aprii 16.2004
PHOTO BY MABTY DAVIS
Continued from Page 2 7
to the show so that the exhibit has a unifying
theme or style.
The kids are given 90 percent of the sale
price of their work, while the professional
artists get 50 percent of their slightly higher
tags. The rest goes to keeping the program
going. Other financial support comes from
individual donations, corporations, founda
tions, small businesses and fund-raisers. (See
sidebar.) Many are monetary contributions, but
p:ear also receives in-kind donations.
“We are able to function on a pretty small
cash budget because we have this kind of sup
port,” says Bums.
It is through the gallery that p:ear has con
structed a bridge between homeless youth,
who generally feel alienated by society, and
society itself.
“P:ear is a raw, direct route for the commu
nity to give back to these youth through a non
profit,” says Arend. Plus, she says, “It supports
the idea that yuppies are people, too, which is
a huge step in the life of a punk teen-ager.”
Arend also notes that a kid’s name can be a
good way to keep track of his esteem and progress.
“When they start retorming they sometimes say:
‘You can call me Mike again. My name is Mike.’ ”
At hitman's table, Odessa is surrounded by
photos, writing implements and stick-on alpha
bet letters. She adds an occasional well-directed
comment to the conversation but is otherwise
engrossed in her collage. Adrian wipes off the
canvas he varnished the previous day. Sitting
between them, Tuesday eats her lunch, donated
by a Portland eatery. (In a show of remarkable
community support for p:ear’s mission, some of
the city’s best restaurants donate breakfast and
lunch daily.)
The youths’ conversation turns to everyday
matters: where the best trash bins are (Haight
Street in San Francisco, where someone once
found a full set of Wizard, of Oz figurines), meet
ing T.S. Eliot’s grandson, reading Saul Williams’
poetry aloud on the bus, disappointment that a
friend skipped town with a girl (“I really wanted
to see him go to college,” laments Tuesday).
A Fragile Blossoming
Adrian, with 100 bucks in his pocket as evi
dence, offers to take me to the adjacent gallery
rend, Bums and Cartier have gone
space to show me the two paintings he sold in
unpaid since p:ear’s inception.
the last show. We walk from the main room
“There was one point when we had
through the back room, which houses all the
$1.57 between the three of us,” says Cartier.
donated art supplies. Easels, paint tubes, pas
The women cite “strange streams of good
tels, paper, canvases, glitter, glue and markers
luck” as what helps them get by. When asked
litter the area, a pigmented free-for-all. The
how they manage to devote their lives to a job
kids have unrestricted access to the supplies— a
that provides them with no income, scrappy
decidedly different approach from other pro
ingenuity and a sense of humor seem to be the
grams where almost everything is under lock
answers. Bums points to a hole in her Chuck
and key. The p:ear directors believe art supplies
Taylors and laughs.
aren’t half as valuable as the autonomy and
“See this sweater?” says Cartier. “I got it
sense of responsibility instilled in kids who can
from one of the kids.”
use them freely.
During the
downtown art
world’s First
Thursday
gallery walk,
p:ear exhibits
work by p:ear
youth alongside
work by visiting
artists such as
Henk Pander,
Lauren Mante
cón, Benjamin
Alexander
Clark and
Nicholas Walk
er. These artists
often conduct
workshops with
the youth during “ Contentment” by Lauryn, a p:ear youth, is on display at the gallery and is a
the month prior steal at $55
Beth Burns checks out the latest creation by p:ear youth Ameh
P:ear hasn’t always gotten the recognition it
be dead...definitely,” says Odessa. “They liter
deserves, in large part because it doesn’t mea
ally pushed me back from the brink of destruc
sure success in the standard charts and numbers.
tion. They have done things for me that I will
Arend, Bums and Cartier don’t spend time por
never forget.” | H
ing over statistics about how many of their kids
get GEDs (a lot), how many find housing
J.B. R abin is a Portland free-lance wnter.
(many) or how many land jobs
(quite a few).
“1 was thinking about a guy I’ve
been working with since he was 15
who is now 23,” says Cartier. “Does
this person still use drugs? No. Is he
still homeless? Yes. Any closer to
rom 6:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. May 1, p:ear raises the
finding a job? No. Would I consider
rafters at Holocene, 1001 S.E. Morrison St., in cel
that a positive outcome? Yes,
ebration of two years of bringing art to homeless
because that person isn’t dead.”
youth in Portland. The event is inspired by the growth
For the participants at p:ear, suc
and aspirations of the organization and the youth it serves.
cess is made up of many intangibles.
A series o f dance performances will begin on the
“These women have instilled
ground and move up into the air above the audience.
more integrity in me than even
Highlights include dynamic dance by Argentina’s Tango
my parents. They do things for us
Twins, plus excerpts from “ten tiny dances” by Mike Bar
that they’re not supposed to do,
ber and aerial audacity by Portland’s own Aviator. Other
but they do,” says Odessa. Tl\e
performers include Anne Furfey, Gabriela on the Trapeze
p:ear directors took a couple of
and The Atlas DJs.
.road trips to visit Odessa while
The performance starts at 6:30 p.m. Food (provided by
she was in prison.
Gretchen’s Kitchen, William’s on 12th and Pazzo Ris-
The outlook for homeless kids
torante), drink (with or without olives) and DJ grooves
can be grim once they “age out” of
will be served up at 9:30 p.m., with a special appearance
the system: Some will successfully
by the March Fourth! stilts-bound marching band.
re-enter society, but many will be
Tickets for the whole shebang cost $60 each or $100
incarcerated and a few will die.
for a pair. Those entering at 9:30 p.m. pay $10.
“If it weren’t for Pippa Arend,
For more information call 503-228-6677 or e-mail
Beth Bums and Joy Cartier I would
info@pearmentor.ofg. JH
p:ear blossoms II—
growing upward
F
a
When one o f a
kind is important...
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