterfront neighborhood
• Meet at the Bella Espresso Cafe, 3580 SW River Parkway
• Portland-based dance artist Tahni Holt has been creating The Party Project as part of her month-long residency in the South Waterfront district. Drawn from the cinematic experience of viewing movies on screen, the performance takes place inside three different buildings in the SWF neighborhood – a condominium, an unoccupied retail space and the Artist in Residence studio, and uses the situation of a party to explore the phenomena of watching and being watched.  The performance will be seen through the windows and balconies of these spaces. With hot chocolate or cider in hand, audience will stroll between these sites, watching the performance from the outside. The event will end as a large party/gathering in the AiR studio for the entire “cast” – inside performers and outside observers.  The work has been developed and rehearsed on site in collaboration with a 30-person cast of both experienced dancers and volunteer movers.As research for this event, Holt has spent many of her residency hours in the studio watching movies that contain classic party scenes – Lolita, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Party, 8 1/2, and the list goes on. The project additionally makes reference to the dilemma between the public/private that is so often evident in architecture that incorporates wide expanses of glass surface area that invite and/or allow observation.

I found comments and comparisons exchanged at Umpqua’s Home Tour after party quite intriguing and got to wondering if participant’s impressions were as diverse and personal as the residence’s themselves.

Here is the beginning of what I hope to become a rich compilation of thoughts, by us, about the homes that make up our community.

I invite you to send in answers to the following question:
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE HOME ON THE TOUR AND WHY? (If you were not able to attend the tour, feel free to comment on other SWF homes).

Here are some of the responses I’ve received, including my own.. I hope you will participate but sharing your thoughts via a comment to this blog or email.

* Rick Miller’s Castle in the Sky was my favorite experience on the tour.. not necessarily because the home is designed in my personal taste, but because I admire the owner’s ambition and passion to bring his vision for something extra-ordinary to life. I appreciate the meticulous attention to detail, orderly (walk-in) closet, rich fabrics and materials, and massive furnishings that even the largest adult could get lost in like a little kid. I loved that his place felt rich in stories and history, despite the buildings infancy.

I would like a weekend locked in there with a Jane Austen novel and good bottle of merlot! – Heidi McBride

* The hospitality shown by those who opened their homes to us was most impressive. The hosts were charming, welcoming, and gracious. Also impressive was the level of high art on display in each of the stylish residences. The tour provided an opportunity to view the different perspectives and views of the stunning, surrounding architecture and urban landscapes. My thanks go out to the resident hosts, Peggy Pusch, Umpqua Bank, and Neighborhood House for providing us with this wonderful opportunity. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
- Christopher Paillé, Atwater Place

*WEll John and Kathleen have my vote hands down. Lots of People? I liked last yrs better…
- anynomous

* (I neglected to clarify I was speaking of the Home Tour when I asked Carol name her favorite home and why, but loved her answer all the same).
The home that is the favorite for Rog and I is here at the Meriwether. Having a beautiful view of the Willamette River, Mt. Hood, the gorgeous sunrises, Ross Island and all of the creatures that fly and/or swim by is wonderful. Calms my soul! And, being an old Chicagoan, easy access to downtown Portland is ideal. Love that streetcar. I really like the closeness of our neighbors, too. For the most part, they are active, interesting and fun people. We have it all here. One more very important advantage that our SoWF neighborhood has is our easy access to OHSU’s Center for Health and Healing. Rog and I spend much of our mornings at the gym there. Keeps us feeling alive.

The home that was great as it was filled with our four kids was our home in Salem. It was very modern…all steel, glass, and cedar. It was located on a slight hillside among the trees. We had all sorts of little wildlife that frequented us since we were just a block from the Willamette River. We had a nice view of the State Capitol when the leaves dropped and opened up the sights of the downtown.
- Caryl

When two-time Peabody Award-winning Writer/Radio Producer Dmae Roberts (center in photo) began shaping her November Guest Artist project for the SWF - “Can I Tell You Something?”, I realized that I had not spent enough time considering how the stories I share and the secrets I reveal shape and inform all of my relationships – how they draw the like-minded close, how they repel those who do not relate, how they seduce those intrigued with the adventure or encounter or experience shared. It is something I took for granted, perhaps because my own creative work does not directly spring from the narrative – at least so far. Of course, one can argue that everything is essentially story, but I was just not tuned into soft vulnerablity and intimacy of it all – that stories are the highways, roads, lanes and back alleys that connect us to people.

