Featuring the work of local Portland muralists over the past 20 years. (Please see partial list of participating artists. There will be more.) This show is a snapshot of extant mural work around Portland and a showcase for new work by local muralists.

Since 1998, there has been no easily accessible path to public murals in Portland. On the heels of the 2007 legal decision by Judge Michael Marcus deeming mural art legally sound, there is word that the city will soon open most walls to a simple mural permitting process. In exuberant display, local muralists show work & anticipate the opportunity of painting legally on public walls. In this show there will be photos sketches, original work and documentation of some of your favorite Portland murals places…Outside In, The Musicians Union, Community Cycling Center, S.C.R.A.P.

Participating Artists:

Charlotte Lewis, Ping Khaw, Mike Hensley, Robin Corbo, Emily Lutz, Charlie Alan Kraft, Sara Stout, Sheri Love, Jennifer Mercede, Larry Kangas, Joe Cotter, Kolieha Bush, Mark Meltzer, Asa Kennedy, Jay Meer, Eileen Belanger, Nicholas M. Olmsted, Chris Haberman, Kenny Spurlock, Jason Coatney, William Floyd, Rin Carroll Jackson, John Early, Laura Bender, Mark Larsen, Angelina Marino, Joel Heidel, Jesse Valesquez, Joanne Oleksiak, Bruce Orr, Carol Forté, Tom Cramer, Josh Wallace, Kate Sullivan, Eric Klanton, Jan York, William Park, Ryan Shanks, Donna Guardino and others

Read an Interview with Joe Cotter!

Opening Reception: First Friday, May 2, 5-9PM
Closing Party/Paint Off: June 28, NOON - 6
Show Runs Through: June 28, 2008

Chris Haberman @ Destroy Store

Chris Haberman unveils a brand new series of work + 2 new t-shirt designs tonight at Destroy Store on East Burnside. These limited-edition shirts are the first of their kind, so stop by and pick one up before they’re gone!

Opening reception, Friday, April 4th from 7-10 PM - free beer from Widmer Brewery - DJ sets from Infamous 1

Jaik Faulk @ Launch Pad Gallery

Launch Pad Gallery presents “A Ghost, A Possesor/The Deposed” New Oil Paintings by Jaik Faulk. Jaik has volunteered at Launch Pad for some time now, helping to install large group shows and teaching others. For all of you artists and PNCA students out there, you have likely encountered Jaik’s good natured and helpful ways at Art Media where he has worked for the past 5 years. Now it’s time to give back and support Jaik at his first solo show here at Launch Pad; he has been focused on this body of work for the past two years, and the 12 large scale oil paintings that he is presenting show it. Please click here for preview. As an added bonus, Jaik’s band, The Black Globes will be playing at 10pm, along with the choice tunes of DJ Dr. Yes.

Opening reception: Friday, April 4th from 6pm-12am - 534 S.E. Oak St

Trish Grantham & Amy Ruppel @ Grass Hut

Grass Hut presents installation and exhibition by Trish Grantham and Amy Ruppel.

Opening reception: Friday, April 4th from 6-9pm

Ivan Wentland @ Newspace

Newspace is pleased to present Ivan Wentland’s stunning series of color photographs titled “Beautifully Broken.” Experimentation and curiosity drove Wentland to develop a unique chemical and heat manipulation using an SX-70 Polaroid camera with Time Zero film. For this exhibition, high-resolution scans were made and printed as large limited edition Lambda prints.

Opening reception: Friday, April 4 6-9pm - Newspace Center for Photography - 1632 SE 10th Ave

Kathleen Simpson @ Janovec

Janovec Studios presents This Horizon a showcase of brand new work by Kathleen Simpson. This Horizon features acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings of different views of the earth. A new direction for Simpson, these paintings and drawings explore the confluence of science and fiction and the place of humans in our environment… and our effect on it.

Opening reception, Friday, April 4th from 6-9 PM. 4504 SE Milwaukie (on the corner of SE Holgate)

The 5th D’Merde Salon is right around the corner and if you have yet to make it out to one of these functions, I recommend that you put it on your calendar. The salon brings together creative minds in a loosely structured, open setting merging visual, performing and literary arts. A sliding scale donation of $5.00 - $15.00 will get you beer, wine, non-alcoholic drinks and food.

Friday, April 4th, 2008
7:00pm - 11:00pm

6310 SE Steele St.
Portland, OR 97206

A partial list of painters, authors and performers:

Lisa Albinger, Chuck E Bloom, Todd Cobb, Mike Daily, Shannon Mayorga, Jenny Mosbacher, Scott Stobbe, Kevin Wilson, Ben, Charity, Don, Heather, Lans, Private Mike, Skye and Theo

International Encaustic Artists (IEA) and New England Wax (NEW) present parallel exhibitions of
The Diptych Project: A Collaboration in Wax.

