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Art Beat at PCC
Photos and story by Mark Evertz
Dancers, musicians, sculptors, poets, painters and more share the creative process and how they do it with PCC students and the community in a week-long celebration spotlighting the arts. Art Beat is unique to Portland because all events, workshops, and demonstrations are free and the focus is on both presentation and education.
Once again PCC celebrates the arts with its annual district-wide event, Art Beat, held each spring. This is the 11th year for PCC’s popular focus on the arts. Events begin Monday, May 5 and run through Friday, May 16. Most events will be held May 12 -16.
Art Beat was created by PCC faculty and staff to showcase the arts in an educational setting and to give students and the community an opportunity to participate in the creative process. Says Art Beat organizer and English faculty member Sharon Anthony, “At many events, you buy a ticket, see the show and go home. Here, you get to stay and talk to the artist, ask questions. It’s more personal.” Another theme of Art Beat is the focus on cultural diversity in the arts.
Events are presented at all three PCC campuses: Cascade Campus in North Portland, 705 N. Killingsworth; Rock Creek Campus, located at 17705 N.W. Springville Road, 185th Street exit off Highway 26 West; and Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave. in Southwest Portland, near Capitol Highway and Barbur Boulevard. For information about events, call 977-4270.
Highlighted artists this year include Montana sculptor Adrian Arleo whose work is featured this year on the Art Beat poster. The poster image, Woman and Child with Horizontal Stripes, suggests the sensuous and mythical dimension of Arleo’s work. Arleo received her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and now resides in Colo, Montana. Her sculptures are mythologically inspired and hauntingly mysterious. She explains, “I work with simple, austere forms which have minimal detail and a silhouette-like quality.” Arleo will be at Sylvania and Rock Creek, Monday, May 5 to discuss her work and give a slide talk – from 9 to 10 a.m. at Sylvania in the Little Theater CT 201; and from noon to 1 p.m. at Rock Creek in Building 3, The Forum.
Another highlight is the theater production, Amadeus, guest directed by Bill Dobson and featuring guest artist Kevin O’Connell. Peter Shaffer’s provocative play Amadeus, a Tony award winner for Best Play of the Year, revolves around the conflict between Antonio Salieri, an established composer, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, perhaps the greatest musical genius of all time. The New York Post called Amadeus “a total iridescent triumph . . . a play of complexity of thought, emotion and dramatic power.” Director Bill Dobson has been named “best director” four different times at the annual Portland Willies awards. Kevin O’Connell, a well-known Northwest actor, plays Salieri. Performances are May 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center on the Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave. It is the spring term production of PCC’s Department of Theatre Arts.
Art Beat tee shirts are available for $10. Organizers say they try to keep costs down to keep the tee shirt affordable. And Art Beat posters, suitable for framing, are free as long as the supply lasts.
Events by campus follow:
Cascade Campus
705 North Killingsworth
Monday, May 12
10:30-11:30 a.m., The Northwest Inupiaq Dancers – native dance.
Many Inupiat have moved from their respective villages in Alaska to the Seattle-Tacoma and Portland areas. In an effort to preserve their native dances, forbidden by missionaries of various denominations at the turn of the century, Portland artist Alex Muktoyuk, in collaboration with Seattle sculptor Larry Ahvakana, has been teaching traditional songs and dances he learned growing up on King Island, Alaska. Come watch and participate as the group performs the Raven, Mask, and Walrus dances. Student Services Building Patio (rain location: Cascade Hall).
12-1 p.m., Lillian Pitt – clay masks (slides/lecture).
Lillian Pitt, an internationally known artist whose beautiful masks grace museums and public spaces throughout the United States as well as collections in Japan, Korea and New Zealand, will present a slide show and lecture on her work. She uses the raku and anagama methods of firing her clay masks and draws inspiration from nature, legend and myth, and the Eskimo and African mask heritage to create her own unique images. While her medium is nontraditional in Northwest Coast art, Lillian Pitt, a Warm Springs Yakima, pays homage to her heritage by creating masks of clay that are not only extraordinary works of art but tell us stories about people and their connection to the natural and spiritual worlds that surround them. Terrell Hall 122.
7:30-8:30, Cascade’s Big Band – concert.
Cascade’s own Big Band will perform jazz in concert. Cascade Hall.
