Limited Edition Prints
Nikki McClure, Source (original papercut), 2010. Photo: Dan Kvitka
Take a piece of Nikki McClure home with you. In honor of Nikki McClure: Cutting Her Own Path, 1996–2011 Nikki McClure collaborated with PNCA students to create a limited edition of 20 silkscreened prints.
Available exclusively through Museum of Contemporary Craft, the numbered black and white prints of McClure’s papercut Source (2010) were hand-pulled by faculty member Christy Wyckoff and two students, Morgan Bass ’12 and Erin Martinez ’13.
These prints are available for purchase in The Gallery at a special price of $400 each through the run of the exhibition. After October 29, the price will increase to $600 each. Each of the 16 × 16 inch silkscreened prints is signed by Nikki McClure and embossed with PNCA Prints. A framed piece and the original papercut are currently on view at the Museum.
Several of the prints have already found new homes—purchase yours today. Contact the Gallery staff at 503.546.2654 or via email. Discounts do not apply.
— Posted on 09/30 at 10:37 AM
October Gallery Feature
Stan Peterson
Carved Figures in Small Worlds
October 6–29
FIRST WEDNESDAY RECEPTION: OCTOBER 5, 6–8 PM
Since his early years as a letter carrier making the rounds in the Laurelhurst neighborhood of Portland, Stan Peterson has used his time in the studio to carve little handheld basswood figures that reveal the engaging patterns of neighborhood routines, familiar faces, and quirky human habits.
“My approach? You could say that it comes as a result of other experiences. Meaning what I have been doing doesn’t relate to any academic training I’ve had… I search out places that have old nickelodeons and juke boxes. There’s a café over at Biggs Junction in The Dalles. They have a jukebox that has an orchestra of little players on top of it. The trombone is busted, and it is surreal to see what happens when someone puts a quarter in.”
Occasionally Peterson applies his carved wooden figures to the forefront of painted plywood panels. His characters are subtly colored with studio acrylics while the backdrops of houses and fences are often painted with bright-hued exterior enamels, forming scenes that are comically simple, graceful and emblematic of our distinctly time-honored “small” American rituals: fetching the morning paper, bending over to pick up a penny, walking the dog. The work is funny but sad—it looks whimsical but is in fact forlorn.
“I might try to do things that are even more dream-like. I do like the child’s storybook approach. One thing I am making now has to do with the walks we take on the beach. I see so many things left over in the sand—scraps, battered plastic cups, pieces of toys and so forth. Things that are reminders of other people’s times.”
As you can imagine, it takes years for Peterson to have enough pieces for a one-man show. For this upcoming show in The Gallery, Peterson pokes fun at the recent Portland artistic trend of “putting a bird” on every piece of artwork. Peterson has chosen, in seemingly random fashion, the most familiar, the most ironic, the most telling of human traits. For this exhibition, Peterson presents not only freestanding works but also several wall-mounted pieces. For the wall assemblages, Peterson contrasts the realistically carved and detailed figures with skillfully painted abstracted landscapes and interiors to create a rough visual dissonance.
“You can only do what is right for you and for the effectiveness of the work.”
Watch a short film that features Stan Peterson’s work.
Pop-Up: Cannibals Gallery
October 6–29
FIRST WEDNESDAY RECEPTION: OCTOBER 5, 6–8 PM
Cannibals Gallery represents local artists who primarily incorporate found, recycled materials in their contemporary work. Since opening in 2006, Pamela Springfield has represented over 150 regional artists and fostered community through a supportive and sustainable business model.
“During the twenty-five years of selling vintage clothing to men and women, I often encountered artists who did not have the funds to purchase a suit or gown for festivities requiring formal apparel, and I would trade their artwork for the vision of them wearing my vintage formalwear. With the success of this unique trade arrangement, I began searching for a location to open an exhibition space where this artwork would find an easy, immediate audience; when an adjoining commercial space became available, Cannibals Gallery was born.”
Springfield features a diverse array of artists, where some are formally educated and others self-taught. Cannibals Gallery creates a space where each artists work is value and admired.
— Posted on 09/28 at 02:41 PM
Nikki McClure Lecture
Acclaimed artist Nikki McClure gives a CraftPerspectives Lecture about her life and work on October 20 at PNCA. The lecture is co-sponsored by the MFA in Applied Craft and Design.
— Posted on 09/28 at 02:37 PM
Oregon Manifest
The winners of Oregon Manifest‘s 2011 Constructor’s Design Challenge—a competition to build the best utility bicycle—will be exhibited at the Museum from September 27–October 29, along with two public programs.
— Posted on 09/24 at 09:59 PM
2011 Museum Day
Visit Museum of Contemporary Craft for free on September 24 with your Smithsonian Museum Day ticket. Explore Nikki McClure, Northwest Modern and 75 Gifts.
In the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, who offer free admission everyday, Museum Day is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket… for free.
Register now for Museum Day.
— Posted on 09/20 at 04:27 PM
In Memory of Joan Shipley
The Museum of Contemporary Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art community is deeply saddened by the passing of Joan Shipley. Her consistent dedication to the local arts community and her unfaltering support of PNCA and Museum of Contemporary Craft made her one of the most valued art patrons in Portland.
Tom Manley, PNCA’s president, in writing to the College community about the news, remarked:
“In losing Joan, we have lost a great community treasure and champion of the arts. Joan exemplified the very best qualities of civic involvement and leadership. Hers was a thoroughly humanist vision and no one worked harder, more gently, more quietly or with greater ultimate effect than she. Speaking on behalf of the College—just one institution of the dozens Joan Shipley helped to make better—and my family, I send our deepest condolences to her husband John and their family at this terribly sad time.”
Joan was no stranger to the PNCA community. She was a board member of Museum of Contemporary Craft (when it was called the Contemporary Crafts Association) from 1975 to 1979. She served as a voluntary interim gallery director during this time, when the Museum was without an appointed director.
President Manley mentioned as well the leadership and generous support of other members of the Shipley family to PNCA, in particular John Shipley who as a past board member helped to guide the school’s transition to the Peal District campus and helped to found the Philip Feldman Gallery and Project Space and Thomas Shipley, John and Joan’s son, who currently serves on the PNCA Board of Governors.
There are hardly any organizations in town with which Joan Shipley did not have direct involvement. In addition to PNCA and Museum of Contemporary Craft, Chamber Music Northwest, Literary Arts, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, where Joan was a founding member, and the Sitka Center, to name a few, can attest to the depth of positive contributions the Shipleys have made to the Oregon arts community. In recognition of her efforts, Joan was a recipient of the 2004–2005 Governor’s Arts Award as well as the Portland Art Dealers Association (PADA) Award for Service to the Visual Arts in August 2011.
Shipley’s love of art and her belief that creativity is the gateway to good citizenship are the cornerstones of the legacy she leaves behind. Joan Shipley will be remembered for working endlessly, gently and often anonymously to elevate the prominence of art, culture and civility.
The College will announce plans for a remembrance in honor of Joan once details become known. In addition, PNCA will publish a memorial article about her contributions to the arts community on Untitled in the coming weeks.
— Posted on 09/02 at 05:35 PM
