chocochunk

After hosting over 70 shows with several hundred artists, the PAC is no longer able to make ends meet. Special thanks to Gavin Shettler and Kelly Rauer for their dedication to our art community over the years. PAC was one of the largest free-form spaces in the Portland metro area, and it supported so many installations and collections that were outside the niche of Pearl District standards. There will be a noticeable shuffle around Portland as many of these artists that were booked at the PAC for 2008 shift toward smaller arts spaces.

One exhibit to keep an eye on will occur this year at the New American Art Union. The individually funded Couture exhibit is providing 12 artists with a $7,000 stipend + $1,000 for materials to create an installation piece. The focus is on areas of art that are limited in their marketability as products, and therefore have historically had limited exploration due to expense. It should provide much discussion of the position of art in our society, which has been gradually scaled down as a publicly funded activity. The curator is hoping this will challenge others in the community to step up their financial support of the arts. I hope it will make lots of waves!