Tuesday, May 13
11:00-noon, Janice Gould – literary reading.
In a quiet, compelling voice, Janice Gould reaches within her life as a mixed-blood of American Indiana (Koyangk’auwi Maidu) and European descent to give us poems of loss, grief and revelation. Her work reflects a deeply personal history that is at the same time a history of the places and people she comes from. She is the author of two books of poems, Beneath My Heart and Earthquake Weather, and an artbook/chapbook, Alphabet. Terrell Hall 122.
12-1 p.m., Betty La Duke – teaching art in Africa/painting Africa (Slides/Lecture).
An internationally renowned artist, teacher, and writer, Betty La Duke has traveled in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and these travels have inspired her art in profound ways. In a slide and lecture show, La Duke will focus on her recent experiences of teaching art in Eritrea, Africa’s newest independent country in the Horn of Africa. She will demonstrate why she regards her experience in Eritrea as “the most exciting experience in over 30 years of teaching” and explore how she transformed her experience into art. The essence of Betty La Duke’s large, bold, vibrant paintings captures local traditions and imbues them with universal and archetypal images and symbols she draws from the world of dreams and myth. Terrell Hall 122.
Wednesday, May 14
11:30 a. m.-1 p.m., Brothers of the Baladi – world music fusion band.
Brothers of the Baladi blends the sensual sound of the Middle East with guitars, keyboards, a rock’n’roll drumset, and ancient folk horns into Celtic harmonies, Mardi Gras spice and Moroccan Oud melodies. Their performance style and range make them “One World’s premier party band,” presenting traditional Middle Eastern instruments (the ould, nay flute, and the darrabuka hand drum), vocals in seven languages, exotic rhythms and familiar grooves. The Brothers have headlined at hundreds of colleges and festivals; locally, The Brothers’ credits include soundtrack work for Tony Award winning Oregon Shakespearean Festival’s A Midsummer Night‘s Dream. Student Services Building Patio (rain location: Cafeteria, Student Center).
12-2 p.m., Huong Van Le – art display and discussion.
Huong Van Le and accompanying artists are members of the Vietnamese Artists of the Northwest organization and they will be displaying and talking about their traditional Vietnamese and contemporary paintings. “The Street,” Student Center.
Thursday, May 15
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Adriene Cruz and Charlotte Lewis – multimedia hands-on workshop.
Multimedia artists Adriene Cruz and Charlotte Lewis work mostly with fabric and ceramics. As they display examples of their work, they will conduct a hands-on workshop in which students can create their own masterpieces. “The Street,” Student Center.
Friday, May 16
12-1:30 p. m., Jan DeWeese and the Clinton Street Ceili Band – concert.
Jan DeWeese and his group, the Clinton Street Ceili Band, will play traditional Irish dance music featuring the fiddle, bodran, flute, guitar, and mandolin. Student Services Building Patio (rain location: Cafeteria, Student Center).
Rock Creek Campus
17705 Northwest Springville Road
Extended events
May 1-31
Douglas Wallower – sculpture exhibit
Local sculptor Douglas Wallower has a gallery show of heads and steel and stone constructions outside. Walking maps locating the outside pieces are available in the LRC and gallery. See Tuesday, May 13, for related events. RC Building 3, Gallery and Outdoor Sites.
May 12-16
The ALANA Mural – mural exhibition and video.
Come experience “We Speak,” a vibrant, exciting 65 foot mural honoring many cultural voices, created by ALANA (Asians, Latinos, African, and Native Americans for Justice and Peace) here in Oregon in 1992. Also see a video documenting the mural process. RC Building 2, LRC.
May 12-16
Student Multimedia Film and Demonstration – multimedia
Multimedia combines sound, video, graphics, and text in an interactive format. View a film of PCC student multimedia projects; computers are available for hands on experience. RC Building 2, LRC.
Monday, May 12
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mark Andres – painting demonstration.
Northwest painter and teacher Mark Andres will demonstrate the art of portraiture from blank canvas to finished work. RC Building 3, Mall.
11 a.m.-12 p.m., Dub DeBrie – a musical kickoff to Art Beat.
Singer-songwriter Dub DeBrie and friends play jazz, reggae, rock, rhythm and blues, and Dub’s originals, including songs from the CD, The Cheese Stands Alone. RC Building 3, The Forum.
