Arts & Entertainment
Portland Dialogue on Race Built Around Mamet Play
Deconstructing RACE: A Discussion
with Walidah Imarisha
Monday, March 26, 7pm in the Morrison
Theatre
In partnership with the August Wilson
Red Door Project
Free and open to the public
The August Wilson Red Door Project is
proud to host an evening with
writer/artist/lecturer Walidah Imarisha. We
will explore the historical and current polit-
Group Art Installation in the Morrison
Lobby for “Race”
As part of an ongoing effort to bring play-
driven visual art work to the Morrison
Lobby, a special installation for Race was
curated by Open Door Gallery’s Bobby
Fouther. This group show features the
works of over a dozen local African Ameri-
can artists, with more than 30 pieces, on the
theme of race.
More info at www.artistsrep.org.
Page 12 The Portland Skanner March 21, 2012
PHOTO CREDIT OWEN CAREY
PHOTO CREDIT OWEN CAREY
Online Talkback: Red Door Project
hosts a blog for discussion about Race
The August Wilson Red Door Project is a
community programming partner for
“Race.” This organization’s mission is to be
a social change agent, using the arts as a cat-
alyst for creating a lasting, positive change
in the racial ecology of Portland by partner-
ing with arts organizations and venues
around Portland to promote high-quality art,
theatre, and musical events that showcase
the works of people of color. Another key
commitment is to offer professionally facil-
itated community conversations to provide
Portlanders with opportunities for transfor-
mational dialogue about issues of race. The
Red Door Project also offers a blog for
online discussions about plays and arts
events that involve the topics of color and
race in Portland. Find the “Race” talkback
page at www.reddoorproject.org.
Todd VanVoris, Reginald Jackson, Jim Iorio
ONLINE
Forum: Race, Society, and the Law
Sunday, March 25, 6pm in the Alder
Lobby
In partnership with the August Wilson
Red Door Project
Free and open to the public
Racial injustice is one of America’s great-
est disgraces. Acknowledging one’s own
bigotry, and the institutionalized bigotry of
our society, is uncomfortable, at best. On
Sunday, March 25 at 6pm, join Artists Rep
in discussing how racial issues affect our
society and the Portland community. The
panel will be moderated by August Wilson
Red Door Project co-founder Lesli Mones
and include the Honorable Donald
Letourneau, Lewis & Clark Law School
professor John Parry, ACLU of Oregon
board member Fred Neal, Executive Direc-
tor of the McKenzie River Gathering
Foundation Sharon Gary-Smith, and The
Skanner news editor Lisa Loving. We hope
that, together, we can shine a light on the
anger, guilt, and shame of discrimination
that lies beyond polite social convention.
Ayanna Berkshire, Reginald Jackson, Todd VanVoris
For more information about these events
contact Education Outreach Coordinator
Torrie McDonald at tmcdonald@artist-
srep.org or by calling 503-241-9807 ext 103
theskannermobile.com
Also scheduled are:
ical landscapes that help shape the themes
of the show. Imarisha taught in Portland
State University’s Black studies depart-
ment, where she created classes about the
history of the Black Panther Party, race and
the history of prisons, Hurricane Katrina,
and hip hop as literature. She has facilitated
writing workshops for schools, community
centers, youth detention facilities, and
women’s prisons. Imarisha was a founding
editor of AWOL, a national political hip hop
magazine and toured as part of the poetry
duo Good Sista/Bad Sista. She has been fea-
tured on several hip hop CDs and filmed
and codirected Finding Common Ground in
New Orleans, a documentary about Hurri-
cane Katrina’s aftermath.
Scan our QR code with your app.
A
rtists Repertory Theater presents the
David Mamet play “Race,” about
the upheaval in a law firm when the
three partners – two black and one white –
consider taking the case of a white man
accused of perpetrating a crime against a
black woman.
“’Race,’ by David Mamet, is a play that
begs for community discussion beyond the
confines of the production,” the company
says. And Artists’ Rep is doing just that,
with an array of events wrapped around the
show designed to further the dialogue about
race in our own city.
The events are free and open to the public.
The play itself stars Todd van Voris, Regi-
nald Andre Jackson, Jim Iorio and Ayanna
Berkshire. It runs through April 8.