Bravo Alumni - July 2017

2017

Congratulations to Andrew Newell ’17 who has been awarded one of International Sculpture Center's 2017 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards. The jury selected Andrew’s work, 'Vertical Swamp Shack," 2017, which was one of just 15 pieces chosen from the 354 student nominees and more than 867 works submitted.

The Nat Turner Project (Melanie Stevens MFA ‘17 and maximiliano MFA ‘17) is currently in residence at c3:initiative. The Nat Turner Project allows artists of color to go beyond the usual expositions inherent in presenting the art of marginalized perspectives to a dominant culture; allowing them the freedom to create or express their own language within and without the parameters of racial commodification or designation.

2016

Project 205, an experimental project space showcasing both emerging and established queer artists, is co-curated by Sean Chamberlain and Ryan Patrick Krueger ‘16. In June, they presented WET, a selection of paintings and sculpture by Theadora Frost and Maddy Inez Leeser ’16. Up through July 11, 2017.

M.V. Moran MFA ’16 has been volunteering this past academic year at a local elementary school in the Eugene area, teaching drawing and painting to a class of second graders and fourth graders. During the yearlong studies, she and the students started a sketch book project, learned about painting with gouache, and displayed work at Oregon Art Supply in their Post-It Exhibition. This coming August, Victoria will be teaching a painting workshop at OSLP Arts and Culture in Eugene. The workshop is for all ages and all levels and will focus on process rather than product. You can learn more here.

Lesley Silvia MFA '16 has sure been busy. She was one of eight artists chosen to paint a mural for Sam Flax, an art supply store in Orlando, FL. (More details of her piece can be seen at Lesley's Behance page.) She also showed work at the inaugural event, F.L.A.M.E. and contributed an illustration in a collection of short stories produced by local publisher, Burrow Press. The stories were written by local high schoolers loosely in response to the Pulse nightclub shootings. Most recently, Lesley participated again with Sam Flax and the local downtown Orlando library with the one year anniversary of the Pulse massacre in an event called What Has Changed? The work was on display the first Third Thursday following the anniversary. Upcoming, she'll have a photograph in the Snap! Summer Selection 2017 then she's off to the Luminous Bodies artist residency in Toronto for two weeks and as soon as she returns, will be showing work at Art in Odd Place Orlando.

Alana Hippensteele MA ’16 just received a position at Temple University working as an English instructor in the Upward Bound Program.  She currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Congrats, Alana!

2015

Veronica V.R. Reeves MFA ’15 was one of two artists-in-residence this year at Otto Petersen Elementary in Scappoose, OR where she led a school wide collaboration on a tile mural that is freshly installed at the entrance to the school. The mural is 7 x 21 feet and consists of 570 6" ceramic squares. She also organized a school wide art show of work from 4th, 5th, and 6th graders which will culminate in an Art Night where she advocated for arts education. Here’s a link to the local headline news story about the mural. And another one! Veronica was also featured with Jason Berlin in Kolaj Magazine #18 talking about Dispersal: Mail Art which we co-organized.

Lou Watson '15 just received a jurors award through the Bellingham National Juried Exhibition and Awards at The Whatcom Museum (curated by Catharina Manchanda). She was also featured in the summer issue of Venison Magazine. Traveling in Europe and want to see some of Lou's work? You can catch one of her recent films in the 2017 Transmission Art Festival in Karlsruhe, Germany. Congrats, Lou!

Bukola Koiki MFA ’15 was recently selected as one of eleven 2017-2018 AICAD Post-Graduate Teaching Fellows, selected from a select pool of recent graduates from across the country. The Fellowship program seeks to provide professional practice opportunities to high-achieving alumni who have recently graduated from AICAD member schools, while also increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of faculty at these institutions. Bukola will be traveling to Maine to teach at the Maine College of Art for the next year. The Fellowship includes structured and unstructured mentoring and professional development opportunities along with direct teaching experience, health benefits, and other monetary supports. To read the full announcement, visit AICAD.org.

Do you dream of making a difference with your art? Kara Haupt ’15 thinks you can. After co-leading Content and Social Design for the Hillary for America campaign, Kara wants to connect other designers with opportunities to make a difference. With friend and fellow world-shaker Meg Vásquez, Kara put together Do The Most Good, a resource for designers to find in-house job opportunities at established Democratic political organizations and progressive nonprofits. Kara and Meg believe design can help create effective change in progressive politics through established campaigns and organizations — and that all designers should consider committing part of their career to doing the most good.

Olivia Guethling MFA ’13 is among the artists selected by Signal Fire programs for 2017.

2013

Adam Johnson ’13 co-directed, produced and edited a short film with Daniela Repas ’08 entitled "Bearing Witness," which was made for the 48 Hour Film Project in Portland in 2016 and which screened at the Hollywood Theater. The film was also chosen to screen at the Clinton Street Theater for the Portland Underground Film Festival in April of 2017. Watch it here!