Pleas join us for the west coast launch of the touring exhibition
Opening April 4 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m
at Brian Marki Fine Art
on view though April 30, 2008

Hours: 10 - 6 Monday through Saturday.

Artist talk by Laura Kleinman Saturday, April 5 at 3 pm.

Kleinman, who has worked, taught and shown in NYC, Boston, and San Francisco will discuss her creative path as a printmaker using plates built from wax to the transition into using the wax. She will also elaborate on the involvement of collaborating in The Diptych Project.

The corresponding east coast exhibition will begin at Whitney Art Works Portland, ME from April 4 – 26, 2008.

The tandem exhibitions are the first of their kind featuring collaborative work in encaustic media created by member artists paired from each organization. Each artist in the 36 pairings created one half of a two-panel painting or “diptych” then sent the work to the partner artist to answer in visual dialogue and complete the piece. Works completed by IEA artists will debut at the Brian
Marki Fine Art in Oregon, and works completed by NEW artists will be introduced at Whitney Art Works in Maine.

The idea for the twin shows emerged from member discussions held during the first National Encaustic Conference at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA in June 2007. Members of both NEW and IEA shared their enthusiasm for encaustic art and its vast possibilities. Rodney Thompson, an artist member of IEA expressed, “The exciting aspect of the project is how each artist must respond creatively to their partner’s style, technique and content to achieve a cohesive, balanced and unified work of art – the results will be compelling to see.”

Selected works of the project will tour nationally throughout 2008 - 2009 with upcoming 2008 exhibitions confirmed for Montserrat College (Beverly, MA) in June, Conrad Wilde Gallery (Tucson, AZ) in September and Steamboat Springs Arts Council (Steamboat Springs, CO) in November.

West coast based IEA and East coast based NEW are both professional artists associations that share in similar missions to further excellence in encaustic art. Encaustic is an extremely durable and versatile medium containing beeswax and tree sap then applied to a rigid support with heat to create exquisite visual effects. Artists credited with early uses of wax include Arthur Dove,
Diego Rivera and Karl Zerbe – and Jasper Johns.

For more information about Brian Marki Fine Art
visit www.brianmarki.com or call (503) 249-5659.

For more information about Whitney Art Works
go to www.whitneyartworks.com or call (207) 774-7011.

For more information about the project, including links to IEA and NEW, participating artists and future exhibitions, visit http://thediptychproject.googlepages.com/home.

Hine began documenting immigrants arriving and awaiting processing at Ellis Island around 1904 and then followed these immigrants into the teeming tenements of the Lower East Side in Manhattan. He explored the immigrant experience with his probing lens and exposed the terrible housing and working conditions they were subject to in their attempts to integrate into their new homeland. Believing in the power of photography to persuade authorities to enact better housing codes for tenements and labor laws protecting children, Hine approached social welfare agencies about using his images for reform campaigns.

In 1907 he was invited to participate in the Pittsburgh Survey, which was designed to investigate the living and working conditions of that heavily industrialized city. Following this he became a staff photographer for the National Child Labor Committee and traveled across much of the southern and eastern states documenting the working conditions of factories, fields, mines, mills and canneries which made use of child labor. The results of Hine’s photographic pursuits eventually led to the establishment of child labor and safety laws for all workers.

Open reception April 4, 6-9pm
Show runs through May 1st

Bobby Abrahamson’s Rabbit is a mixed-media documentary project using photography, journal entries, letters, emails, drawings, poetry, found objects and personal keepsakes to weave a lyrical narrative of a 14-year journey of wandering and searching for serenity and contentment in life.

The title Rabbit is based on native-American folklore that teaches how every human being has an “animal totem” that serves as their guardian spirit. Bobby’s totem of the rabbit signifies his impulse to keep running from his fears, and also his longing for connection and community. The story is personal, but not private. The installation and accompanying artist’s book present a universal tale: the struggle to escape life’s vicissitudes, and the quest for lasting peace.

Opening: Friday March 7, 7-10pm
Duration: March 7 through 30, 2008

Olympic Mills Commerce Center invites you to come join them on First Friday for the opening of their newest exhibit titled “Tides of March”.

Artists:

Horace Long, Zack Gere, Alisha Wessler, David Lutz, John Graeter and Spencer Reynolds.

Opening: March 7 - 5-9 pm
Music: Acoustic music by Anna Todaro and Dusty SantaMaria.
Duration Show runs through end of April.
Pictured: “Merry-Go-Round Flood” photograph by David Lutz