Welcome New Foundation Chair, Garrick Imatani

We're excited to welcome Garrick Imatani as our new Foundation Chair! The Foundation Chair oversees the first-year experience for all incoming freshman including the Foundation Seminar which prepares students to thrive in the classroom, in the studio, and in their new community.

Imatani comes to PNCA with 16 years of experience in higher education, teaching across fields of art and design. He has directed multiple programs, and has developed new curriculum in responsive and dynamic ways that led to national presentations and publications on Foundations studies. PNCA’s Search Committee specifically noted a history of equity and social justice work in Imatani’s teaching, service, and professional practice.

Imatani holds an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He maintains an active art practice that moves between traditional and emerging media – sculpture and 3D fabrication, digital imaging and video, research, the written word, socially-engaged practices, and public art.

 Through sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, video, memorials and situated events, Imatani places the complexities and nuances surrounding race, the body, and political history within the framework of slow-moving performance and constructed landscapes. His work has been featured at the Schneider Museum of Art (Ashland, OR); Art in General (NY, NY); Portland Museum of Art (Portland, ME); Incident Report (Hudson, NY); Institute for Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art; Ditch Projects (Springfield, OR); Asian American Arts Centre (NY, NY); and, White Box at the University of Oregon, School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Support for Imatani’s work has come from the The Ford Family Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, Maine Arts Commission, Regional Arts and Culture Council, and Portland Institute for Contemporary Art.

“Garrick has proven to be a mentor to both his students and his colleagues alike, and is known for his collaborative skills and ability to move projects forward,” says Kate Copeland, Academic Dean. “We are very much looking forward to welcoming him this fall.”