Tuesday, May 13
12-1 p.m. Douglas Wallower – walking tour and discussion.
Join Douglas Wallower as he talks about his gallery and outdoor pieces. RC Building 3, Gallery.
1-3 p.m., Douglas Wallower – participatory construction.
Help Douglas Wallower create a construction between Buildings 3 and 7. Consisting of 40 eight-feet-long wood 4′ by 4’s, the piece – approximately 20 yards long – moves from chaos to order. Between buildings 3 and 7.
7-8 p.m., Janice Gould – literary reading.
In a quiet, compelling voice, Janice Gould reaches within her life as a mixed-blood of American Indian (Koyangk’auwi Maidu) and European descent to give us poems of loss, grief and revelation. Her work reflects a deeply personal history that is at the same time a history of the places and people she comes from. She is the author of two books of poems, Beneath My Heart and Earthquake Weather, and an artbook/chapbook, Alphabet. RC Building 3, The Forum.
Wednesday, May 14
10 a.m.-2 p.m., Wally Schwab – raku demonstration.
PCC Rock Creek instructor and nationally known ceramacist Wally Schwab offers a demonstration and workshop in raku technique. Raku is an ancient Japanese process in which potters fire glazed pots until the glaze melts, then quickly remove them from the red-hot kiln. Outside RC Building 3.
12-1 p.m., Christian Swenson – body and voice in performance.
Titled “Human Jazz,” this delightful one-man show is an amazing journey of transformation and spontaneity. Combining elements of dance, drama and music, “Human Jazz” is a celebration of the human instrument and spirit that connects us. Swenson is a “rare soloist,” a dancer who might be a “gorilla at one point, a poet uttering an ode to the earth at another.” Swenson draws from a global palette or sound and movement and then disappears into songs, characters, animals, aliens, body music, or pure energy. The result is as infectious as it is inspiring. RC Building 3, The Forum.
Thursday, May 15
10 – 11:30 a.m., student and faculty literary reading.
PCC students and faculty read an assortment of poems and stories. RC Building 3, 136.
10 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Carol Erickson DuBosch – calligraphy.
Instructor Carol Erickson DuBosch demonstrates calligraphic letters written with pen and brush. RC 3 Mall.
12 -1 p.m., Brothers of the Baladi – World Music Fusion Band.
Brothers of the Baladi blends the sensual sounds of the Middle East with guitars, keyboards, a rock’n’roll drumset, and ancient folk horns into Celtic harmonies, Mardi Gras spice, and Moroccan Oud melodies. Their performance style and range make them “One World’s premier party band,” presenting traditional Middle Eastern instruments (the oud, nay flute, and the darrabuka hand drum), vocals in seven languages, exotic rhythms, and familiar grooves. The Brothers have headlined at hundreds of colleges and festivals; locally, The Brothers’ credits include soundtrack work for Tony Award winning Oregon Shakespearean Festival’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. RC Building 3, The Forum.
Sylvania Campus
12000 Southwest 49th Avenue
Monday, May 12 – Friday, May 16
8 a.m.-5 p.m. – PCC Sylvania Student Art Exhibition.
The art students of the PCC Sylvania Campus present a selection from their work of the past year. The exhibition includes graphic and three-dimensional media, and introduces new talent into the local artistic community. North View Gallery CT Building.
International Food Fair – Performing Arts Center Courtyard.
Look for a variety of international foods available daily during ART BEAT.
Monday, May 12
10 a.m.-12 p. m., Art Beat reception.
Hosted by the Sylvania “Traditions, Ritual, and Fun” committee, the Art Beat reception welcomes everyone! Come celebrate the opening of Art Beat with live music, a lavish buffet and the presentation of awards to winners of the PCC Sylvania Student Art Show. Performing Arts Center Foyer.
11 a.m.-12 p.m., George Johanson – painter and printmaker.
Portland painter and printmaker George Johanson, who for 45 years has created an “easygoing blend of art history and autobiography in eye-pleasing, cinematic colors,” will show slides and discuss his work. “I’m feeling a kind of impatience,” says Johanson of his new work. “I want to summarize things more and get to a real mood through paint.” Little Theater, CT Building, 201.
12-1 p.m., Diana Abu-Jaber – literary reading.
