PICA - PORTLAND INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : j***e@p**a.o*g
Mission Statement
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) acknowledges and advances new developments in contemporary art, fostering the explorations of artists and audiences. Since 1995, PICA has championed the practice of contemporary artists from around the world, driving vital conversations about the art and issues of today. PICA presents artists from visual and performance backgrounds and embraces those individuals who exist at the borders of genres and ideas. Through performances, exhibitions, community and public programs, artist residencies, lectures, workshops, and the Time-Based Art Festival, our programs catalyze conversations about contemporary culture
About This Cause
Founded in 1995, PICA’s mission is to acknowledge and advance new developments in contemporary art while fostering the creative explorations of artists and audiences. PICA was started in response to the art ecology and economy of Portland and the broader United States. Regionally, there was virtually no support for presentation or context building for contemporary visual and performing art by living artists. Portland’s largest and oldest institutions, the Portland Art Museum, Portland Opera, and Portland Ballet were not presenting new work reflecting national and global issues and the smaller artist-run and artist-centric spaces collapsed with the reorganization of the NEA. PICA’s Founder, Kristy Edmunds, saw a nascent art community in a developing city that failed to support its artists’ inquiries into global issues, and started PICA to nurture artists working at the intersections of genres and facilitated a dialogue about national and international politics. For 28 years, PICA has championed contemporary artists from around the world who push disciplinary boundaries and spark vital conversations about art and ideas. PICA has an international reputation as a leader in the field for our programming excellence, commitment to artists, and the development of new work; as well as strong, trusted relationships to national and international peer organizations; and participation in field-wide initiatives to support artists and embed equity in arts work. We work to improve our community by creating thriving outlets for creative expression and increasing access to affordable, accessible, inclusive spaces for people to come together in Portland, where such space is increasingly scarce. PICA supports artists through exhibition and performance opportunities; commission and developmental residencies; grant distribution through the Precipice Fund, a regranting program funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts; our (Supporting Partners, Artists, and Community Events (SPACE) Program through no-cost facility and resource sharing; and our Time-Based Art Festival, a ten-day festival that presents regional, national, and international visual and performing artists and their work. PICA established the Time-Based Art Festival in 2003, creating a dynamic platform for artists and connecting Oregon artists to the latest artistic developments from around the globe. Since then, the Festival has gained notoriety as one of the leading venues in the U.S. for innovative, experimental interdisciplinary forms. The TBA Festival features 10 days of theatre, dance, music, and film, and one month of visual exhibitions and installations by regional, national, and international artists. In all of our programming, PICA strives to “demystify” contemporary art for audiences, providing access to the work for experienced and novice audience members alike. Our educational Institute Program of daily lectures, talks, workshops, and screenings deepens the conversation and puts audiences in direct dialogue with artists. To provide entry points into the complex subjects of the work presented at the TBA Festival, PICA develops clusters of educational activities each addressing the overarching themes in a work. We also program a series of low priced professional and all-level workshops to share practice with Festival artists. For audiences that may be new to a particular art form or arts in general, PICA offers a “Field Guide” series to provide focused explorations of an artist’s work facilitated by a faculty expert through conversation, social activities, and group viewings.