Big congratulations to alumnus Demian DinéYazhi’ ’13 who was selected to receive the 2017 Brink Award from the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. The Brink Award is an annual award supporting emerging artists in the region. Demian will receive a prize of $12,500 and be given a solo exhibition at the Henry next spring. In addition, a publication will be produced, and a work of art will be acquired for the museum’s permanent collection.

Crow’s Shadow 2017 Golden Spot residency award recipients include alumnus Demian DinéYazhi’ ’13 and faculty member Modou Dieng. Funded by The Ford Family Foundation, the annual Golden Spot Awards began at Crow’s Shadow in 2010 to support regional artist residencies. Each of these Oregon-based artists will spend two weeks at Crow’s Shadow developing limited-edition prints, which will be hand pulled by Crow’s Shadow’s Master Printer.

2012

Jody Dunphy MFA '12 just updated her website, SecondNatureProject.com, with a new design for showing the new line! She's also upgraded her day job to Sr. Graphic Designer at Cushman & Wakefield. Congrats, Jody!

2011

Matthew Williams MFA ’11 presented some new work at a killer show by Sight Unseen as part of NYC's design week this past month, called Sight Unseen OFFSITE. Check it out!

Leslie Vigeant MFA ’11 traded in her position as Program Manager for the MFA in Applied Craft + Design for a position at Seattle Met and PICA. She’ll continue to co-teach Creative Entrepreneurship for the MFA in Applied Craft + Design next Spring and Professional Practices at OCAC this coming Fall. Congrats, Leslie!

2010

Rainmaker Artist Residency, the wonderful artist space launched and run by Jane Schiffhauer MFA ’10, will be transitioning as of August 1, 2017 from a non-profit organization into Rainmaker Studios and Gallery at the same location in NW Portland. During its four years of operation, Rainmaker provided more than 20 artists low cost studio space and professional development support and education in Portland, OR.  For more information please contact: jschiffhauer@mac.com

2009

“Archival Feedback,” a sound art piece by Thom Wheeler Castillo ’09 and drummer Emile Melgrim was named Best Sound Art by the Maimi Times. Thom and Emile are two old friends with a passion for the kitschiness of the Sunshine State who found a way to showcase South Florida's landscape through sound art. Archival Feedback uses a peculiar variation on call-and-response to present the duo's vision: Their field recordings are the "call," while the visual artwork that goes with it is the "response." They’ve also released vinyl editions of audio recordings they collected over two years on Castillo's label, Other Electricities. Those recordings have been widely lauded and partially funded by a Knight grant. The two completed an Artist in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE); collaborated on an O, Miami project; and are showing their sound art at the Deering Estate at Cutler. Archival Feedback is their first collaboration.

Adolph Bastendorff ‘09 just moved into a large new art studio in NW Portland.  It is located at 2390 NW St Helens Rd.  Keep your ears open: he’s going to start hosting First Thursday monthly art exhibits soon!

Sean J Patrick Carney MFA ’09 recently started a website of his writing called Humor and the Abject, named after a course that he led at the Bruce High Quality Foundation University in 2014. The site features articles, reviews, and other bits of Sean’s writing. Fellow PNCA alumnus Thomas J Gamble MFA ‘14 is contributing a weekly political cartoon. Sean’s also just launched a podcast, also called Humor and the Abject, that's available via the website or in iTunes. It's a long-form interview podcast with contemporary artists and comedians as guests, accompanied by bizarre sound collages and fake advertisements. Sean’s also been writing pretty consistently for Art in America; you can read many of his pieces here. Check it out!

2008

Sarah Farahat ‘08 recently returned to Portland this January after graduating from California College of the Arts last May.  She is currently participating in a residency at the Blue Mountain Center and gearing up to teach at Pacific University in the Fall.  She will be hosting one of her recent projects "In-Between Here and There-A PIcnic for Mixed Race* Women" on July 29th in St. Johns. To RSVP contact her via email: farahat12@gmail.com

Adam Johnson ‘13 was the supervising sound editor, sound designer, and re-recording mixer on the 2016 short film directed, animated and edited by Daniela Repas ’08 entitled "Mnemonics." The film was screened at the Clinton Street theater for the Portland Underground Film Festival in 2017 where it won both the best documentary and audience favorite awards. Watch the trailer here!

2005

In April 2017, Nathanael Andreini ’05 became Interim Executive Director of the Washington County Museum in Hillsboro, OR.

2004

Midori Hirose ’04 recently curated Never Not Here | PPROT-SE at OV Project Space. An archaeological articulation with new works unearthed by Natalie Anne Howard and Shawn Creeden; flap card art by Rainen Knecht and Dino Matt; performance with Mia Ferm and visiting artist Michael Reinsch; and The Tenses.