Arabian Jazz, Diana Abu-Jaber’s 1993 novel, won the Oregon Book Award and was a finalist for the national PEN/Hemingway award. Currently writer-in-residence at Portland State University, Diana Abu-Jaber has recently returned from Amman where she interviewed Jordanian and Palestinian women about their lives. Her research, supported by a Fullbright grant, will provide background for her next novel, Memories of Birth, which won a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Abu-Jaber will read from her work. Little Theater CT Building, 201.
1-2:30 p.m., The Northwest Inupiaq Dancers – native dance.
Many Inupiat have moved from their respective villages in Alaska to the Seattle-Tacoma and Portland areas. In an effort to preserve their native dances, forbidden by missionaries of various denominations at the turn of the century, Portland artist Alex Muktoyuk, in collaboration with Seattle sculptor Larry Ahvakana, has been teaching traditional songs and dances he learned growing up on King Island, Alaska. Come watch and participate as the group performs the Raven, Mask, and Walrus dances. Little Theater CT Building, 201.
Tuesday, May 13
9:30 -11 a.m., Stark Raving Theatre – theatre performance.
Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place, written by Megan Terry and first produced in 1966 at the Open Theater in New York, is a play developed in a style called “transformations,” in which the actors’ circumstances and characters change from scene to scene, a style which results in a nonlinear, nonliteral theatrical collage. On the surface, Keep Tightly Closed . . . is the story of three men in prison for the murder of the wife of one of them. More deeply, the play explores three aspects of one personality grappling with guilt, fear, and anger. Stark Raving Theatre’s performance engages the audience in a dramatic, experimental form of storytelling which also incorporates modern dance. Little Theater CT Building, 201.
11 a.m.-2 p.m., Connie Kiener – pottery demonstration.
Connie Kiener, a Portland potter known for her ceramic pottery and tiles inspired by Italian fruit, flowers, and decorative pattern, will demonstrate her technique and discuss her work. CT Building, 113. Demonstration follows in CT 119.
11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Brothers of the Baladi – world music fusion band.
Brothers of the Baladi blends the sensual sound of the Middle East with guitars, keyboards, a rock’n’roll drumset, and ancient folk horns into Celtic harmonies, Mardi Gras spice, and Moroccan Oud melodies. Their performance style and range make them “One World’s premier party band,” presenting traditional Middle Eastern instruments (the ould, nay flute, and the darrabuka hand drum), vocals in seven languages, exotic rhythms, and familiar grooves. The Brothers have headlined at hundreds of colleges and festivals; locally, The Brothers’ credits include soundtrack work for Tony Award winning Oregon Shakespearean Festival’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Performing Arts Center Foyer.
1 – 1:45 p.m., Christian Swenson – body and voice in performance.
Titled “Human Jazz,” this delightful one-man show is an amazing journey of transformation and spontaneity. Combining elements of dance, drama and music, “Human Jazz” is a celebration of the human instrument and spirit that connects us. Swenson is a “rare soloist,” a dancer who might be a “gorilla at one point, a poet uttering an ode to the earth at another.” Swenson draws from a global palette of sound and movement and then “disappears” into songs, characters, animals, aliens, body music, or pure energy. The result is as infectious as it is inspiring. Performing Arts Center.
2-3:20 p.m., Christian Swenson – workshop.
Join Christian Swenson for a workshop following his performance. Dance Studio HT Building, 101.
Wednesday, May 14
9 a.m.-4 p.m., Diane Trapp – paper mache art.
Hands on!!! Join the fun of working on a collaborative paper mache art project. “Come get messy with me,” theatrical make-up designer and mask maker Diane Trapp. Performing Acts Center Foyer.
10 a.m.-12 p.m., student and faculty literary reading.
PCC students and faculty read an assortment of poems, stories, and essays. Performing Arts Center.
11 a.m.- 2 p.m., Ted Vogel – ceramics.
Internationally recognized ceramic sculptor and Lewis and Clark instructor Ted Vogel will discuss his colorful, constructed and witty work. CT Building, 113. Demonstration will follow in CT 119.
12-1 p.m., Anne Mavor – lecture and slides/brown bag event.
Anne Mavor, local author and performance and wood sculpture artist, will present a lecture and slide show of her recent book Strong Hearts, Inspired Minds: 21 Artists Who Are Mothers Tell Their Stories, which presents stories and photographs of artist-mothers who have achieved balance in both roles. Co-sponsoring is the Women’s Resource Center. HT Building, 223 .
