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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2001)
ART ...... ▼....... When an ordinary Realtor simply won't do ... 1 .4 l www.dimbatree.com 933 SE 31st Ave. Portland, OR 97214 office: 503-238-7617 20 m REALTOR EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY Danceìle XV Pnoducnons pnesems The 20rh Annual (a Ríanme ^agniJUju (International (pageant re a t c u rs A pageant to crown the most glamorous female impersonator IN THE WORLD Sunday, Sep** 2, 2001 (pageant 8pm • $25 Tickets*. ( 503 ) 222 -5338 Qrand CJJaffroom 2 0 s™ Double Tree Inn-Jantzen Beach 909 N. Hayden Island Dr.« Portland, OR 97209 risty Edmunds wants to push your but streams itself.” PICA seeks artists who “are push tons. Attend something she’s curated or ing against the traditional canons of what art organized, and she probably will. practice is” and offers an avenue for those whose In 1990 Edmunds moved to the Rose work is “beyond the means of commercial gal City and landed the position of performance art leries, usually because it’s not about selling curator at Portland Art Museum. She was objects, it’s about expressing ideas." employed simultaneously at the Northwest Film Calling PICA “curator driven,” Edmunds her Center and after a few years began to see a void. self does about 200 studio visits a year locally, The National Endowment for the Arts had nationally and internationally. That’s a lot of trav been deflated since the right-wing attacks of el, but she finds it imperative for the organization. the early ’90s, and the Portland nonprofits that “That’s our job.. .to go out, look at what’s provided access to contemporary art were gone. going on, talk with other curators, talk with Edmunds saw a need for a local organization many, many artists, figure out where these pockets that would connect regional artists and audi of influence to new ideas are happening. Then ences with national and international art con you develop the projects around a sensibility.” cepts and movements. One recent project left the exhibition hall So she left her jobs in 1995 and founded the and went straight to the street. Artists Nan Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Since Curtis and Martin Houston created the 12th then, PICA has become a national leader in pro Avenue Project as part of PICA’s Counter C an moting and helping produce vas series. Many Southeast provocative artistic work. Portlanders will remember “The city is urbanizing,” this street sign installation Edmunds tells me in the airy that last year ran along space that serves as the Re Southeast 12th Avenue source Room, “and we deserve between Division and Bum- to he able to have a nonprofit side streets. art center that is going to con The 52 signs, followed nect us to other aesthetic continuously, told a story ideas in other cities so that we about a girl on a journey. This don’t have to just read about was a collaboration with the them ...through the filter of Regional Arts and Culture somebody else’s words. Direct Council, and Edmunds says exposure to this kind of art is they will continue to work by L isa B radshaw really critical.” together to create more tem “This kind of art” includes porary work in public spaces. nearly anything that pushes And then there’s the boundaries or introduces challenging ideas. Dada Ball. “Yeah, whew!” Edmunds responds, PICA plays host to ongoing visual exhibitions starting to laugh. Although its actual purpose is in its Pearl District location and sponsors to raise money for PICA, “It now has a life all unlimited types of performance art in various unto itself.” venues: dance, film, music, spoken word, the This camivalesque Portland tradition has ater. Often different media intersect in the become synonymous with cutting-edge cos exhibition hall or on stage, offering a fresh tume and decor, spectacle and, yes, debauchery. approach to the expression of ideas. “They’re given permission,” Edmunds muses, PICA also offers an artist residency program. “to create, innovate, have some irreverence, “Essentially, we buy artists’ creative time to make have some radicalism and have a great time.” new work in an uninhibited environment,” It clearly is working— last year’s hall attract Edmunds explains. They find the residents an ed 3,500 revelers. O f course, that included appropriate space in which to work and connect more than a few drag queens. “The queer com them with other artists and community resources. munity has been tremendously supportive of Being an interdisciplinary artist herself, PICA,” Edmunds smiles. Edmunds realizes not only have individual grants The 35-year-old Washington native moved decreased significantly, hut “the work of artists in around constantly as a kid. She was bom an this country is becoming more and more margin artist, she admits, “constantly having an urge alized and more and more economically starved to make something out of nothing— peach pits, unless it feeds a decorative purpose or main whatever— I’d make sculptures.” APt (OP art's sake PICA’S leader is on a mission to open your eyes to new ideas WINNER! TONY AWARD BEST 'o f BROADWAY ¡y £ j September 4 -9 Keller Auditorium SW 3rd & Clay Call (503) 241-1802 M-F 9a 5p or (503) 790-ARTS Tickets available at all ticttetrrtn*tor locations including Portland Opera ^ Delta K1U3 G ro u p s (20 or more): (503) 241-1407 • w w w portlandopera org • w w w broadw ayseries com PHOTO BY ■