I so appreciate that Dmae has chosen to manifest this particular project at the SWF as part of this program. It is profoundly relevant and timely in this place right now.

It was interesting talking with Tim, who’s spent the last 16+ years passionately creating and growing his business, along with an appreciation for Aboriginal artwork and culture. He is intimately involved in relations with the artists and often part of the trips into the Utopia region every two weeks to collect and catalog work and deliver art supplies. Conditions in the villages are primitive by our standards; and I understand it’s not unlikely a dog, child, wind-blown plant and certainly dirt contribute to the exposed canvas while artists paint on the hard, dry ground.

I am told most Aboriginals in this region don’t read or write, and spoken English is also rare. Passed pictorially and orally their culture and customs revolve around mythology and rituals. Their artwork is an extension of their traditions. Each work of art embodies the artist’s dream and cannot be replicated by any other community member. The gallerists have learned much of the symbolism and are diligent in collecting the story to go along with each piece so that may be passed on to the future collector.

Not unlike the Aboriginal artist’s work, this month’s Artist in Residence program’s guest artist, Dana Lynn Louis, also honors dreams and their contribution to community. As you likely read in Linda K’s blog section, many residents of the South Waterfront generously shared their dreams with Dana, who, in turn, visually interpreted many of them in the from of drawings.

While the artists backgrounds and surroundings could not be more different, I am intrigued by some of the similarities I see between Dana’s beautiful drawings and some of the Aboriginal pieces; like the wonderful balance of delicacy and venerability expressed with in voice of confidence and strength which both seem to share. While the Aboriginal painter’s, varied dot patterns, subtle transitions in color and detail that mysteriously form into unexpected shapes and movement when viewed from afar subtly remind me of Dana’s fine, dramatic lines that are also filled with energy and emotion. From a distance, her works on paper appear very fragile, but up close you feel their strength. Their presence is unmistakable.

I hope you were able to take part in both Dana Lynn Louis’ presentation of works last Saturday evening, as well as the ‘Art from the Dreamtime’ display the preceding Thursday and Friday.

We are fortunate to have this cross-pollination of culture and art down here on the South Waterfront. I welcome your comments.

-hm

Many SWF residents, workers and visitors have casually wandered into the currrent AiR temporary studio over the last several weeks to look at her evolving installation. Filled with drawings, suspended objects and treatments for the floor, the studio changes daily. Many residents have also let us know how enamored they have become with Dana’s two temporary nighttime light projections that extend the images from the studio into the neighborhood. These lit installations will be active until Thursday, Nov.1.

On Saturday, Oct. 27th, Dana will present the culmination of her one-month residency in the district – Nocturnal Notations: A Living Installation. The work has been conceived and built on site and references both the artist’s as well residents’ and visitors’ dreams offered throughout the month. A ‘Living Installation’ means that the objects in the installation will be purposely inhabited during the open studio in ways that forward and nuance their meaning.

During her residency, Dana has been exploring the question of how one dreams a community into being. The accumulated installation draws connections between Dana’s experience of communities in West Africa and the very fluid process of creating community that is evident daily in the SWF neighborhood. Issues in this work involve the fluctuations in privacy between the daytime and nighttime, publicly shared space and use, as well as the collaborative energy required to co-habitate. Visitors can look forward to live music on the baliphone and hot tea. The installation time is ongoing, 7-9:30p which means that one can just drop in or stay awhile. The temporary studio is SW Bond @Gaines across from the park. All events of the AiR program are free and open to the public.

AiR LKJ