1-2 p.m., Mark Azure – storyteller.
Mark Azure signs stories and tales with a Native American focus and signs deaf folklore, mime and humor. Little Theater CT Building, 201.
Thursday, May 15
9 a.m.-12 p. m., costume display – PCC Theatre Arts Department.
This display of costumes features a selection from PCC’s own private stock of theatrical costumes and the costumes of Oregon Children’s Theatre housed at PCC. View from close range the incredibly detailed costumes from Little Shop of Horrors and Amadeus, this season’s productions, along with costumes from past shows. Performing Arts Center Foyer.
9:30 -11 a.m., Alison Baker – literary reading.
Winner of three O’Henry awards, including a First Prize in 1994, Alison Baker, who now lives in Southern Oregon, is the author of two story collections, Loving Wanda Beaver and How I Came West, and Why I Stayed, as well as Thousands Live!, a chapbook. Baker’s stories and essays have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies; today she will read from her work. Little Theater CT Building, 201.
11a.m.-12 p.m., Alison Baker – workshop.
Alison Baker offers a workshop to follow her reading. HT Building, 320.
11 a.m.-12 p.m., Josie Moseley and Friends – dance performance.
Josie Moseley is currently a resident choreographer and teacher for Oregon Ballet Theatre. Her extensive background in modern dance includes work with such dance notables as Mark Morris, Anna Sokolow, Phyllis Lambert and Betty Jones. She is a recipient of five Metropolitan Arts Commission grants as well as a nominee for the Isadora Duncan Dance Award in both choreography and performance. Among the pieces Moseley will be performing is the emotionally riveting “With,” in which she transforms grief, loss, anger, pain and joy into her creation of this dynamic dance. The Oregonian dance reviewers praise her “immense creative talent, physically strong dancing, and compelling stage presence.” Performing Arts Center.
12:30 -2:00 p.m., Josie Moseley – workshop.
Following her performance, Josie Moseley will lead a dance workshop. Dance Studio HT Building, 101.
12 p.m.-1:30 p.m.. James Lavadour – painter.
James Lavadour grew up and now lives on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and exhibits his work throughout the United States. Lavadour is a self-taught artist whose paintings, “like nature, are places or houses for the human experience and are expressions of fertile organic nature.” Lavadour will discuss slides of his work and his painting process which explores the “extraordinary event of nature.” Little Theater CT Building, 201.
Friday, May 16
10-11:30 a.m., Estin Kiger and the Graphic Design Alumnae Panel – discussion and portfolio.
Estin Kiger, art director for Bear Creek Corp. in Medford, Oregon, will give a presentation based on his experience of thirty-five years in graphic design. Joining Kiger is a panel of recent PCC Graphic Design graduates currently working in the field who will discuss their positions and show their portfolios. Conference Room B, CC Building, 242.
12 -1 p.m., Bridgetown Morris Men – Morris Dancing.
Foreman Dick Lewis and the Bridgetown Morris Men, founded in 1993, present the age-old tradition of English performance dancing, long associated with spring and the return of summer after months of winter. Morris Dancing, a lively, colorful summer tradition, features dancing hankies, sticks, ribbons, and bells. It may have been court entertainment originally, but by the 17th century it had relocated to local villages as a part of Maypole events, the blessing of fields, royal picnics and church fetes. Morris Dancing often provided a source of extra income for farm lads who would dance at pubs and busk the crowd. The Bridgetown Men perform dances from the traditions of Bledington, Ducklington and Adderbury. Performing Arts Center Courtyard.
12-1 p.m., Mike Holcomb – multimedia artist.
Join Mike Holcomb, director of the New Media Center at University of Oregon, for a presentation which describes “new media” and details the activities of the New Media Center with examples of the work in design, animation and illustration created by the students employed at the Center. ST Building, 101.
1-2:30 p.m., Mike Holcomb – new media workshop.
Mike Holcomb, associate professor of Visual Design at the University of Oregon and award-winning designer, digital artist and art director with over thirty years of experience in television, film and multimedia, will lead a workshop on conceptualizing and developing multimedia materials and review student work in multimedia. CT Building, 118.