A few pieces of news from the studio of Julian Voss-Andreae ’04: Julian and his studio crew have started an Instagram account (Follow here!)

2001

Jessalyn Haggenjos '01 was accepted into the artist residency at The Studios of Key West for the 2018 season. She also has work on display at the open studios event on July 15, 2017 at Portland's NW Marine Ironworks.
 

2000

Joellyn Loehr ’00 was recently interviewed on KPOV Community Radio’s The Point in Bend about her current exhibition at Franklin Crossing. Her segment starts at 9:20 right after the Masterpiece Theater music, and she gives a bit of a shout out to PNCA. “During the interview,” she says, “I kept thinking how grateful I am that we learned to talk about our art as part of the degree!” You can listen to Thursday’s show here.

Michael Orwick ’00 won the Award of Excellence for “En Plein Air” at the Cannon Beach Plein Air! The award recognized his work done onsite during the weekend and for his overall body of work. Michael is represented by Dragonfire Gallery.

1998

It’s been a big few months for Pat Boas ’98. She was recently named one of the 2017 Hallie Ford Visual Arts Fellows. She’s also headed to a Yaddo Artist Residency in August 2017. She was also included in Ucross/Djerassi: Oregon Artists at Work, a publication from The Ford Family Foundation that celebrates a four-year funding partnership between the Djerassi and Ucross artist residencies and the Foundation. She also exhibited “Cipher” in the Governor’s Office from November 2016 – February 2017. (Read the Press Release here.)

1989

Remedios Rapoport ’89 is headed to Chicago in September for the International Showcase of Women Sign Painters, an exhibition featuring 60 women sign painters from 9 countries. While there, she’ll be speaking on a panel discussion and hanging her Gentle Revolution Mobile. If you’d like to support this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you can contribute via her GoFundMe page.

1987

Eileen S. Kane ’87 recently made the momentous move of relocating her studio to SE Portland from NW Portland, where she had been for many years. She also has work included in the Smith College 50th Class Alumnae Exhibition through August 20, 2017. You can look through her web portfolio here.

1982

Tom Cramer '82 has been busy! In May 2017, he finished a 110-foot mural commission in a pedestrian tunnel in Bend. In June 2017, he opened a show of paintings celebrating the Summer of Love 1967 at Roche Bobois’ Portland showroom (listen to the Artslandia interview with Tom here!). And he’s currently looking forward to a one man show at Augen Gallery in November 2017. Whew!

1974

On July 15, 2017, Patrick Howe ’74 will be hosting a gallery talk titled “Artists are Something The Whole Universe is Doing” in conjunction with his new exhibition at the Magnuson Park Gallery / Space Gallery in Seattle. If you’re in the area, check it out!

1973

Steve O'Hare '73 just finished work for and is packing up to head out to Art in the Park on July 9 in Kearney, Nebraska. Steve's also been invited for a show featuring urban photos from around the world in August and then he heads over to Russia and Germany. "Too much to keep up with when a person is less than a year from 70," he says, "but my father just celebrated his 100th last month!"

1959

Artist and critic Paul Sutinen interviews Lee Kelly ‘59, stalwart of Portland's arts landscape, on the occasion of his 85th birthday and an exhibition of new work at Elizabeth Leach Gallery for ArtsWatch. Listen here.

FACULTY

Modou Dieng will be on sabbatical during Fall 2017 and Spring 2018. He will begin with a residency at OMI International in NY this summer. He will then do work and research on French colonial architecture and its ties to Black and Creole culture, conducted during short residencies in New Orleans and Saint-Louis Senegal during fall/winter in collaboration with curators Claire Tancons and Gia Hamilton at Joan Mitchell Center. Modou is curating two Exhibitions in NYC: one in the fall, one in the spring. He is also curating one Exhibition in the fall in Saint Louis, Missouri.

David Eckard will be on sabbatical during Fall 2017. He plans on treating the time like a residency and committing to some serious, uninterrupted studio time. He is excited to continue the body of work he exhibited at the Portland biennial in addition to a video piece that's been simmering on the back burner. He will be looking to secure an exhibition venue to present the work. David also plans on resurrecting his blog and writing a great deal more as he develops work and projects.

Stephen Slappe will be on sabbatical during Fall 2017. He will continue his research into alternative models for media art education, production and distribution with a project called Future Forum. Future Forum is a 10-month, art-as-education experiment he developed with Open Signal, the non-profit media center recently launched in North Portland. This work is in a rich tradition of artists extending their studio into experimental modes of teaching, blurring the boundaries between educational, social, and political interactions. Stephen notes that recent national events have made it evident that the country lacks media literacy and this project holds media art education to underserved communities at its core.

Fisheries Magazine published an article co-written by Emily Bosanquet, “The Art of Sustainability,” which details work by PNCA students who have received the Science in Studio Award, jointly awarded by PNCA and NOAA. Read the whole article here!